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Planting the Wheatbelt

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Healthy Environments

Planting the Wheatbelt

There are 160 naturally occurring eucalypts in the central Wheatbelt region, of which 32 are cultivated for various uses, including revegetation programs, oil extraction, floristry, and ornamental purposes.

Eight of these ornamentals rank among Australia’s favourite cultivars and appear in gardens across the eastern states. However, despite being endemic to the Wheatbelt they are hard to find on local farms or in Wheatbelt towns.

Building farm value

According to Malcolm French – a farm sale auctioneer with Elders and author of Eucalypts of Western Australia’s Wheatbelt – planting trees on your farm land can have a big impact on your farm’s value. Planting the right native species in the right spots – even only three to five plants – can make the difference between a sale or not, regardless of the state of the farming economy.

Planting the Wheatbelt

There are 160 naturally occurring eucalypts in the central Wheatbelt region, of which 32 are cultivated for various uses, including revegetation programs, oil extraction, floristry, and ornamental purposes.

Eight of these ornamentals rank among Australia’s favourite cultivars and appear in gardens across the eastern states. However, despite being endemic to the Wheatbelt they are hard to find on local farms or in Wheatbelt towns.

Building farm value

According to Malcolm French – a farm sale auctioneer with Elders and author of Eucalypts of Western Australia’s Wheatbelt – planting trees on your farm land can have a big impact on your farm’s value. Planting the right native species in the right spots – even only three to five plants – can make the difference between a sale or not, regardless of the state of the farming economy.

Visual appeal

Planting native eucalypts can also boost the visual appeal of our Wheatbelt towns and roadsides. They make wonderful additions to farm entrances, yards, gardens and windbreaks, and are equally at home in town gardens for their brilliant displays that attract native birds. And planting them will help increase the region’s biodiversity and assist in preserving eucalypt species that have been listed as rare or threatened flora.

Here are some of our favourites for the garden:

Silver Princess – Eucalyptus caesia

Mottlecah – Eucalyptus macrocarpa

Square-fruited mallee – Eucalyptus calycogona subsp. calycogona

Glazed mallee - Eucalyptus tenera

Rose mallee – Eucalyptus rhodantha

Jingymia mallee – Eucalyptus synandra

Long flower marlock, River yate – Eucalyptus macrandra

Narrow-leaved granite mallee – Eucalyptus crucis subsp. lanceolata

Pear-fruited mallee, Dowerin Rose – Eucalyptus pryiformis

Here are some of our favourites for revegetation projects:

York Gum - Eucalyptus loxophleba subsp. loxophleba

Wheatbelt wandoo – Eucalyptus capillosa (Creates great nesting sites for black-cockatoos)

Wandoo, White gum – Eucalyptus wandoo subsp. wandoo (Creates great nesting sites for black-cockatoos)

Salt river gum – Eucalyptus sargentii subsp. sargentii (highly salt tolerant)

Salt gum – Eucalyptus salicola (highly salt tolerant)

Planting native eucalypts can also boost the visual appeal of our Wheatbelt towns and roadsides. They make wonderful additions to farm entrances, yards, gardens and windbreaks, and are equally at home in town gardens for their brilliant displays that attract native birds. And planting them will help increase the region’s biodiversity and assist in preserving eucalypt species that have been listed as rare or threatened flora.

Here are some of our favourites for the garden:

Silver Princess – Eucalyptus caesia

Mottlecah – Eucalyptus macrocarpa

Square-fruited mallee – Eucalyptus calycogona subsp. calycogona

Glazed mallee - Eucalyptus tenera

Rose mallee – Eucalyptus rhodantha

Jingymia mallee – Eucalyptus synandra

Long flower marlock, River yate – Eucalyptus macrandra

Narrow-leaved granite mallee – Eucalyptus crucis subsp. lanceolata

Pear-fruited mallee, Dowerin Rose – Eucalyptus pryiformis

Here are some of our favourites for revegetation projects:

York Gum - Eucalyptus loxophleba subsp. loxophleba

Wheatbelt wandoo – Eucalyptus capillosa (Creates great nesting sites for black-cockatoos)

Wandoo, White gum – Eucalyptus wandoo subsp. wandoo (Creates great nesting sites for black-cockatoos)

Salt river gum – Eucalyptus sargentii subsp. sargentii (highly salt tolerant)

Salt gum – Eucalyptus salicola (highly salt tolerant)

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