Leopard Tree Advice Please (Brisbane AU)

brinkerz

Gday Everyone ...

I have a Leopard Tree in my back yard - approx 8 yrs old and around 8 - 9m high, maybe 5m around the top.
Great in Summer, plenty of shade for the kids, etc - however I'm concerned that this thing is just going to keep going having seen some rather BIG examples of them. As it is now it's < 3m of the house!
In season they look great but to try and trim or prune them and they grow back looking like crap with vertical shoots n spikes all over the joint.
And so .... 1) Is there 'a way' they can be 'trimmed and pruned' ... or 2) How big is this likely to get 3) Other options? i.e. plant X species near by to create similar shading that can be 'trimmed and pruned' and then remove the Leopard Tree completely.

Thanks for your input!

Eric Frei

1/ Forget trimming, a nasty losing battle. Plant the right sized tree in the right sized spot, do not try to mutilate a tree to fit in.

2/ They can get big, I often see them approaching 40'to 50' high and wide.

3/ Get rid of it now, move on and learn from your mistakes.

Brisbane has a lot of tree mutilators, they'll tell you different.

Here's an example .....

Who are you going to call? Tree Busters!

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brinkerz

Gday Ekka, thanks for chipping in (no tree pun intended).

We inherited the Leopard (and a big Syzygium Jambos out the front) when we bought the place 7 years ago and this topic has been on my mind for sometime.
So loose it you think .... I may well give you a hoy then to get an idea on coin.

And so the 'how long is a piece of string question' - as a replacement, do you have any suggestions of something that will provide shade etc and yet still be manageable?

Eric Frei

I really would have to see the site to recommend a tree.

Replacement trees, I tell you what, I never ever buy them from Bunnings etc.

There's a lot of decent tree wholesale nurseries around, Gold Coast hinterland and even Rochedale as few.

We have a thread about street trees, that will give you some ideas for Brisbane.

what would you suggest be used as a street tree?

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