Lemon-Scented Gum

                                      Eucalyptus citriodora

Lemon-Scented Gum's straight, white trunk.

One of my favourite trees of all time is the Lemon-Scented Gum.  It is an Australian native plant from Queensland and is growing nicely in my front yard.  The thing I love most about this indigenous tree is the scent of the leaves, which is what it is noted for.  The Lemon-Scented Gum, in my garden, has a nice, straight trunk, which is mainly of a white colour.  Its has dimple-like-features indented into it, but apart from that the trunk is quite smooth with no loose bark.

Dimple-like features in the bark.

Another photo of the dimple-like features.

This magnificent tree is used for many different things, such as in large, public garden lawns and parks, which gives the garden architectural design features and it allows you to concentrate on the trees’ structural beauty.  The leaves are used for their scent in products such as oils and soaps, and the wood is used in timber production.  Lemon-scented Gums are also great trees for stopping the wind from getting through and it creates a great source of food for koalas.     

Architectural features of the tree.

The branches in the canopy of the tree create form, structure and design.

Overall, I think this is a fantastic tree to grow in a backyard or in a public garden and it would be a great plant to use in garden designing.  It should be used more widely in the Australian landscape, because I believe that the scent and the tree’s overall form and structure, gives Australians one of the many things that we can enjoy and be proud of.

Simple design featuring Lemon-Scented Gums.

These photos show how straight the trunks are.

References:

Burke’s Backyard 2004, Fact Sheets Lemon-Scented Gum, fact sheet, CTC Productions, viewed 19 April 2012, 

<http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/factsheets/Trees-and-Palms/Lemon-scented-Gum/2783>.

Cundall, P 2010, Peter Cundall: waterwise, article, The Weekly Times, viewed 25 April 2012,

<http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2010/02/03/153661_gardening.html>.

Plant this 2012, Hypolepis muelleri Harsh Ground Fern, Swamp Bracken Dennstaedtiaceae, informative webpage, Plant this, viewed 25 April 2012,

<http://plantthis.com.au/plant-information.asp?gardener=26864>.

Rees, A 2003, Growing Australian Native Plants in Containers, informative webpage, Australian Plants online, viewed 25 April 2012,

<http://anpsa.org.au/APOL32/dec03-1.html>.