Fruiting time list for Perth.

Fruit trees for Perth and when they will produce. Mostly snaffled from The Dawson's Garden World Winter catalogue.

Small trees for Perth gardens.

There are a few trees that I think could be used in small gardens.
Firstly a little definition of the difference between trees and shrubs. A tree is a generally single stemmed plant that reaches a height of say 4 metres upwards to the 100 odd metres of the world's tallest trees, mountain ash (Eucalyptus regnans) and Coast sequioa (Sequoia sempervirens).
A shrub is a multistemmed plant that only gets to 3 or 4 metres.

Eucalyptus forrestiana: has gorgeous red gumnuts and pretty pink flowers. They are drought hardy and tolerant of lots of sun. They also attract small birds, providing much needed nectar for the little bird species.

Eucalyptus platypus is a mallee type tree that is almost wider than it is tall. The leaves are shiny and thick, the trunk is mottled and the flower buds are fused to make a space ship shaped gumnut after the fluffy yellow flowers.

Grevillea species that are in the 3-6 metre range can be pruned to shape to a central stem to create a tree shaped shrub. Honey Gem, Pink Surprise and others can be used as small trees. I have one of each of Honey Gem and Pink Surprise out the front of my house. I think the dog sat on one though because it isn't standing up, so maybe I should have staked it until it got a bit bigger.

Crepe myrtles are beautiful decorative deciduous trees that are pretty tough for hot and dry conditions. They do need some watering but they are small and pretty.

Lastly, while not a tree, the dragon fruit cactus can be grown into a tree shaped form that allows the stems to take up little room and the tops cascade over, producing enormous white flowers followed by delicious fruit.
The red dragon fruit is much tastier than the white. It has a sweet, scented flavour similar to rasberry and watermelon. That is where the white flower above is from.


..and this is the fruit.

Public tree planting.

One of my favourite eucalypts is Eucalyptus macrocarpa, also called "mottlecah" or 'the rose of the west'. It is a West Australian tree from a little north of Perth. I have snuck one onto the verge near my house so I will be able to see it from the front window.
It's very drought hardy once established and needs hot dry summers to grow successfully, so I think it will be happy where I put it. The leaves have a silvery powder on the leaves which helps them deflect heat in their desert habitat.
The flowers are very big and red, sometimes pink. It will be interesting to see how much bigger it gets by the end of winter.
I had been thinking of planting something there for a while, as it is an exposed area that could do with some brightening up; plus I figure that if there's room for a small tree then put in a small tree!
Mottlecah is also not a visual block or able to hide bad-guys as the mallee habit and leaf arrangement makes it easy to see through. They also rarely get very tall as they sprawl. Being a mallee also means if the plant needs to lose a limb that is in the way it can grow new ones from the lignotuber.

Fast growing trees for shade.

There are certain times of the year when we suddenly wish we had a large shade tree to sit under in the garden. It's at that point when you want a fast-growing tree. There are a few points to remember though when you enter a garden centre - trees that grow fast will often only live a relatively short amount of time, they need space to grow and there is no such thing as a tree that is only a metre wide all the way up and conveniently stops at 4 metres. Unless you want conifers but they are neither shady nor fast.
If you want a deciduous tree for the north side of your house (southern hemisphere) for summer shade and winter sun you will need to be prepared for "mess". In nature that "mess" rots back into the ground. In modern life it has become a hassle that people don't want to deal with. The best thing to do is to expect the leaf fall and use it for compost or leave it as mulch where it falls. It will feed the tree and the soil.
Deciduous vines are also great for the north side. Grapes on a trellis are excellent, with bunches hanging down being easy to pick when ripe.
Keeping the western side of the building cool makes a huge difference to the evening temperatures inside a house. Sun tolerant, evergreen shrubs to 2 metres are good for that side of the building. Deciduous trees or vines are also good along that side.
I'm always a bit disturbed when I see potentially large trees placed much too close along a front wall. Trees need lots of room, even non-invasive ones, so planting a large tree near a wall is a very bad idea. At least a metre would be the minimum. I always warn people that Ficus species should be kept in pots, not the ground, unless they have a very large area of open space without pipes and power-lines.
Beware also of trees that sucker. We have two in our garden; we planted them before we really understood how bad they can be. One is the Paulownia tomentosa - powton or princess tree. It is a beautiful tree; large soft leaves, stunning lilac foxglove type flowers in spring. We keep it small by cutting it back to a stump every year. When we leave this house though, we want to dig up the main base and take it with us. However, this tree suckers form any roots that are left, so we may leave a monster of multiple proportions here. Instead of one sturdy powton, it may end up being all over the garden. Hopefully we'll get enough warning to do it properly and not leave a nightmare for the next tenants.
The other, also an extremely good-looking deciduous tree, is the Gleditsia tricanthos var. inermis - Sunburst. It can sucker, making very nasty spines on fast growing shoots from the parent trees roots. We have not disturbed the soil anywhere around the base, so it is behaving here, but in Queensland they have become bad bad weeds, as they are hard to approach to kill them, sending up more suckers when the first lot are killed.
Take some time to consider what tree you like. If you see one and you don;t know what it is, pinch some leaves or take a photo and take them to a garden centre. They should be able to tell you what it is.
Trees are a much needed part of the landscape. There are lots of choices in size, habit, flowers, fruits...plant a tree soon. It's good for you.