Trees please for summer

OPINION: Street trees in Geraldton are a mixed lot.

Our strong southerly, dry summers and powerlines figure in the relationship.

The City of Greater Geraldton has guidelines and recommendations on its website.

Look up Infrastructure Services Department ISV002 under “specifications”.

Di and Ric Hamilton called me, keen to show me a tree they thought would be a good fit in Geraldton.

They have lived in Drummond Cove for about six years after coming into town from the station country out near Yalgoo.

“We have always lived in the lower Murchison,” Di said.

“We started out east of Mt Magnet, moved to just north of Yalgoo and the last place we were on was 50 miles north of Yalgoo for the Foulkes-Taylor family.

“Michael and Janet Foulkes Taylor are great gardeners and we get our inspiration from Janet.

“She would have been a good role model for people up in the bush.

“Our bauhinia trees I have here in pots are all out in flower and we agree they are looking beautiful.

“They seem to grow well here.

“The actual seedlings came from Spencers Brook, down near Northam, which gets as hot as here and maybe a bit colder.

A Note from Gardening Australia: bauhinias grow wild in tropical and subtropical regions of the world.

The Hong Kong orchid tree is the official floral emblem of Hong Kong.

“Our bauhinias are in pots, we don’t have the room to plant them out and they have been there for about three years now,” Di said.

“What other trees would you suggest for Geraldton?” I asked.

“I like the mirror bush and the Indian hawthorn is everywhere,” she said.

“Another one that seems to be hardy and is a great blocker is the murraya.

“It has a pretty flower, bit like the hardenberger, beautiful smell and it flowers a number of times a year. You see them a lot and the scent brings you in.

“Some trees get too big – poincianas will take over a whole yard, as will jacarandas.

“My other suggestion for a street tree is the fiddlewood.

“I always thought they would look good as an entrance down to a farmhouse.

“Very pretty tree.”

The murraya is also known as orange jessamine, Chinese box, mock orange, mock lime or satinwood.

It is often cultivated as a hedge or a windbreak.

Keep them watered for at least the first summer.