New Trees and Classic Trees Re-imagined

As the year quickly passes, now is the time to review our best sellers, while anticipating the future seasonal needs of our customers.

After a few years of this process, you begin to notice a recurring trend: certain trees consistently rank at the top, and they've maintained that position for a long time!

1. Corymbia maculata
2. Pyrus calleryana ‘Capital’
3. Magnolia grandiflora
4. Waterhousea floridunda
5. Ficus hilli ‘Flash’

These are reliable and versatile selections, across a wide range of landscaping uses as feature trees, screens, or for colour diversity and shape in both commercial and residential projects over many years.

While their consistent performance is fantastic and gives us and our customers confidence in their ability to sell and perform as expected, it does make us wonder: what new trees will ever de-throne these tried-and-true favourites?

Perhaps a new and unique style of hedging tree? Could a new native Eucalyptus, Corymbia, or Angophora replace Spotted Gum at the top? Or is there a new, small-growing, big-flowering evergreen tree on the horizon that will overtake them all?

Corymbia ciriodora 'Scentuous and Corymbia maculata 'Lowanna' are dwarf trees in high demand

Over the past decade, the demand for smaller native trees has grown exponentially. With grafted selections like Corymbia citriodora ‘Scentuous’ and Corymbia maculata ‘Lowanna’, we can now provide more compact forms with all the attributes of the parent tree for planting in smaller urban spaces. Can we achieve similar results with other species?

In this vein, we’ve been trialling the grafting of Fraxinus angustifolia ‘Raywoodii onto Fraxinus ornus, a smaller, equally tough tree that we hope will reduce the overall height of Claret Ash and provide an understock less susceptible self-seeding than others commonly used. Our trials are already showing promising results, with slower, shorter growth. Can we do this to others?

Arbutus canariensis - a underutilised tree with an attractive upright habit.

Similarly, why have older trees, once widely used, fallen out of favour? Was propagation too difficult, leading to supply shortages? Why did they no longer fit within our modern urban landscape? With Magnolia grandiflora dominating in recent years, we think there are two small-to-medium evergreen trees that should be reconsidered:

Calodendron capense (Cape Chestnut) is a hardy, small-to-medium evergreen tree that is simply breathtaking when in bloom. Once commonly used in landscaping, its availability dwindled as grafted stock became difficult to source and demand shifted. Today, we offer a smaller-growing cultivar, Calodendron ‘Chandlers Silver’, in good numbers, along with a steady supply of seed-grown stock as a substitute for evergreen Magnolia.

The other is Arbutus: this hardy, sun-loving group of small-to-medium evergreen trees thrive in our climate. Arbutus unedo (Irish Strawberry tree) has long been an industry staple but it cousins remains underutilized and perhaps unknown. With their red-brown bark, bell-shaped flowers, and ornamental strawberry-like fruit, it’s a striking garden feature. Confident in their performance, we now have Arbutus unedo, canariensis, and menzieii in production, and all look fantastic.

Gingko biloba 'Blagon Fanfare' is compact and more upright, ideal for clipping

Since 2007, the demand for hedging and screening trees has soared. Dominated by trees such as Lilly Pilly, Ficus ‘Flash’, and to a lesser extent Prunus lusitanica and Laurus nobilis, the growing space dedicated to these varieties has increased more than tenfold.

Alternatives to traditional hedging lines are being used with Acacia ‘Lime Magik’ and Copper Tips, as well as Leptospermum (Native Tea Tree) and Olives being used. But why don’t we consider deciduous trees?

Deciduous hedging is common in both North America and Europe, where Beech, Parrotia, and Hawthorn are often used as clipped hedges. Advances in deciduous cultivars have introduced more compact-growing species suited for smaller gardens. Could some of these varieties create a unique hedge for your landscape project?

Take, for example, two cultivars of Ginkgo biloba: ‘Blagan Fanfare’ and ‘Lemon Lime Spire’. These compact, semi-upright selections have a branching structure ideal for hedging. No hedge would be as stunning as these in autumn, with their golden foliage. Though slow-growing, Ginkgo has proven to be a hardy tree in our conditions, making the result well worth the wait.

As we look ahead to the future, the possibilities for re-imagining old favourites and exploring new options are endless. Whether through compact, grafted selections, the revival of underutilized species, or exploring alternative hedging styles, the landscape of tomorrow is full of exciting opportunities.

The trees listed below are relatively new to the commercial market, so they are snapped up quickly when available. If you are interested in any, leave your email via the 'Notify Me' and we will let you know when trees are in stock.

If you have any questions, please contact the team.