Try growing: grass trees

Grass trees, or xanthorrhoeas, are one of Australia's most distinctive native plants and can be used as a feature plant in all but the smallest gardens. Species of grass tree that grow in the Illawarra include Xanthorrhoea arborea, X. australis, X. glauca, and X. resinifera. 

Xanthorrhoea glauca growing near Carrington Falls. Image by Emma Rooksby. 

 All these species are indigenous to the plateau in the west of the Illawarra, and don't grown naturally on the coastal plain. But, given the right treatment and careful handling during transplantation, they can fairly easily be grown in suburban Wollongong. 

The keys to success with grass trees are that they need very well drained, sandy soil to survive, and hate having their roots disturbed. This means you need to be really careful when transplanting them from a pot into the ground, preparing the site with plenty of sandy soil and small pebbles if your soil is not sandy to start with, and cutting the plant out of its pot to avoid damaging the roots.


Young Xanthorrhoea arborea recently installed - note the white pebbles on the ground and plant - distribution method was somewhat haphazard. Image by Emma Rooksby. 

Our soil is mostly heavy clay, and not naturally suited to grass trees, but we couldn't resist putting in a couple because they're just such amazing plants! We lost one X. glauca to fungal infection, to which they are prone, but the other plants are all doing very well, and one of the X. australis has even decided to start flowering. (Apparently it's better if you cut off any flower spikes that come up in the first year after transplant, so that the grass tree focuses its energies on growing roots.) 

Xanthorrhoea australis in flower - whoops! Image by Emma Rooksby. 

Grass trees that are harvested from the wild (generally from areas where land is being cleared for housing or other purposes) will have had most of their leaves cut off to reduce the stress of transplantation. Over time, as they get established in a new position, they will grow more leaves again, and start to look more like they should. (Plants grown from seed will not generally have had leaves cut, and you can also be confident that they were not harvested illegally.) 

Grass tree two months after transplanting. Image by Emma Rooksby. 

The same plant after five months. Image by Emma Rooksby. 

To help grass trees adjust after transplantation, we found that daily watering for the first couple of months was essential, particularly during any periods of hot weather. Regular summer watering for the first couple of years after transplantation is also recommended.

For more information, try the following websites:

• Provincial Plants and Landscapes grass tree care guide
• WA Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority guide to transplantation
• The Replants Guide to transplantation