eucalyptus trees

[Fashionista22]

I love the idea of having an ongoing supply eucalyptus and was thinking about planting a tree in my small garden. Looking into it, it looks like it's not the best idea. Would it work if I buy a plant and keep it in a pot to contain it?

Thanks

I think there are varieties which stay smaller nowadays?

I've got a self seeded eucalyptus in a large pot, I chop it back from time to time and it seems ok. It's the offspring of some ill-advised trees the farmer on the land behind our house put in; they rapidly grew very tall, shed bits all over the neighbourhood when it was windy and after 15-20 years they started to topple - blocking their lane and damaging a neighbours fence, so they've now all been felled and replaced with something more sensible for the location (hazel I think).

So... I'd be very cautious about the variety if you do plant in the ground, a pot may be a better bet.

Definitely check the full grown height! We moved into a house in the late 90s which had been built in the mid 80s. The first owner planted a eucalyptus in the front garden - it was taller than the house when we moved in! The tree surgeon who took it down said it could have grown another 20 feet! Oh and I hated sweeping up the leaves which it seemed to drop all year.

Local garden centre sells dwarf varieties which they recommend you cut back quite hard every year to keep them more of a bush than a tree.