Written and edited by Tammy 21th March 2023
Xanthorrhoea australis Australian Native Grass Trees. Commonly known as 'Yaccas or Blackboys'.
There's something magical and enchanting about walking amongst hundreds of grass trees, towering almost twice your height in virgin scrub, never cleared by man.
Native to Australia, grass trees, or Blackboys thrive in nutrient poor, rocky, sandy free draining soil.
They're extremely slow growing, only gaining about 1cm a year. They can reach heights of up to 5 meters tall, with the flower spikes themselves reaching another meter or more beyond that. Imagine with a growth rate like that just how old beauties like these could potentially be, hundreds of years old!
Aboriginals, referred to them as Blackboys because black trunks are exposed after a fire. The trunk isn't solid like a regular gum tree; it actually comprises all the tightly packed stems of the previous seasons' whorls of foliage.
Grass trees flower at their best sending up fresh new spikes after a fire has swept through.
If you're thinking about having a crack at growing a Blackboy as a feature in your garden (and why wouldn't you!! they truly are something) don't go and dig one up from the side of the road. Firstly, it is illegal, secondly, it will more than likely die due to having it's roots and its location disturbed, they don't like it.
They aren't cheap, you'll be set back $120 upwards for an established one, keep in mind how slow they grow, it can be a few years before they reach a size where the begin to flower. Don't be tempted to fuss over them too much or you will kill them with love. Think carefully about replicating the natural habitat they come from.
A full sun, free draining sandy soil and don't overwater them. If anything, once they're established the annual rainfall is probably adequate.
Just imagine, your kid's kids admiring and sharing with their kids the beautiful grass tree that their great grandparents planted a long time ago.
Consider a Native Grass Tree.
Happy Gardening🪴😘🌸
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