Timing is the cheapest thing you can get right when planting a tree. The same tree planted in April in Sydney and in December in Sydney can be two different plants a year later: one with a root system that carried it through its first summer, the other set back a season or dead. This guide gives the planting window for each Australian climate zone, the special cases, and what to do in the first two summers. The trees range is where the plants come from.
Why autumn beats spring in most of Australia
This runs counter to a lot of imported advice, which assumes a northern hemisphere winter harsh enough to kill autumn-planted stock. Across most of Australia the reverse is true. An autumn-planted tree gets the entire cool season, autumn, winter and early spring, to develop roots in warm-but-not-hot soil, with low water demand from the canopy and reliable rainfall in most regions. By the time its first summer arrives it has a functioning root system. A spring-planted tree gets only a few weeks before summer heat hits, with far less root established. The exception is genuinely cold districts, where hard frost on a newly planted root system does more damage than the extra establishment time is worth; there, success hinges on choosing frost-tolerant species and waiting for the last hard frost.
Planting windows by Australian climate zone
Australia spans several genuinely different climate zones, and the right planting month in Darwin has nothing in common with the right one in Hobart.
| Zone | Cities | Best planting window |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical | Darwin, Cairns, Townsville | Start of the wet season, Nov to Jan |
| Subtropical | Brisbane, Gold Coast, northern NSW | Autumn (Mar to May), or early spring |
| Warm temperate | Sydney, Perth | Autumn, ideally April to May |
| Cool temperate | Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra | Autumn, or winter for bare-rooted stock |
| Cold | Tasmania, tablelands | Late winter to early spring, after hard frost |
Season by season
Autumn
The best season almost everywhere south of the tropics. The soil is still warm from summer, the air is cooling, and autumn rain does the watering. Plant from March to May, earlier in the north and later in the south, and the tree will have grown roots for six months before it has to face heat.
Winter
The season for bare-rooted deciduous trees, which are lifted and sold while dormant from June to August, and a fine season for evergreens in frost-free coastal areas. Inland and on the tablelands, wait for the last hard frost before planting anything frost-tender.
Spring
Second best in the south and a reasonable choice for hardy evergreens and natives, provided they go in early, in September, so there is some root growth before summer. Spring is the right season for palms and tropical species in cool climates, because they only grow roots in warm soil. The later in spring you plant, the more watering the first summer will take.
Summer
The season to avoid. A newly planted tree has a root system confined to its original root ball, and a 40 degree day with hot wind will draw more water from the canopy than that root ball can supply. Even with daily watering the failure rate is high, and survivors are usually set back a full season. If you must plant in summer, because a plant arrived or a project has a deadline, shade the plant temporarily, mulch heavily, water deeply every second day, and accept that you are working against the conditions. The tropical north is the exception: planting into the start of the wet gives free irrigation for months.
Special cases
- Bare-rooted deciduous trees: winter only, while dormant. Fruit trees, ornamental pears and roses are sold this way from June to August.
- Ex-ground and advanced trees: the cool months, when the tree can be lifted with a root ball and moved with least stress.
- Palms: late spring and summer. Palms only produce roots in warm soil, and a palm planted in a Melbourne winter simply sits there.
- Tropical and frost-tender species: spring, once frost risk has passed, so they get a full warm season before their first winter.
- Tropical north: planting into the start of the wet gives free irrigation for months.
Choosing the tree
Pick the species before the date. An indigenous species often sits more easily with the local flora and fauna, and our comparison of native versus exotic plants weighs up both sides. Decide early whether you want a tree that holds its leaves all year, since our guide to evergreen versus deciduous trees shows how much that one choice changes the garden. If you are planting for shade, start with the best canopy trees to create shade; for a driveway or entry, our list of the best trees for lining driveways in Australia is the place to look. Check the mature size against the space: more Australian gardens are ruined by a tree that got too big than by anything else.
Planting it properly
Understand the soil first, because it sets how the tree will drain and feed; our guide to identifying and using soil types will tell you what you are working with. Then:
- Dig wide, not deep: two to three times the root ball width, at the same depth. Planting too deep is a common cause of slow decline, so keep the root flare visible at ground level.
- Tease out any circling roots so they grow outward, and backfill with the soil you dug out rather than imported mix, which creates a bathtub in clay.
- Water in deeply straight away, then mulch to 75 mm, kept 50 mm clear of the trunk.
- Do not fertilise at planting. Wait until new growth appears; fertiliser on disturbed roots burns.
- Stake only if genuinely unstable, low and loosely, and remove the stake after the first year so the trunk strengthens.
Getting the first two summers right
Water deeply and infrequently: a long slow soak once or twice a week beats daily sprinkling, which keeps roots shallow where they cook. Keep the mulch topped up, keep grass and weeds a metre back from the trunk, and check the soil under the mulch with a finger before watering rather than on a schedule. A tree that has made it through two summers on this routine is established and will mostly look after itself.
Ready to plant?
Browse the full range in trees for Australian gardens, skip the wait with advanced trees, or plant in numbers affordably from tubestock. See our delivery page for how trees travel to your door, and check the planting calendar for the right month in your city. Before a tree goes in near the house, read our guide to planting near pipes: it sets out what Australian water utilities say about root behaviour, what can go directly over a sewer line, and which trees to keep well away.
