Drooping Sheoak

Drooping Sheoak (Allocasuarina verticillata) is the windbreak tree for sites that punish everything else. It grows quickly to about 7m tall and 4m wide, with long weeping grey green needles that filter a gale rather than fight it, and it does this on poor soil, in salt spray and on very little water. It is also one of the country's most important food trees for black cockatoos.

Why you'll love it

• It was built for wind. The fine drooping foliage lets air pass through instead of catching it, which is why sheoaks stand on headlands where planted screens shred.
• Fast to useful height. A fast growing native reaching around 7m, so an exposed boundary is sheltered in years rather than decades.
• Black cockatoos feed on it. The woody cones are a genuine food source, and a row of established trees will bring flocks through your district.
• Tough on every front. Frost hardy, drought tolerant, salt tolerant, wind tolerant and untroubled by poor soil. There is very little left to go wrong.

Where it works best

Windbreaks. Plant 3m apart in a single row, or in a double staggered row at 3m centres on a badly exposed block. A permeable windbreak that slows air beats a solid wall, which throws turbulence over the top.

Screening and privacy. The same 3m spacing gives a soft, tall screen. It will not read as a clipped hedge, so treat it as a filtered green curtain rather than a solid barrier.

Growing Drooping Sheoak in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun. It performs across subtropical, warm temperate, cool temperate, Mediterranean and arid gardens, about as wide a range as any Australian tree offers, and it is frost hardy, so cold inland and southern districts suit it.

Soil. Poor soil is not a problem. Sand, gravel, shallow rocky ground and lean clay all suit it, provided water drains away. It will not tolerate a permanently waterlogged position.

Water and feed. Water fortnightly through the first summer to get the roots down, then leave it to rainfall in most districts. Heavy fertiliser produces soft growth more likely to break in wind.

Pruning. Very little is needed. Lift the lower limbs once the tree has height if you want to walk or park beneath it. It sheds fine needles and small cones steadily, so avoid planting it over a pool.

What to expect when it arrives

It is grown in six sizes, from 140mm through to 45L. The 140mm plants come as a pack of ten and the 200mm plants as a pack of six, both sensible for a long windbreak because young sheoaks establish faster than advanced ones. The 250mm pack of three, 300mm and 400mm pots are the middle ground, and the 45L gives immediate height.

Young plants look wispy and thin on arrival. That is what a sheoak is at this age, not a fault, and they thicken as they gain height. Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Advanced and large stock is freighted at cost, and every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• How to build a windbreak that actually works
• Browse plants suited to windbreaks
• See the full Australian native tree range
• Compare plants for coastal and exposed sites

Common questions

How far apart should I plant a windbreak?

Three metres apart in a single row. On a very exposed site, run two rows at 3m centres with the second row offset, which filters wind across a wider band.

How close can I plant it to a house or pipes?

Give it room. At 4m wide and this height, keep it at least 4m to 5m from a building, paving or a drainage line. It is a tough survivor rather than a plant with certified non-invasive roots.

Does it drop a lot of litter?

It sheds fine needles and small cones steadily through the year, and that litter builds a mat which suppresses grass beneath the canopy. Useful in a native bed, less welcome over a lawn.