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It’s not easy being a street tree, but this heroic eucalypt withstands everything we throw at it

Street trees usually grow in appalling soils, have little space for their roots, are rarely watered and often get aggressively trimmed by road authorities or utility companies.If they do get established, many street trees suffer damage from vehicles, have to live in wind tunnels or are forced to grow in the permanent shade of large buildings.But despite everything we throw at them, many street trees don’t just survive, they thrive. So let’s meet one of these heroic species: the yellow gum, (Eucalyptus leucoxylon).Pretty but toughYellow gum is widely planted across southeastern and eastern Australia as a street tree. In some suburbs and towns, it is so common that people think it is a native tree (in fact it is from South Australia, Victoria or southwest New South Wales). It is not to be confused with yellow box (Eucalyptus melliodora), a different eucalypt altogether. Yellow gum has been widely planted because it meets many of the demands we place on urban trees. It grows well in diffe…