justin said:

roughbarked said:

justin said:

the leaves are on and there seems to be a male, non flowering tree and about four females.
they are twelve years old, lived in pots for 3-5 years and have been planted here for about 8 years.

To tell the truth they don’t look terribly golden. They look like ash yes. So they are probably Fraxinus excelsior or simply Fraxinus angustifolia subsp. oxycarpa rather than Fraxinus excelsior ‘Aurea’
!The main difference apart from the attractive yellow young growth is that the golden ash only grows to 7 m while the European Ash may reach heights up to 45 m. So unless you pinched the seeds from some larger garden complex it is unlikely to be the European Ash.

There is one thing that everyone should remember about ash. That in Australia, in general if the trees were purchased from a nursery or garden centre for a suburban back yard then it would be one of three., the Claret Ash, the Golden Ash or the Desert Ash. In 99% of instances the first two would be budded onto the Desert Ash as the rootstock. The other two don’t produce viable seed and both are prone to the rootstock overtaking the grafted scion within the first few years of planting. Which is in general what does happen in many instances. The Desert Ash is now an invasive weed. It does set millions of viable seed and is the hardiest of the Ash species in Australian conditions.
The claret ash is one of the most useless trees on earth that just happens to be planted everywhere. IMHO.

desert ash then. so far no viable seed here – altho’ these were seed from an original that we left behind.. I will check again this spring because I haven’t noticed the bees on the bare branches before.

The Desert Ash is an attractive tree and very hardy, out in open parkland. Unlike the Claret Ash which is fugly and prone to snapping brittle branches. Though if I had Desert Ash I’d probably go looking for a street planted golden ash, pinch a couple of the lovely golden sticks and graft them on where I chain-sawed the desert ash off. Preferably put the ash through the chipper and plant some natives or a walnut tree. er Any edible fruit or nut bearing tree is preferable to a non-native potential weed that is well known to tear up footpaths and drains, not to mention house foundations. If autumn colours are what you are after, a persimmon is one of the better bets.