someone asked me if jacaranda trees have aggressive roots.
i didn’t know.
any clues?

I don’t know about roots, but they’ve got bl**dy aggressive seeds. I pull hundreds of them out, and there’s a small tree in the neighours yard. DRIVE ME NUTS! Almost as bad as crepe myrtle, which sends up flipping suckers everywhere, and Chinese elm.

They’re used pretty extensively as street plantings in our suburb so I assume their root systems are pretty benign. Kinda ironic really. They (ie the Council) plant them ‘cause we have a Jacaranda festival every year; but the Council has actually got them on their declared weed list.

Are there different varieties of this tree???

Reason ask this is, we had one when I was a teeneger in the outback…. then my neighbour had one in her back yard when my kids were little.

The neighbour’s tree dropped seeds everywhere… like marbles

But I don’t remember this with the tree as a teenager.

Jacs don’t have seeds like marbles Lucky. Have you confused it with something else?
I haven’had any seedlings come up from mine at all Sue.
As to wether it’s invasive, I haven’t had any trouble but they do get very big. I know they can lift driveways if they’re planted too close.

bubba louie said:

Jacs don’t have seeds like marbles Lucky. Have you confused it with something else?
I haven’had any seedlings come up from mine at all Sue.
As to wether it’s invasive, I haven’t had any trouble but they do get very big. I know they can lift driveways if they’re planted too close.

Oh, looked like a jackie tree…….. thanks Bubba.

There’s a couple of things that look like japs. Poinsettia (or is it poinsiana? whichever one isn’t the big red leaves you use in christmas decs). Then there’s yellow thing they use around here for street planting. Totally different leaf structure, but from a distance looks like a yellow jap.

I’ve never seen seeds. What I do know is everywhere that the flowers land I get seedlings. Seed leaves look like a bean, secondary leaves are pinate. As soon as I see them I pull them. The root is anything up to 3 times as long as the above ground plant. Leave them alone and they become a bugger to shift.

I would assume the roots are fairly OK – I’ve got two really big jacarandas pretty close to the house, and as someone else said councils plant them all over the place.

The seeds are really pretty I think – if you wait until the huge solid seed casing opens up, there are stacks of tiny thin floaty seeds in there. I’ve had a few seedlings pop up, but only if they happen to land in one of the few areas of the garden with half-decent soil and some moisture. Most of them land on crappy sand and don’t germinate.

I usually pop them in a pot when they’re small and give them away to someone with a big yard…

ok thanks
i’ve read all that.
looks like they’re ok
how old are they when they are ‘big’? – i’m thinking 10 years plus.

we have one Jacaranda don’t have any problems with it.

jacarandas invasive roots

Hi Pepe

Copy ‘n’ paste the above into Google, then go to the page suggested in Brian burke’s book (page 178)… Mr burke was an arborist by training, and he knows his trees better than most.

This should answer most of your questions…

My “new” jacaranda has flowered for the first time in it’s life this year. It is about 10 to 14 yo (maybe 14 yo but close)…I think the cracking black clay may have impeded it’s developement a lot…it suckers like mad at the base of the tree because of this (that’s my theory)…

It was recommended in Stirling Macoboy’s book “what tree is that?” as having non-invasive roots, but I guess if it is near something that seeps moisture (e.g. pipeline) it may well opportunistically head for that source…I have not had any problems with this tree in the surrounding lawn or concrete tiles so far…this tree was “pruned” by two children playing cyclones but managed to branch forth and multiply…my other jacarandas are only about 20 foot high and thin crowned…the sulphur crests like to eat the seeds…(and they assist with the pruning, the little darlings…)

It was recommended in Stirling Macoboy’s book “what tree is that?” as having non-invasive roots, but I guess if it is near something that seeps moisture (e.g. pipeline) it may well opportunistically head for that source…I have not had any problems with this tree in the surrounding lawn or concrete tiles so far…this tree was “pruned” by two children playing cyclones but managed to branch forth and multiply…my other jacarandas are only about 20 foot high and thin crowned…the sulphur crests like to eat the seeds…(and they assist with the pruning, the little darlings…)
————————
chuckle
that answers my question – in fact a large tree is 25 years old – unless it finds a particularly desirable spot.

in fact a large tree is 25 years old – unless it finds a particularly desirable spot.
==

Yes, and the self-mulching cracking black soil that is my lot, is not “desirable” for the jacarandas…like being in a biiiiiiiig pot

…and I think my “other” jacarandas might be 30 years old? They were as grown 14 years ago as they are now…probably had more canopy then but receded due to the prolonged drought…

bubba louie said:

Jacs don’t have seeds like marbles Lucky. Have you confused it with something else?
I haven’had any seedlings come up from mine at all Sue.
As to wether it’s invasive, I haven’t had any trouble but they do get very big. I know they can lift driveways if they’re planted too close.

I get heaps of seedlings come up round here. We have a fence line of about 20 Jacks and now we have little ones dotted in lots of places around the property that we don’t want them. I am forever pulling them up. They’re good to pot up for street stalls and fetes etc.

pepe said:

ok thanks
i’ve read all that.
looks like they’re ok
how old are they when they are ‘big’? – i’m thinking 10 years plus.

Mine was about 5 or 6 feet high when I bought it, around 6 years ago, and now it’s way taller than our 2 story house.

Oodles of them in peak flower out our way, so pretty when driving along and they are planted along the road.

we have Jacs behind us in a neibours yard and they have been there 40+ years never a problem with seeds here or roots very pretty in flower and shady in summer. I love em and their wood is good too :) Used to have streets lined with them but then the council decided to go eucylipt mad and now they are copiced to keep them from power lines…why plant tall trees under power lines to start with

I love em and their wood is good too :)

++++++++

Yes I have a pot made from a tree at St Francix Xavier College (Anglican’s priest teacher acadamy )in Brisbane…it fell over during a storm…almost like maple in colour…

jacaranda seed pod

you gotta love the jacaranda – looks good in the fields of harvested canola – looks good as a street tree too

pepe said:

you gotta love the jacaranda – looks good in the fields of harvested canola – looks good as a street tree too

Mornin All,

I’m with you Pepe, the Jac’s are just spectacular.

We have a few streets close by that are lined with them and just looks brilliant.

I’ve got a couple in pots but not sure what to do with them yet.
I wonder how well they would go left in pots?