| In deciding what herb garden information to write; | | | | rose-like flowers in late spring, which produce |
| of all the herb garden delights, the tea tree must | | | | seed. The seeds can of course be collected and |
| surely rank among the best. Not an easy plant to | | | | planted to produce fresh stock. After flowering, |
| propagate, but well worth the effort, the tea tree | | | | the fresh leaves must be harvested frequently |
| is native to hot climate and acid, well watered soil. | | | | right through until late autumn, always pruning |
| If your garden will not provide these conditions, | | | | hard to maintain size and shape. Pruning is so |
| then the answer is to provide space in a | | | | important because left to grow tea trees can |
| greenhouse or even indoors. | | | | reach heights of 20 feet or more within a few |
| If you ask what is the tea tree useful for, it | | | | years. |
| would be easier to answer what it is not useful | | | | Provided the bush is kept healthy with plenty of |
| for; as its oil has such a wide variety of medicinal | | | | water and a dressing of organic fertilizer every |
| uses, being highly valued for its antiseptic, | | | | few weeks, the bush will very quickly recover its |
| antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial properties. It is | | | | growth no matter how hard it is pruned and |
| not related to the tea that you brew up from | | | | harvested. Because it is an evergreen your bush |
| Indian or Chinese tea leaves in teabags for your | | | | will appreciate regular doses of fertilizer all through |
| early morning or afternoon "Cuppa". It is native to | | | | the year. |
| Australia, and was named and used by Captain | | | | If you are lucky enough to have the right |
| Cook, making a tea by boiling the leaves as a | | | | conditions for growing your tea tree in the |
| prevention of scurvy, the disease that attacked | | | | garden, please remember that if there is any |
| sailors deprived of vegetables on long voyages. | | | | chance of a cold spell in the winter the bush will |
| The leaves of the tea tree are not mature | | | | have to be put into warm surroundings for the |
| enough, until the bush is three years old, but | | | | duration. Growing them indoors is easy and fun; |
| during that time you must prune it back hard in | | | | plant into the largest pot you can manage, using a |
| order to keep it small and nicely shaped. Unlike | | | | non-peat compost that is acidic and rich in |
| most other herbs that do not like to have too | | | | nitrogen. The tea tree is an ideal subject for |
| much water, your tea tree must be in soil that is | | | | bonsai because of its fast growing aspect. Regular |
| always damp, but not soggy. It must be watered | | | | trimming of the roots will produce a small but |
| regularly and well, but never over watered. | | | | fantastically knurled and thick trunk within a few |
| A mature bush will throw very pretty white | | | | years, providing a conversation piece for ever. |