TARN

Commonly found on shallow and skeletal soils of either eroded sandstone or shallow aeolian (windblown) sand deposits around Sydney, this wattle is a graceful and elegant species when viewed in the dry sclerophyll forests that it occupies.

In a garden its performance can be fickle, easily done in by soil that is too rich (including most ‘native’ mixes, moist, or a lack of air flow can easily do them in. And when successful, they do tend to defoliate from beneath, leaving bare stems. However, on free-draining, low phosphorous sandy soil with good sunlight and air movement (such as a roof garden or a street front planting) they can – in our experience – perform relatively well. A benefit of this species is that –– for a wattle –– it is relatively slow growing, and therefore may be a little longer-lived than some of its relatives.

Flowers are white, and sporadic rather than intense or showy – this is a plant to use for its form and foliage. It’s interesting from a design perspective, because it does not take up volume in a planting – it provides head-height detail, without density or screening.