December 17th, 2025Beetham’s Botanicals

Well here I am again penning another column for you, the reader, to enjoy…
This time I’ll be concentrating on broad-leaved trees and shrubs for your garden, and when I say broad-leaved, I mean plants that are significantly wider than say, for example, eucalypyts, tea-trees and willows.
So let’s start with one of my favourite trees…
1. Acer macrophyllum (bigleaf maple) has extraordinary deeply cut large leaves that are the largest in the genus and turn a vibrant yellow in autumn. For those keen on travelling, you must visit the Hoh River rainforest in the north of Washington state (USA) to see them covered in literally tons of moss.

2. Aesculus hippocastanum (common horse chestnut) has lovely emerging palmate leaves with 5 to 7 leaflets that, in time, are followed by great trusses of white flowers speckled with red and yellow which then give way to a crop of ‘conkers’ which remind me of my early Australian childhood. There is a listed magnificent specimen growing in the Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens giving shelter to a cannon.
3. Corylus maxima purpurea (purple-leaved hazelnut) is a small tree with striking bold deep purple emerging leaves that gradually fade to a greeny-purple colour…not grown for its fruits but primarily for its foliage which works well when postioned alongside plants such as viburnum japonicum (Japanese viburnum), luma apiculata (Chilean myrtle) and camellias.
4. Hydrangea quercifolia (oak-leaved hydrangea) is a medium to large shrub that has broad foliage not unlike an oak tree (hence its name) and can tolerate dappled shade as well as full sun – as long as the root run is kept moist during hot spells – the elongated white flower clusters are long flowering and the somewhat unusual leaves may turn deep burgundy in autumn if weather conditions are just right.
5. Quercus dentata (daimyo oak) is a wide-spreading tree (requiring a good deal of space to show its true potential) that carries large-toothed leaves that can reach 20cm long and 10cm wide. Fine specimens can be seen growing in the Domain Parklands and another close by on the Oak Lawn at the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne. And there’s your lot – a slightly biased selection of broad-leaved plants to display in your garden.
Cheers John Beetham (Trees in Australia)
Next time – Planting a seasonal perennial