How to Grow Robinia

Choose a sunny spot with well drained soil. Enrich the soil with Yates Dynamic Lifter Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser. If the soil is heavy or clay based, add gypsum and fork in well.

Dig the planting hole twice as wide and to the same depth as the root-ball. Remove the shrub from the container, gently tease the roots and cut away any circled or tangled roots.

Position in hole and backfill with soil, gently firming down.

Form a raised or doughnut shaped ring of soil around the outer edge of the plant's root zone. This helps keep water where it's needed.  Always water in well after planting to settle the soil around the roots and keep the soil moist for several weeks while the new plant establishes.

Mulch around the base with organic mulch like bark chips, sugarcane or pea straw, keeping it away from the trunk.

Water deeply, once or twice a week, depending on weather conditions while the new tree establishes.

Feed every 6-8 weeks from spring to mid autumn with Yates Dynamic Lifter Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser.

Pick a variety that can be grown in a pot.  Choose a pot at least 600mm wide and deep. Position in full sun.

Fill chosen pot with quality potting mix, such as Yates Potting Mix with Dynamic Lifter.  Remove the plant from the container, gently tease the roots and cut away any circled or tangled roots.

Position in hole and backfill with potting mix, gently firming down. Water in well.

Water deeply, once or twice a week, depending on weather conditions.

Feed every 6-8 weeks from spring to mid autumn with Yates Dynamic Lifter Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser.

• Prune trees to shape and size in winter. Prune back the lateral branches to create a more compact shape. You will probably find that there will be a lot of branches that have crossed over each other and perhaps some branches that have even died back. These can be pruned out to open up the canopy and create a more dense look to the tree. The tree will come into leaf in early spring, at which time you can apply a fertiliser, like Yates Dynamic Lifter Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser around the base of the tree and water in well. 

• Some Robinias are grafted onto rootstock that produces suckers. To try and minimise suckering, avoid digging in the root zone and if suckers appear cut them off below ground level.

Yellowing leaves with prominent green veins are signs of iron deficiency.

Check the pH of your soil. The ideal pH should be between 6-7. As the pH increases and the soil becomes more alkaline, various nutrients can become unavailable to the plant, one of these nutrients being iron.

The pH of the soil can be lowered by using Yates Sulfur Soil Improver Granules. It helps creates ideal growing conditions for acid-loving plants such as Camellias, Azaleas, Magnolias and Blueberries. 

Yates Leaf Greener Iron Chelates Fertiliser can also be applied to the soil to correct the existing iron deficiency. Once the powder is dissolved in water and applied to the soil, it is absorbed into the root system. One application should be enough to correct this deficiency.