Look at the above photo carefully. In the centre is the trunk of an Acacia pendula in my garden. Look at all the ground around it. Notice that there is no grass growing around the trunk for quite some metres in all directions. This is because the roots are ''phytotoxic'', I think it is called. It means that this type of acacia can poison all the grass around it. (See how far the green grass is away, in the picture?) This can be quite useful, if you want to keep the grass down. Grow enough of these acacias, and you'll never need to mow again. Most wattles live around a good ten years, so if you keep a few new Acacia pendula seedlings coming along, at all times, your garden can be kept free of grass forever more. No more gasoline bills. No more lawnmowing. Ground kept clear as a good firebreak. Of course, other trees like Eucalyptus can have phyotoxic roots, too, but they have leaves full of eucalyptus oil and catch on fire easily.
Acacia pendula have nice silver-grey leaves and, yes, the branches do hang down in a rather ''pendulous'' fashion. Quite an attractive and drought-resistant tree, but you'll need to give it some extra water to get it up and running quickly--if you want it to stretch its roots out as rapidly as possible. You won't have to mow, but every ten years or so you will have to replace the trees, and cut out the dead ones. That means a little chainsaw work, yes, but nothing like being obliged to mow regularly, year after year. Sit back and enjoy the view, instead. The birds will love you for the extra trees, and you won't have to worry about snakes hidden in the grass. Flower-wise, they are not the showiest of wattles, blooms being of a more paler and insignificant yellow, but they are still pretty enough.
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