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PREPARATION
SEEDLINGS
LITTLE 30 SEEDLINGS
FAMILY 28 - 3 MONTHS
2.5 METRES HIGH AT 6 MONTHS
FAMILY 38 AT 7 MONTHS
MACULATAS AT 5 YEARS (2002)
BLACKWOODS AT 5 YEARS
WASTED POLES
This paddock was an ugly treacherous paddock. You could lose your tractor in the weeds and the bog!! But two grand old "Mountain Grey" gums towered over the ugliness as a reminder of the good old days perhaps 50 years ago before clear felling of those beautiful trees. - the paddock had potential...
My good neighbour Bill lent me his tractor and slasher and I spent a day or two flattening the jungle leaving just the 2 big old trees. We then sprayed garlon on the blackberries and some brushoff on the woody weeds and waited...
By then it was summer and we could get a fertiliser spreader in and gave it all a good dose of super and potash (I think we did a soil test). We also got in an excavator to drain it all into two large dams with spoon drains. The dams filled up by themselves!! We must have struck a spring! So my son in law, Mike and I enjoyed a crystal clear swim in the new dams whilst we worked.
By autumn 1999 that north paddock was transformed! Lush green grass grew up everywhere. We had to slash it!! - future weeds!! The cattle loved it.
So the question was CATTLE OR TREES ? We now had a good paddock. We had to get it re-fenced anyway and there was no way we could keep out the big Kangaroos. They belong to public of Victoria and can feed where they like. My cattle would be competing but trees would not. Trees live off the water and minerals metres underground. They do not need topsoil except in year one a bit. This paddock was for trees. It was an experiment and they would bring many other benefits, but we decided that the seed orchard must be economically viable.
We had decided to select only the best parent trees for commercial saw logs for high value timber production.We wanted to develop a "Spotted gum" seed orchard. With the help of CSIRO we had purchased the best seed to propagate and naturally cross polinate in the Paddock.
In our logo photo (to the left) you can see these trees in the background. It proved to be a good decision. The Spotted Gums did better than all the other species that we tried and they remained straight and low maintenance over the ensuing 5 years.The trees you will see in the seed orchard have not been pruned. They have been thinned out so that only the best one tree of five is kept for seed production. As at year 2006 we should be collecting our first seed for sale.
WARNING !! We were lucky to chose the species and the provenances that suited our site. I think the first step is to get expert advice from a forestry consultant.Do this a year or more before you plan to plant a tree. Join an agroforestry network in your area, get a good aerial photo of your farm. This can be free!! Shelterbelts of trees rather than plantations may be the best way to go for your farm.
As at 2006 cattle prices are up at last! -- Maybe a mixture of long term tree income and livestock is the best plan. GOOD quality trees in the ground in a paddock may be sold in the paddock or lease the paddock.
ANYWAY -- You will not get good trees unless you spend a year before planting in preparation.The aerial photo is vital but then it is a matter of laying it all out and then RIPPING. Yes Expensive D7 bulldozer ripping along the columns of future trees. This is their water storeage underground. I think this ripping across the contures of the paddock is the most important thing.
THEN WEED CONTROL. You must rip down to one metre and maybe rotary hoe over the ripline and mabe mound a bit BUT then SPRAY.
Over the ripline we sprayed badly in year 2000 and it cost us in wasted time. Now may be a good time to see what we learnt for 2002. (see year 2002 preparation).
PREPARATION
PREPARATION - The 'Knockdown" herbicide worked but the residual one (Simazine) was washed away! Weeds grew in spring!
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SEEDLINGS
SEEDLINGS - Thousands arrived "Hardened" and ready. Mostly about 20 - 30 cm. high. 98% survived at 3 months in the ground.
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LITTLE SEEDLINGS
LITTLE SEEDLINGS - 30 was the code number. These were part of the seed orchard section of the year 2000 plantation. It was vital to keep each individual tree seedling in groups of five as a family tree plot and in exactly the right position in the replicate.
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FAMILY 28 - 3 MONTHS
FAMILY 28 - 3 MONTHS - Still small and 'Bushy" at 3 months but very healthy. The weeds are creeping in !!
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2.5 METRES HIGH AT 6 MONTHS
2.5 METRES HIGH AT 6 MONTHS - amazing the early growth in some of the families. The others catch up over the next year or two.
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FAMILY 38 AT 7 MONTHS
FAMILY 38 AT 7 MONTHS - At March 2001 most of the maculatas were about the same height as Libby and still about 97% survival.
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MACULATAS AT 5 YEARS (2002)
MACULATAS AT 5 YEARS (2002) - Well a lot has happened over 5 years. In the seed orchard we have let the trees grow with NO PRUNING. We want to pick out those that have natural good form by themselves the rest are cut down. We end up keeping only the best 15%.
This equates to 200 - 300 stems per Hectare for seed production.
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BLACKWOODS AT 5 YEARS
BLACKWOODS AT 5 YEARS - In the saw log plantation (Year 2000) the Blackwoods and Maculatas have been form pruned and lift-pruned and selectively thinned to keep the best for high quality saw logs. At 400 Stems/Ha we still have more thinning to do. (Initial planting was at 1450 stems/Ha.)
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WASTED POLES
WASTED POLES - Thinning seems such a waste. Some goes to firewood or is mulched back in. I wonder if we could treat them on-site with preservatives and use them as posts.
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