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WHY BLACKWOODS? WHY A SEED ORCHARD?
BLACKWOODS WITH GOOD FORM
LITTLE BLACKWOODS - AT 7 MONTHS
TRIPLETS - THREE TREES OF THE SAME FAMILY.
BLACK WOOD MEASUREMENTS
Acacia melanoxylon grows naturally in Australia in a large range of latitudes from Tasmania to Queensland. The timber is prized by cabinet makers because of the beautiful appearance with natural “Black” staining .
Most of the big old trees have been felled years ago and unless it is grown in plantation the supply will dry up. It is a valuable timber and would justify the use of valuable farm land particularly if it also acted as a shelterbelt or had scenic benefit on the farm.
Blackwoods are slow growing in the wild but in plantation there is some evidence (see our year 2000 plantation) that they can grow quite quickly and with good straight form. Thinnings at 3 years are showing good black staining of the heartwood.
This feature and the form and frost resistance etc...may well be genetically based - hence our seed orchard experiment in 2002. - We think it is the first in Australia and certainly the biggest. We hope to present some early results at the “Blackwood conference” in April 2006 with the Blackwoods at 19 months of age.
For the seed orchard we trialled 71 families sourced from South of ACT to southern Tasmania. They were planted in 3 tree family plots in 8 replicates with near 100% survival despite the drought! We were very strict with preparation and needed no spraying for the first 2 years. It was fascinating to see the distinct “family features” in the 3 tree plots.
We have thinned the one “worst” tree from each plot leaving 2. Plantings are at 1.5m spacings with 3.5m between the columns(rows). We have had a lot of help from the ENSIS Joint venture between CSIRO and the New Zealand equivalent.
Our ultimate aim is keep just the best Blackwoods for natural cross pollination and possibly artificial selective breeding to produce the best seed or clones for future quality timber.
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BLACKWOODS WITH GOOD FORM - Planted Sept. 2000 .
These Blackwoods were from seed from a Victorian provenance. at 5 years of age they were generally of suprisingly good form and vigor - hope it lasts!! We have pruned the branches that are 25mm. or more in diam. and done some form pruning.
no fertiliser, no frost or insect damage - just Kangaroo trampling !!
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LITTLE BLACKWOODS - AT 7 MONTHS
These were planted in Sept 2002 as part of the future Blackwood seed orchard. The ground had been ripped to one metre and rotary howed and mounded. Weed control prior to planting was with Glycophosphate bi-active and simazine. I think the drought also helped supress the weeds during this first spring. 100% survival!
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TRIPLETS - THREE TREES OF THE SAME FAMILY.
You can often see the distinct family characteristics compared to the unrelated neighbours. Form and vigour certainly seems to be influenced by genetics at a particular site. Leaf colour and maturity and bark are also familial features at this age ( 2 years ).
All Blackwoods seemed remarkably resistant to wind frost and insect damage compared to the surrounding Eucalypts - perhaps an “Nurse crop effect”
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BLACK WOOD MEASUREMENTS
Luke and Paul are experts at measuring Blackwoods in the 2002 seed orchard.
Each tree is numbered and accurately located. Height and DBH are recorded and also a Blackwood form score is described on a scale from 1 - 9.
These early results at 4 and a half years should be quite exciting.
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