HAND WEEDING                                 SUGAR GUMS WIND DAMAGE THE CHAINSAW SPECIES TRIALS FROST-2006   HAND WEEDING ! We sprayed very carefully around this little tree. This is the worst job. Backbreaking but spraying may kill the tree. It should never be necessary if weed control is done properly prior to planting - See my notes on the year 2002 plantation. We learn by our mistakes!! Return to top of page   SUGAR GUMS They come in two types - Big trees and little bushes. We planted the little bushes!! We wanted to try them at Bunyip year 2000. Sugar Gums grow well in low rainfall and may make good timber or firewood. At least the big ones do. It is a good lesson about genetics and provenances and subspecies and hybrids etc... They may all have the same name when you go to a nursery but the end product is very different. You must know the genetic background of the seed. Return to top of page   WIND DAMAGE There is nothing much you can do about wind. I am speaking not as a gastroenterologist here. It happens and you can tell it is coming. In the first year it may cause 'buttsweep" and later "lean" - particularly if your soil is too fine - maybe too much howing and mounding before planting. Also you must thin out the trees so that they can grow fatter and stronger to withstand the wind. But thin out as evenly as possible so that you avoid large open holes in the plantation. We lost some tall straight trees because the tops were broken off by the wind - mostly beyond repair. Another good reason for planting trees densly in the first place.   Return to top of page   THE CHAINSAW The farmer's friend can cause you bother if you cut corners as well as trees. I was totally wrong and lucky not to get hurt. A tree fell near a fence as usual! So I leant over the fence instead of climbing over it to chainsaw the tree. Suddenly the tree squashes my chainsaw - cost for new bar,chain and casing $300. - 20 years experience, self taught...   SPECIES TRIALS some do not do well in Bunyip Vic. more to follow... FROST BITTEN - 2006 I should never have planted in August. It was my own fault. We had a long planned holiday to Italy in early September. So I organized my new plantation  in August. In the past I had planted in early September when the risk of severe frosts in West Gippsland is quite low. And so it turned out in 2000 and 2002. - No trouble with frost. This year (2006) we copped a record frost at -3deg. C two nights in a row and 2 days after planting 6500 trees!!! It was not a pretty sight. A week later most of my new trees looked dead ! Brown crisp leaves and dark red stems. The worst affected species were E.sieberi and muelleriana. The botryoides,(which were much smaller to start with), were less damaged. After all the planning I had gambled on getting no frost. The weather forecast was of no help. It was a time of clear skies, no rain high pressure system – ideal frost conditions but great weather for planting. After the initial shock (and counseling) I was encouraged by the wise advice of the nurserymen. “Eucalypts are tough” they said, even though the tops are black and twisted and lower leaves are falling off, there may be signs of life. Well I have attached a picture and sure enough you can see some tiny leaf buds showing by week three after the frost. You can see them with a magnifying glass,some hidden behind a dead leaf. Just 3mm. - long but alive!! It is still early days and I’m sure the experts would warn about the effects of yet another Frost. There maybe others who have planted in July or Autumn and suffered a bad frost. I would like to hear there comments about the future of the trees. Cheers John Goy… Return to top of page