G'day there
I'd just like to say thankfully someone out there makes a bit of sense!My question is to do with deciduous trees and steep hills. I'm just not sure
what trees I should be planting where. We have a very steep property of
about 67 acres. My plan was to grow deciduous trees over the top one third
of the property and having cattle over the other two thirds, with the whole
property fenced into three zones according elevation and wet areas as in the
bottom of the place gets very boggy in winter. My personal favorites are
desert ash and willows followed by oaks and elms. Our rainfall is 39" on
sandy loam soil. The hill seems to dry out very quickly which is the main
thing I'd like to address. Any ideas?
Thankyou
Dougal Morton
Deciduous trees and steep country
Moderator: webmaster
G'day Dougal and welcome aboad the nsf blogsite.
I had a posting all done and dusted earlier today, hit the submit button and it logged me out.
I am now back for a second try.
According to my calcs you have approx 22 acres or 10 hectares to plant out to follow Peter's 1/3 1/3 1/3 recommendation.
My rough calcs say you are going to plant @ 4000 plants in total at 10m centres. Remember importantly to plant a biodiverse mix of plants...you local landcare/forestry nursery may give you advice.
Te key to remember is to use the correct spp in relation to the hydrology of your site. Clearly. it will be drier at the top and wetter as you go down the slope.
Plant accoring to the existing hydrology and the percieved/managed changing hydrology...the natural landscape displays this everywhere if you look for it.
Each plant in the landscape is a specialist component for each change in hydrology.
To increase the WHC (water holding capacity) of the slope try if it is practical to collect any type of mulch and place it high on the slope in a flow line so that it gets a trickle feed of water thru it...each 1m3 of mulch will hold 3-5m3 of water....gravity will carry and move the water and fertility free of charge.
If you are wanting to plant deciduous exotics you could begin by planting out conifers at the top...both deciduous and evergreen. Willows etc would be more suited at the bottom of the slope where the hydrology is wettest.
If you Google Plant succession you will see lots of sites showing trees of the Northern hemisphere...its well documented and should give you some backgrounf info.
E E Lords book 'Trees and Shrubs of Australian Gardens' has an excellent section on decidous plants for your area.
I'll try and scan it and post the list later.
I had a posting all done and dusted earlier today, hit the submit button and it logged me out.
I am now back for a second try.
According to my calcs you have approx 22 acres or 10 hectares to plant out to follow Peter's 1/3 1/3 1/3 recommendation.
My rough calcs say you are going to plant @ 4000 plants in total at 10m centres. Remember importantly to plant a biodiverse mix of plants...you local landcare/forestry nursery may give you advice.
Te key to remember is to use the correct spp in relation to the hydrology of your site. Clearly. it will be drier at the top and wetter as you go down the slope.
Plant accoring to the existing hydrology and the percieved/managed changing hydrology...the natural landscape displays this everywhere if you look for it.
Each plant in the landscape is a specialist component for each change in hydrology.
To increase the WHC (water holding capacity) of the slope try if it is practical to collect any type of mulch and place it high on the slope in a flow line so that it gets a trickle feed of water thru it...each 1m3 of mulch will hold 3-5m3 of water....gravity will carry and move the water and fertility free of charge.
If you are wanting to plant deciduous exotics you could begin by planting out conifers at the top...both deciduous and evergreen. Willows etc would be more suited at the bottom of the slope where the hydrology is wettest.
If you Google Plant succession you will see lots of sites showing trees of the Northern hemisphere...its well documented and should give you some backgrounf info.
E E Lords book 'Trees and Shrubs of Australian Gardens' has an excellent section on decidous plants for your area.
I'll try and scan it and post the list later.
Thanks for the information Duane,
Its interesting when you "look" at the country and just where the moisture is in relation to slopes and gullies. Now I know what to look for I see little examples even in the hills where the water tracks "uphill" and I look forward to seeing the results of some of the contour channeling I will be putting in place. You see so many examples across the country where people are desperately trying to get water off the country instead of keeping it in the soil where it is useful.
The whole concept of NSF is so blatantly obvious, yet it really goes against the grain of what we have for so long thought was right. My grandfather in law is telling me every time I see him "you gotta get rid of those blackberries or they'll take over the place". I tried explaining why not to spray them but ho hum what's the point!!
Cheers
Dougal
ps Everyone go forth and plant!
Its interesting when you "look" at the country and just where the moisture is in relation to slopes and gullies. Now I know what to look for I see little examples even in the hills where the water tracks "uphill" and I look forward to seeing the results of some of the contour channeling I will be putting in place. You see so many examples across the country where people are desperately trying to get water off the country instead of keeping it in the soil where it is useful.
The whole concept of NSF is so blatantly obvious, yet it really goes against the grain of what we have for so long thought was right. My grandfather in law is telling me every time I see him "you gotta get rid of those blackberries or they'll take over the place". I tried explaining why not to spray them but ho hum what's the point!!
Cheers
Dougal
ps Everyone go forth and plant!