willow alternatives

Any questions or comments you have about Natural Sequence Farming processes. These could include general questions or ones about your personal problems.

PLEASE NOTE :
We do not endorse any answers from anyone in this forum except Peter Andrews himself.

Please remember, Natural Sequence Farming has to be tailored for your specific problem and to follow general advice may create more problems for you.

Moderator: webmaster

Shirley Henderson
Posts: 356
Joined: Sun May 06, 2007 4:03 pm
Location: Thirlmere

Post by Shirley Henderson » Mon Jun 23, 2008 6:18 pm

Image

nik
Posts: 22
Joined: Sun Jun 08, 2008 11:19 pm

Post by nik » Mon Jun 23, 2008 6:19 pm

The only drawback with white cedar is the caterpillar plague they can sometimes get, which can totally defoliate them. I forget which moth or butterfly it is from but the way to address the problem is to wrap a heshan bag around the base of the tree over night. the caterpillars will go under the bag over night and in the morning they can all be shaken out of the bag to be taken away. The exercise needs to be repeated a few times.

thanks for the other news

Nik

Shirley Henderson
Posts: 356
Joined: Sun May 06, 2007 4:03 pm
Location: Thirlmere

Post by Shirley Henderson » Mon Jun 23, 2008 6:20 pm

Image

Shirley Henderson
Posts: 356
Joined: Sun May 06, 2007 4:03 pm
Location: Thirlmere

Post by Shirley Henderson » Mon Jun 23, 2008 6:23 pm

Image

Shirley Henderson
Posts: 356
Joined: Sun May 06, 2007 4:03 pm
Location: Thirlmere

Post by Shirley Henderson » Mon Jun 23, 2008 6:27 pm

Image

Shirley Henderson
Posts: 356
Joined: Sun May 06, 2007 4:03 pm
Location: Thirlmere

Post by Shirley Henderson » Mon Jun 23, 2008 6:38 pm

Image

Shirley Henderson
Posts: 356
Joined: Sun May 06, 2007 4:03 pm
Location: Thirlmere

Post by Shirley Henderson » Mon Jun 23, 2008 6:41 pm

Image

Shirley Henderson
Posts: 356
Joined: Sun May 06, 2007 4:03 pm
Location: Thirlmere

Post by Shirley Henderson » Mon Jun 23, 2008 6:43 pm

Image

duane
Posts: 1161
Joined: Fri Apr 20, 2007 1:44 pm
Location: Central Coast, NSW
Contact:

Post by duane » Mon Jun 23, 2008 6:46 pm

Great post Shirley!!

The caterpillars can defoliate the tree....no problems there....they are decidious anyway.....it doesn't harm the tree and next season they are back again,,,,and they provide food for other animals such as wasps, birds. and drop grub poo etc

And I love the fact they are fast growing, repair degraded riparian zones, add Carbon and fertility to the system and they are a native primary coloniser with distribution from Sydney to Cape York......BRILLIANT!

AND THEY CAN REPAIR ACID SOILS AND MAKE THEM ALKALINE!!!

As Ron Bastion says "look at the "positives", More Melia's, more Currawongs, More Currawongs, less introduced bird species etc etc....All things in nature have a symbiotic relationship with each other (e.g. "Natural Sequence"). Humans always feel a need to be at the wheel, take control, create and destroy things for their own selfish needs and take no responsiblity for any long-term damage caused.
Peter Andrews and the people associated with NSF are clearly "the exception", and deserve more support."

WE SHOULD ALL FOLLOW THIS STORY WITH INTEREST.

Shirley Henderson
Posts: 356
Joined: Sun May 06, 2007 4:03 pm
Location: Thirlmere

Post by Shirley Henderson » Mon Jun 23, 2008 6:56 pm

Image

Shirley Henderson
Posts: 356
Joined: Sun May 06, 2007 4:03 pm
Location: Thirlmere

Post by Shirley Henderson » Tue Jun 24, 2008 8:56 am

In regards to birds eating the fruit I have also observed the magpie lark, peewee or sandpiper eating it and feeding its young. They are a smaller bird so more than likely others are also getting the benefit. I am going to be watching these trees very carefully from now on.
Shirley

duane
Posts: 1161
Joined: Fri Apr 20, 2007 1:44 pm
Location: Central Coast, NSW
Contact:

Post by duane » Tue Jun 24, 2008 10:06 am

Good on you Shirley.....we all have a mindset where we see plants that grow fast as being a problem.

The one thing the world needs now is PLANTS....masses of them and they need them FAST.

Melia is a great example:

*Thought by many to be an invasive plant because it grows so quickly
*It is a native and grows and spreads quickly because it is a primary repair plant
*It turns acid soils into alkaline soils
*repairs stability to riparian zones
*fire retatrdant plant
*food for native birds and insects

I think we could be forgiven for getting a little excited.

CMA's should take a close look at this!!!!

Shirley Henderson
Posts: 356
Joined: Sun May 06, 2007 4:03 pm
Location: Thirlmere

Pittosporum undulatum

Post by Shirley Henderson » Fri Jun 27, 2008 4:31 pm

Hello again, looking around at other trees I have found another native plant that in the past has been regarded as a weed. It sounds like a beauity so I will paste the information as it is thorough, informative and involves many facts. Please have alook.
Shirley
http://members.dcsi.net.au/kimjulie/lat ... orums.html

Shirley Henderson
Posts: 356
Joined: Sun May 06, 2007 4:03 pm
Location: Thirlmere

Post by Shirley Henderson » Fri Jun 27, 2008 6:35 pm

Omalanthus populifolius is another fast grower, drops leaves and grows on banks. Also feeds wildlife. A beautiful tree with huge heart shaped leaves. Common name is Bleeding heart tree because they turn red. Sorry but I dont have any pictures of that one.
recent name change also
now... Homolanthus nutans.
Shirley

Adrian
Posts: 56
Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2008 12:40 pm
Location: Northern Victoria Shepparton Area

Post by Adrian » Sat Nov 15, 2008 1:51 pm

Just a quick question how would these trees handle growing in sandy soils?
Always keep an open mind

Post Reply