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Ecology Action on a Fringe-Urban Hillside |
Does an individual have a right to use his land for whatever he wishes, without regards to the effect on his neighbours?
Advertisements are where our children receive their cosmology, their basic grasp of the world’s meaning, which amounts to their primary religious faith. Our children are such easy prey. “Anad’s job is to make them unhappy with what they have.”
CREATIVITY Whoever creates any form of art or craft has immortality. The achievement does not die. Whoever nurtures the living product of any land shares in its life. If it is a tree that lives a thousand years you are within it. No test tube can compare with a cube of living soil. Every garden is a wonderland of life, from microorganisms to ancient trees; a kaleidoscope of colour and form, a living laboratory of change and rebirth. Who tends a garden enjoys constant change. Each day brings something new. The vivid Tigridia “one day lily” is a reminder that no matter what the weather or season a never-ending process continues to produce new life and growth more rewarding and certain than any financial return. Cultural diversity is as important as biodiversity, and as rich. Both start with a single cell which multiplies infinitely, adding dimensions, and eventually re-unites in glorious complexity. Each life form is unique while sharing diverse and complementary qualities. Symbiotic relationships are universal. Humans, like most organisms, reach their most impressive goals in a mutually dependent association.
A land ethic changes the role of Homo Sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it. It implies respect for fellow-members…The conqueror role is eventually self-defeating.….
Aldo
Leopold.1949
To restore the land, one must live and work in a place. (Gary Snyder)
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Updated 18 March 2009 Ecologics - Hints and Tips
Item 103 - Simple, Colourful and Harmless to Native Species
If you have a large area to make attractive for birds and people, the following are easily established, will spread if allowed – in shade - and will not invade native bush: Hydrangeas, regular and “old fashioned” Nasturtiums “Busy Lizzies”, Fuchsias, “red hot pokers”, Tree dahlias, Irises, but avoid ginger and leave agapanthus for public roadsides.
Nearly all trees respond favourably to mulch
over their root zone and a good water supply. None more so than kauri. In their forest habitat the mature trees build up a mound of litter from dropped foliage and self-pruned branches in which their surface feeding roots flourish. Outside the forest, wind and other disturbance restrict this natural build-up and it must be replaced. . Almost any kind of organic material will do, including grass clippings and weeds, preferably well mixed and not too wet when applied –some initial aeration is needed.
Providing it is not packed close to the trunk, is sweetened with some lime and is not compacted –keep those feet off- quite a large quantity of mulch can be applied around a specimen kauri and it will quickly respond with lush, glowing, new growth at the crown and tips in spring and autumn. Since the exact nutrient needs of kauri are not well known, a varied mulch can supply a variety of trace minerals and help to release minerals locked up in clay, rocky, dry and podsolised soils. And keep those feet off the feeding area. We are learning the right way to treat this most attractive and impressive tree Laurelia nova zealandia that pokes its head up above everything else in regenerating bush - especially on volcanic soils. There are a few mature specimens at Three Streams, and seedlings spring up in the fertile years, but they take several years to become established. We use very little fertiliser at Three Streams, This is partly on principle but mainly because our philosophy is that in the long term the land should be growing what grows well on it without help (of course that does not include undesirable “weeds”). To cope with the acidity (low ph) from fifty years of planted pines we apply lime, which rapidly improves fertility, especially in making compost or stimulating the breakdown of heaps of litter. Everything organic goes back into the soil, which then replenishes its own mineral needs. Blood and bone adds good general qualities with no apparent downside. For some years we also applied urea for additional nitrogen. And occasionally, when planting, we provide some slow-release fertiliser. But the general principle is that once any previously imposed deficiencies are dealt with trees that are not required to produce crops for harvesting should be left to grow as they want to grow on this piece of land, and eventually be replaced by natural succession. Caring for a big garden means never seeking a reason to get up in the morning.
And never being depressed about problems. Five minutes lying awake thinking about your plants –excluding any worries - and you leap out with a dozen things to do. Even if it's raining. Exotic pines: We keep some of these old pines growing among our native species, because they are so much higher than the locals will be for many years, lifting the landscape closer to the heavens. By pruning off the lower branches we greatly reduce shading, transpiration, nutrient uptake and acidic needle fall, improving the conditions in which natives will thrive. Quite a small growing crown will keep the tree alive for many years, encouraging its companions to grow higher faster. Climbing to prune is not cheap, but it pays off. How many years? Who knows? There is a huge Pinus radiata thriving near the kiosk in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens that is known to be 150 years old. The same gardens display numerous examples of pines 50 or more years old that have been successfully high pruned. In such public areas safety has to be a consideration, although even big branches of pines rarely break and fall, as happens with many eucalypts. The “gums” constantly self-prune. Kauris also self-prune, eventually leaving a clean trunk, but their droppings are small, and in a forest situation build up mounds which nourish the tree’s surface feeding roots. And when the high-pruned radiata or pinaster pines die? There will be no huge spreading limbs to break and damage everything below. Although the remaining branches and foliage have a long way to fall, they will be dry and light before doing so, with minimum impact. That could be another twenty years. Meanwhile, watch the birds enjoying the high outlook and the flourishing insect life. The dead stems still stand high above and the tuis love to perch up there; other trees flourish below and as accumulating humus gradually enriches the soil the newcomers will eventually overtop and consume what remains of the pines. There's no hurry. Exceptions are those growing near a streambank. The root system will have developed mainly on the stream side and especially if the tree has a lean it could be destabilised and fall when the ground is saturated
Item 101
Not everyone will agree about doing this says John Hogan, but this is how we do it. We go up the pines and trim all the branches except for a few at the top. This lifts the crown of the tree and lets the light in. And do you know how pine trees die? Well, look over there. He points out a spar jutting through the canopy. They just stand there and crumble away from the top. And many insects live there. I notice a lot of birds feeding there too.
(let everything grow....). Unless, of course, it is really nasty or dangerous or is becoming a local nuisance. Take Tradescantia (wandering jew). It is tiresome to try and totally eradicate it while it has any light, but there is a way here for us to live with it because we plan for it to be overcome. Smother it with equally robust but more desirable ground cover, which can be smothered in turn.
Plectranthrus is colourful through the seasons and very effective. Near a stream, the native which will come up through Plectranthrus is parataniwha (Elastoma rugosum). Nikau seedlings and other ferns come up through the Plectranthrus too. It's working with nature, rather than against it. What do you find? Is this true where you live? If you have some experience relating to this Ecologic item (or other native forest observations), please let us know. We will publish comments and ideas here. We'd love to hear from you! SO…… In June, researchers from Pastoral Greenhouse Gas Research Consortium in New Zealand - a group dedicated to reducing methane emissions from livestock - announced they had decoded the genetic sequence of Methanobrevibacter ruminantium, one of 20 or so species of methane-producing microbes in sheep and cow stomachs. They are hoping to discover a genetic hallmark for all methanogens, says Graeme Attwood, a microbiologist at the New Zealand based AgResearch and leader of the consortium's genome-sequencing project. Such methanogen-specific genes might provide a targeted way to knock out these microbes without harming the hundreds of other beneficial species in the rumen. The researchers think the hydrogen and carbon dioxide left behind that would have been digested by methanogens would then be consumed by other microbes, such as acetogens which dominate marsupial guts and are present in smaller numbers in ruminant guts, to produce the nutrient acetate, making the animals healthier too.
LESSONS FROM A STORM
What a lot there is to be learnt from the effects of a severe storm on a small mixed woodland.
The storm that battered Northland, then Auckland, on July 10th 2007 has been variously described as the worst on record, the worst in 100 years \, and worse than Cyclone Bola (1988). It was certainly the most severe I can recall in nearly 40 years on this property. Coming, unusually, from the North-East, after two wet weeks, it combined a strong steady blow with what have been called mini-tornadoes –every now and again quite a bang against my house, estimated to be well over 100 kmh, and from different directions. These are what blew down so many trees - over 20 substantial trees here at Three Streams. And each one tells a story.
Three Streams is a mixed woodland in several respects : It is a mixture of mature planted pines and regenerating native species, some older than the pines and others quite recent; a mixture of native and exotic species deliberately planted since 1969, a mixture of closed canopy areas and open lawn, driveway and walkways, and a long ridge between two major stream valleys. So how did different trees fare in the storm?
Those uprooted were mainly over 60 years old, self-established on the ridge, old kauri forest land with limited topsoil covering a podsolised hardpan. So although well established they were shallow rooted, Surprisingly, that included large but exposed kanukas. One on the house lawn was 19m high and the trunk diameter at breast height was over 30cm. But a second stem had been removed some ten years ago, and roots had died since. Even much higher pines survived unscathed, presumably because they were carefully planted and had deeper root systems. A large wattle, two large kowhais and a eucalypt were uprooted –again they had all been heavily pruned in recent years.
Except for the wattle, which brought down a number of tall young tanekaha, rimu, and understory species, there was little collateral damage and none to the house itself (built 30 years ago from 14 pines on what is now lawn).
February 2008- six months later- you would not know it had happened. Single trees lost have been replaced, and the large group has made way for a new garden area wih new young specimen trees. | Home | What You Will See | Join Us | Bio | History | Seasons | Noticeboard | Archives | Ecologics | Links |
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