Tree tips save money

MORE than 30 landholders attended an information session at Mark Walters’s property east of Loch to explore the different techniques available for planting trees recently.
Mr Walters presented what he has achieved through revegetation: providing shelter for livestock and habitat for wildlife, as well reducing the sediment load from his creeks into the nearby Bass River.
He has planted more than 100,000 trees on his property, both commercially and for biodiversity. An additional benefit has been to increase the value and appeal of his property.
Native plant nurseryman Frank Smolders gave a demonstration of a Pottiputki planter that consists of a hollow tube with a duckbill end that is driven into the ground and levered open to create a hole suitable for the seedling.
The seedling is then dropped down the tube into the hole and pressed into place with foot pressure. On observing this one attendee described it as “just like magic”.
This back saving device is favoured by commercial planting contractors to plant large numbers of trees. A practised operator can plant between 2000 and 5000 seedlings a day using a Pottiputki.
These are suited to either forestry tubes or hikos. Hiko seedlings are roughly half the size of standard tube stock and come in a tray of 40 seedlings rather than individual tubes.
One advantage of using hiko cells is the cost savings at nearly half the price of standard forestry tube stock.
However timing is critical and the ground needs to be soft enough for this planter to work effectively otherwise it will bend. The duckbill jaw on a Pottiputki planter can also be adjusted to suit different soil types.
There are also Hamilton tree planters type designed for hikos which are far more durable.
After the demonstration, attendees walked around Mr Walters’ property to look at the different areas he has planted using a mixture of direct seeding, tube stock (in the early days) and now hikos.
He favours direct seeding on the flattish areas of his property with a tractor and sources his seed locally.
Quad bikes can also be used for direct seeding. Mr Walters now prefers to use hiko cells on his steeper areas, of which he has many. He has planted up his gullies and creek lines, and has created a number of shelterbelts using these different planting methods.
He has received assistance from both Melbourne Water and Landcare to undertake his revegetation projects.
If you would like further information please contact the South Gippsland Landcare Network on 5662 5759.

Novel idea: native plant nurserymen Frank Smolders of Fish Creek shows attendees a tray of hiko seedlings and planting equipment.

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Posted by Sarah Vella on Jun 16 2015. Filed under Rural News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry