Field Growing Natives

[teejay]

What's everyone's opinion on field growing natives? I've spoken to a few 'old hands' about it and many won't field grow Eucalypts especially, preferring to keep them in shallow trays or pots.

Does everyone here do it regardless of variety, some or none? And if only some, which would you avoid?

As I'm looking to plant out a lot of trees when it warms up I'm curious to know what differing opinions on this there are out there.

Cheers.

[kcpoole]

What's everyone's opinion on field growing natives? I've spoken to a few 'old hands' about it and many won't field grow Eucalypts especially, preferring to keep them in shallow trays or pots.

Does everyone here do it regardless of variety, some or none? And if only some, which would you avoid?

As I'm looking to plant out a lot of trees when it warms up I'm curious to know what differing opinions on this there are out there.

Cheers.

what is the difference with field grown stock or collected stock?
If We can collect a tree from the wild and have it survive and thrive, then we shoud be agble to do even better with purposefully field grown and cared for stock.

Go for it and try. I have got several Eucs to put back in the ground since i moved several months ago.

Ken

[Bretts]

An interesting hint from Dorothy is to not pre cut the roots of Natives. She states it only helps to weaken the tree before the time comes to collect. I have had some natives growing out in the garden bed for a while. The first one I started with was a ripper but died after the third cut back in the one season. I have a suspicion it was something else that killed it like our big dog urinating on it or something

[teejay]

what is the difference with field grown stock or collected stock?

Nothing much, but Aus natives can be notorious for the distance their roots travel and this is why some people I've spoken to prefer not to field grow their gums. I was considering these conversations when I brought the subject up here.

Don't worry, I'm gonna do it regardless. I always like to find things out myself.

[LLK]

I guess if you can dig up natives in gardens or in the wild, and they prosper afterwards, you can also field grow them.
Here in Canberra, in 2004, some of us got permission to dig up fairly big bottlebrushes growing along a street that was being widened. They were put in styrofoam boxes, some were styled, and all are doing well. One of my friends dug up a decent Melaleuca, as Pup did too in W.A., and those are OK too. Callitris has been collected near Wagga Wagga, and people on this forum have collected Casuarina. Etc.
Maybe we couldn't let natives grow to the sizes that can be obtained with exotics; it would depend a lot on the species.
PeterH would know about Eucalypts, I'm sure. Hope he sees this.

Lisa

[anttal63]

What's everyone's opinion on field growing natives? I've spoken to a few 'old hands' about it and many won't field grow Eucalypts especially, preferring to keep them in shallow trays or pots.

Does everyone here do it regardless of variety, some or none? And if only some, which would you avoid?

As I'm looking to plant out a lot of trees when it warms up I'm curious to know what differing opinions on this there are out there.

Cheers.

what is the difference with field grown stock or collected stock?
If We can collect a tree from the wild and have it survive and thrive, then we shoud be agble to do even better with purposefully field grown and cared for stock.Go for it and try. I have got several Eucs to put back in the ground since i moved several months ago.Ken

i most definately second that! bust a myth, god knows theres plenty ofm.

[LLK]

I wrote my previous post too quickly. Should have seen that Ken had already answered in a similar way. Apologies!
Since you are with the School of Bonsai, Ken, any chance of asking Clinton about field growing natives?

we shoud be agble to do even better with purposefully field grown and cared for stock

I started wondering about that, since better growing conditions might lead to a stronger root development than is practical, and natives might not respond well to being lifted and root pruned every few years. Still, if someone is willing to try, we might finally get some answers, so Good Luck, teejay.

Lisa

[LLK]

Yesterday I had the chance to talk to Clinton Nesci, and asked him if they did any field growing of natives at the nursery. He said that the problem with natives was their strong root development, but that they had grown Banksias in growing bags in-ground and that worked well. These bags are made of a porous material that lets the fine roots through, but not the big ones. The roots don't circle, they just stop growing. I found on the internet that the bags are sometimes called root prune bags, and that they are used for the growing of fruit trees. See:
http://www.treebag.com/smart_pot_in_gro ...
A friend also mentioned that he had field-grown small natives and used a spade to root-prune them, driving the spade into the ground in a circle around the plant and then below it. It seems that that worked well also.

Lisa

P.S. Grant Bowie warned that the root prune bags do not work with conifers.

[teejay]

Great Information Lisa thanks heaps for that.

I had read the Koreshoffs recommendation that you spade three separte areas around a tree a feww months before you remove it totally to give it a chanve to develop feeder roots closer to the trunk, which is what I was going to do. Those bags look interesting though, I'll give em a chance also.

Cheers.

[Petra]

Yes id go with the 3 side, or even 4 side chop with the spade. then slice the bottom. this isnt all done on the one day though, when dad and i transplanted trees we would slice the 4 sides, then a month or more slice the bottom,
this would give the tree time to heal and less stress when transfering. id go with this method as thats the one that has works for me.

[teejay]

Thanks Petra, it's definately good to hear what's worked for others.