How late in the season can casuarina be collected?

[Truth]

A family member of mine owns a few 10 acres of bushland around the Kenthurst/Annangrove area, with the valley and creek running through the back of it. I'm expecting to find casuarina and potentially some mel around there. Whilst I probably won't go collecting all in one go, how late in the season and I able to trunk chop and dig a circle around with a shovel for a more compact root system? Is it too late to do that now/in the coming weeks to months? Following this, I plan to return about a year later to collect them from the ground.

[kcpoole]

Most native are repotted thru the summer anyway, so I would collect then too.
Just make sure after care is good and lots of water.

Ken

[Rory]

Most native are repotted thru the summer anyway, so I would collect then too.
Just make sure after care is good and lots of water.

Ken

I have repotted and root pruned all throughout the year without any problems at all, even during winter with Casuarina.
However, of all the experiences I have had, the best results in terms of quick recovery and regrowth would be November thru to January, pretty much what Ken says. But I have never lost stock from repotting and root pruning all throughout the year. Casuarina are quite hardy, and will tolerate both branch reduction / trunk chop / root prune all in one go.

The only pre-requirement is that the stock is in great health before you attempt this. If you plan on doing so on a hot day, just make sure the roots are kept sprayed with water. I generally don't let it go longer than 10 minutes for the whole process, and keep the roots well sprayed with water throughout the process. I have repotted and root pruned on 36 degree days, but keep the roots wet. I don't really recommend such hot days, but just showing you an example of what they can tolerate.

Once you have dug up the stock, DO NOT cut it back again within AT LEAST 6 months. Leave the stock to grow. So don't cut back, then a week later change your mind and cut back a bit more again etc etc, this will encourage die back on casuarina. Cut back everything you want once, and leave it alone to recover.
They can be put straight back in the sun afterwards. Make sure you 'soak' the root ball completely after collection for future waterings too for a bit, as depending on the medium it was growing in, watering may run off the root ball and not penetrate, thus dying from lack of water.

As Ken says, keep up the water too. Depending on the species of Casy, some will not tolerate dry out and will die with no chance of coming back.

Bare in mind, when you collect Cas from the wild, often the tap root goes down a foot before you have any significant root spread, so keep this in mind before you come at it from the sides and sever the main root with basically no feeder roots, which will certainly kill the stock. A bit of extra time looking at the roots will save you a lot of possible disappointment. In the wild Casuarina usually sends its roots quite a way down and thus usually have a better chance of survival than those that grow on a rocky area. Because these roots are quite far down, they continually have access to water, which is what casys need, without the main roots being continually 'soaked', as this would start fungal diseases and rot if it was continually wet. To overcome this, we plant casuarina in well draining mix so it acts as a copy of its native requirements of an airy soil mix with continual access to water.

And a little important safety tip. If there is a section of soft or spongey area to the trunk, might be best to leave that one be. Borers and other pests can decimate the material and you don't want to bring in these pests to your collection which can quickly spread to others. In the wild, they eventually bring the whole tree down, riddling the trunk with holes.

[Steve B]

wiki quality content there Rory!