Hairy Wattle or Downy Wattle (Acacia pubescens) has become the 1000th seed sample to be sent to the Millennium Seed bank project at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew UK.

The Millennium Seed Bank Project (MSBP) is the largest ex situ conservation project ever conceived. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and its partners will have banked seed from 10% of the world’s wild plant
species by the end of the decade. These will not be just any plants, but will include the rarest, most threatened and most useful species known to man.

The Millennium Seed Bank Project seeks to develop a global seed conservation network, capable of safeguarding wild plant species. This will make direct contributions to national and global conservation/development programs, and will make a big contribution to meeting the objectives of the
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The current project will run until 2010.

Acacia pubescens

The long-awaited release of the newly registered Bayer SilvaShield® Injectable Tree Insecticide is likely to occur any day now according to company sources.

This new product will be the only bulk liquid trunk injectable insecticide available for use in Australia and will mean that applicators will be able to access a registered product to offer their clients for a range of tree injection uses.

In the past the trunk injection industry has seen many applicators using non-registered products such as Confidor® to undertake trunk injections. Confidor was formulated as a soil drench and while some control may be achieved, there are chemicals in Confidor that actually inhibit uptake through the tree’s vascular system and reduce the effectiveness of any control.

This will change with Bayer’s SilvaShield as it is a specifically formulated trunk injectable that has been in testing for some time.

If you are a owner of trees that are likely to receive trunk injection as a control option this season, you should specify that SilvaShield is to be used to maximise your tree management spending.

Tree Logic offer a range of trunk injection equipment to allow applicators to make the best use of SilvaShield with the Arborjet (US) product range now available in our online store.

Tree Logic has also been working on developing a small refillable trunk injector that will be perfect for the application of SilvaShield. These small refillable injectors are in the testing stage now and are likely to be available in the next few months, Stay Tuned!!

What is believed to be the world’s tallest hardwood tree has been discovered near Forestry Tasmania’s Tahune Airwalk tourism attraction 88km south of Hobart.  One of two giant Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans) found growing together, the trees were detected in August using an airborne Light Detection and Ranging Laser scanning technology (LiDAR).  The trees were subsequently located and inspected from the ground where their heights were measured.  Details of the two trees are as follow:

Name: Centurion
Height: 100 –101 metres.  Because the sight to the very top of the tree was partially obscured by the tree’s healthy crown, it may be taller. According to Forestry Tasmania staff the head of Centurion had previously broken off and it was likely the tree was once higher.
Trunk Diameter: 405 cm

Name: Triarius
Height: 86.5 metres, Clear sight to the very top of the tree.
Trunk Diameter: 390 cm

Centurion becomes the tallest known tree existing in Australia, the tallest Eucalyptus tree in the world, the tallest hardwood tree in the world, and the tallest flowering plant in the world.  The previous tallest known existing hardwood tree was “Icarus Dream”, a Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans), measured at 97 metres in the Styx Valley (west of New Norfolk) in 2005.

Centurion and Triarius have survived the major bushfire events of 1934 and 1966/67, which burnt to the west and immediately east of the trees respectively.  The trees are now afforded protection through Forestry Tasmania’s Giant Trees Policy.  This policy provides for the protection and management of all Giant Trees on Tasmania’s State forests. To qualify as a Giant Tree, trees must be at least 85 metres tall or 280 cubic metres in volume.

Despite the Giant Tree policy, “El Grande” a Giant Mountain Ash discovered in 2002 was killed by Forestry Tasmania during burning in 2003 that was part of a woodland clearance exercise.  El Grande - which stood at 79 metres (260 feet) - was thought to be the largest tree in Australia in terms of volume and grew in the Florentine Valley about 100km northwest of Hobart.  El Grande collapsed last year.  Lets hope Centurion fairs better than El Grande and other Giant Trees threatened by forestry activity.

Information on Tasmania’s Giant Trees can be found at the Giant Tree Consultative committee website www.gianttrees.com.au. The committee was established by Forestry Tasmania to provide independent advice on the protection, management and promotion of Giant Trees.

Information about Victoria’s tallest trees can be found at The Department of Primary industries website www.nre.vic.gov.au/virtualexhibition/trees.

A recent letter from Peter has been answered by Stephen Frank at Tree Logic and so we include here as advise to those with similar problems.

Hi
My name is Peter I have a problem with my maple tree in the back yard.
Can you help me with a grub that seems to be eating the crotches and trunk of this Acer rubrums.
It is a young tree.
If I send some photos can you please give me a consultation? Possibly a way to save the tree from getting worse as we love the tree I am happy to pay you for your time
Regards
Peter

Hello Peter,
Indeed your Red Maple has a problem, and to be honest one that can not be solved by any arboricultural treatment I am aware of.
Judging from the photo accompanying your email, the pest has been present for some time and extent of damage is too much. It would appear that ~50% of the circumference of the stem has been affected.
Control of borer in trees is very difficult.  Most borers attack trees weakened by drought, mechanical injury, recent transplants, poor soils or root systems. The most important prevention of borers is keeping trees healthy through proper management (primarily watering, which again can be difficult under current drought conditions).  The most common way to control borers, in addition to proper tree maintenance, is chemical control.  However, borers live inside trees, and treating them with insecticides is difficult if not impossible, and it comes down to timing of treatment.  The best time to control borers is when adult are laying eggs on or under bark, which is difficult to monitor in a domestic situation.  Pheromone traps, available for some borer species, help determine if adults are present. Trunk sprays can be effective when borers are in the early larvae stage before they enter the tree.  I reiterate that the extent of damage with your tree suggests that the tree is past chemical treatment.  I have heard people using a fine wire to poke into the tunnels created by the borers in the hope of skewing one.
I would suggest you remove the tree (as distasteful as it sounds) and replace it with a new one.  Properly plant species that are well adapted to your location and provide them with proper care.  Avoid pruning from spring through summer when adults are active. Protect trees from injury. Remove and dispose of dying limbs and dead trees. Do not pile fresh-cut wood near trees.
I hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Stephen Frank