A moderate-sized evergreen tree with a semipendulous, willow-like form. Good drought and wind tolerance. Fast growth rate. No significant litter drop.

Origin:

South Africa. In a narrow strip that follows the Orange River.

Habit:

Broad-domed tree with drooping branchlets. 9 metres in height with a similar or wider crown width.

Description:

Multiple leaders with smooth to flaky bark. The leaves are trifoliate with lightgreen, narrowly lanceolate leaflets. Panicles of small green flowers appear in spring/summer followed by small reddish to black berries.

Tolerances:

Grow in full sun position; tolerant of light frost. Fast growing. High tolerance of drought and wind. Tolerant of periodic water-logging.

Availability:

Unknown. Presume rare. Easily propagated from seed and cuttings.

Uses & Management:

Urban landscapes, including streets. This willow-like small to medium sized tree is ideal for small gardens due to its quick growth, non-invasive root system, and tidy and easy to maintain habit. No major pest or disease concerns. Wood has reputation for toughness and durability.

Click to download White Karee factsheet

Myrtle Rust (Uredo rangelii) on Agonis flexuosa, cv. Afterdark (willow myrtle) Photo: Dr Angus Carnegie

Host species

In Australia, myrtle rust has recently been detected on Agonis (willow myrtle), Syncarpia (turpentine) and Callistemon(bottlebrush) species.

Internationally, there are unconfirmed reports of infection on some Eucalyptus species. It has also been confirmed on Myrtus, Syzygium and Heteropyxis species overseas.
To date, it has not been confirmed on Australian eucalypts.

Spread

Rusts are highly transportable. The most common dispersal mechanism is via wind, but they may also be dispersed by bees who work the spores on leaves.
The spores can also be spread via contaminated clothing, infected plant material and insect movement.

Identification

Myrtle rust produces lesions on young, actively growing leaves and shoots, as well as on fruits and sepals. Leaves may become buckled or twisted as a result of infection.
On turpentine and bottlebrush, rust lesions are purple in colour, with masses of bright yellow or orange-yellow spores. Occasionally, they may have dark brown spores.
Severe rust disease in young trees may kill shoot tips, causing loss of leaders and a bushy habit.

Reporting

Any rust noticed on Myrtaceae species should be reported. Please call the Exotic Plant Pest Hotline on
Freecall 1800 084 881.
Do not collect samples of suspected myrtle rust, as this could spread the disease.

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Turning the world of trees upside down….I’m not sure this would appeal to a tree’s tropisms (growth in response to external stimuli), but its all in the name of art

Six inverted sugar maples hang 30 feet off the ground at Mass MoCA in North Adams, Mass. Tree Logic is an artwork by Natalie Jeremijenko tracking the changes in these trees over time. Photo courtesy of Gwen Steege

…check out the full story at csmonitor.com

We desperately need a long term plan for trees in our playground as we have 750 students and only a few healthy trees. We have tried so many strategies in the past 11 years to establish an environment which would encourage native birdlife and insects however our trees don’t seem to survive; we need professional advice. The supply of the trees would of course help financially as we have spent money in the past which has been wasted on the wrong trees.

In celebration of Arbor Week, Tree Logic is offering a free tree planting program called Trees for Kids to support Victorian schools, kindergartens and community based organisations. A customised tree planting plan will be supplied by Tree Logic with trees supplied by Mt William Advanced Tree Nursery. Tree Logic staff will even plant the trees for you!

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Under Victorian legislation, the Control of Weapons Regulations 2000 (17 December 2000), any ‘daylight’ lasers stronger than 1mW became a ‘Prohibited Weapon.   The Schedule 2 to these regulations defines what is a prohibited weapon and states “Regulation 6 – 33.    A hand-held battery-operated article commonly known as a “laser pointer” designed or adapted to emit a laser beam with an accessible emission limit of greater than 1 mW.”
The Control of Weapons Act 1990 (1 January 2010) Section 5 – Prohibited weapons states that
“(1) A person must not—
(a) bring into Victoria; or  (b) cause to be brought into or sent into Victoria; or(c) manufacture, sell or purchase; or (d) display or advertise for sale; or (e) possess, use or carry—a prohibited weapon without an exemption under section 8B or an approval under section 8C.”  The penalty for this offense is 240 penalty units or imprisonment for 2 years.
That’s the bad news!!  The good news is that you can apply for a permit to continue your ‘lawful’ use of these Lasers by applying for a permit the same as you would for a firearm.  You can apply for a permit to use a ‘daylight’ laser from Victoria Police and the forms are available online from the Victoria Police web site.
This will cost you approximately $150 if you do not already hold a Firearms License.   If you have any issue with accessing or the content of these applications, please email licensingservices@police.vic.gov.au.
The act is available at the Victorian Law Library and search on ‘Control of Weapons Regulations 2000’.
If you have one of these Daylight green or red lasers and you don’t have a permit, you can:

• Continue to use it without a permit and face a hefty fine or 2 years in jail;
• Not use it anymore (but don’t sell it or give it away)
• Apply for a permit through Victoria Police.

Click to download factsheet-Daylight Lasers

• Adjusting the landscape use to remove potential targets within the fall zone of an old tree.
• An intensive regime of watering and soil amelioration in conjunction with crown maintenance pruning. This could include reduction pruning, thinning, deadwood removal, weight reduction and cabling if necessary.
• Aggressive crown reduction pruning or ‘Pollarding’.
• Habitat pruning.
• Permitting and managing suckering regrowth or stumps to re-sprout.

The appropriate treatment must be based on an understanding of the species, an assessment of the condition of the tree and the potential response that the particular specimen may have to a nominated management strategy. This article is looking at the practice of re-lopping trees to re-introduce a regime of ‘pollarding’. The practice of pollarding ideally begins on younger vigorous trees with reduction pruning of lateral branches on the main scaffold form of the tree to promote a vigorous response of new shoots from the wound wood developed at the pruning sites. The shoots are than pruned back regularly at 1-3 year intervals to just above the point of origin ensuring the pollard head is not injured. The Australian Standard (AS 4373-2007) – Pruning of Amenity trees discusses pollarding and that it should not be performed on mature trees that have not been pollarded previously.

We are starting to see examples where tree managers are adopting less orthodox methods in an attempt to extend the useful life of ageing trees and mitigate the risk potential associated with limb shedding. One method involves re-lopping some of the older previously lopped Plane trees (Platanus xacerifolia) hopefully with a commitment to managing the regrowth in a similar fashion to pollarding. This approach may be appropriate with this species because Plane trees can have a strong callus and wound-wood response, often occluding large wounds. The practice may be effective where the main scaffold structure remains intact and regrowth is confined to the primary and secondary limbs and where the tree displays good vigour and is likely to respond with vigorous regrowth. The regrowth would be likely to be more proportionate to the host limb and can be managed with target pruning principles as they develop, more so than if the regrowth emanates from the stem of a lopped tree. If the tree does not display good vigour, the dramatic loss of foliage may induce further decline symptoms and even premature death because the trees’ energy source has effectively been removed.

The management of these trees treated in this way must remain vigilant to what is continuing to occur beneath the callus and wound wood as decay will continue to advance into the scaffold structure. This method may be considered in some of the ageing Elms and Oaks that may have suffered large scale failures but only where the main scaffold structure is reasonably intact and tree health is likely to sustain vigorous regrowth and wound wood response. This may be undertaken as a form of Crown Restoration but there must be a commitment to the ongoing management of the regrowth for the life of the tree.
Such work cannot be a set and forget option. This principle is generally unsuitable for our larger native eucalypts and exotic conifers. It is not a safe option to lop the trunks of such trees because this generally removes the scaffold structure and the resultant regrowth that is produced from the trunks is poorly attached and the attachment of the regrowth is further compromised by the progression of trunk decay down from the wound site.
Any treatment that utilises an aggressive reduction pruning regime must be undertaken only where there is a commitment of resources to an ongoing tree management strategy and ultimately a plan for the eventual removal and replacement of the subject trees because decline and death is inevitable.

Click here to download the full fact sheet

The following photo catalogue demonstrates some of these points.

Plane tree that has been lopped and re-lopped

Vigorous ability of the species to occlude wounds and graft or pleach branches.

Some examples of mature Plane trees in urban Melbourne with a history of being lopped and with the cycle starting to be repeated.

A Plane tree re-lopped and responding with vigorous regrowth from the pruning sites

Wound wood is developed at the wound site which may eventually occlude the wound

A plane tree that may be a candidate for the practice where foliage density is reduced in the upper crown but the lower parts of the tree are producing new growth.

An example of a declining Plane tree where the removal of the crown, the trees’ energy source, was the last straw and the tree is now desiccated and almost dead

An example of Dutch Elm with extensive crown dieback.

An example of reduction pruning of an adjacent Elm that has removed the deadwood and reduced the overall crown area in accordance with Australian Standard (AS 4373-2007) - Pruning of Amenity trees.

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The practice of lopping is not suitable for all trees and the native eucalypts, especially, respond poorly to lopping. The outcomes associated with lopping include;

• Vigorous and elongated regrowth from around the wound site that is typically poorly attached
• Onset of decay at the lopping site that further weakens the union of the regrowth.
• A reduction in tree vigour due to loss of foliage.
• The tree can become more susceptible to decay and insect or borer attack in response to a reduction in vigour which in turn contributes to further health and structural deficiencies and decline

Typical responses to lopping of Eucalypt species

When considering management of ageing trees it is critical that advice is sought from an arborist who can identify and understands the species, the potential response of various management options and can design an ongoing management plan that will also identify when the tree has exceeded its useful life and should be removed.
The necessity to adopt these unorthodox management strategies reflects an underlying problem associated the tree no longer being well suited to its current location due to altered site conditions. When considering replacement trees we must aim to select the right tree (species) for the right place.

The English Elm provides a historical link with Europe and is an integral part of the aging canopy tree population of Melbourne. The loss of these aging specimens as they enter decline spirals will change the look of the older streets and parks of Melbourne. People love this species and will mourn their loss; and unless we proactively keep this tree at the forefront of people’s minds when making decisions in regards to appropriate species selection for the replacement plantings that will inevitably be required in the near future; the famous Elms of Melbourne may all but disappear.

What do I like about English Elms?

I love the stately nature of maturing specimens; the large broad green canopies that provide excellent summer shade; and the intricate silhouette of branches throughout late autumn and winter.
I love that shade of iridescent green exhibited by the new flushes of growth in spring and the yellow glow of the leaves at the peak of their autumn brilliance.

Case for a prize for English Elm

Victoria has some of the finest examples of English Elm in the world.
The high quality of English Elms in Victoria is predominantly due to the lack of Dutch elm disease, which has impacted the European populations.