October 2019 Friday Meeting Garden Visit 18�� October at 8.00 pm Sunday 20�� October at 2 pm Marilyn and Geoff Bull Garden, Montrose Plant Collection and Selection for 48 Montrose Road, Montrose (Melway map 52 C6) Australian Gardens Most of you will know Marilyn as the author of the Phillip Vaughan 4th edi�on of the Flora of Melbourne and as an Like our September speaker, Bruce, Phil started his Honorary Life Member of APS Maroondah. Marilyn and horticultural career in Local Government but unlike ex-husband David moved into their new house on a one Bruce, he considered an early departure from this acre block in 1982. Apart from a couple of small industry to be a smart move! He established his first eucalypts near where the pond is now, most of the area Australian plant nursery more than 20 years ago and has was grass. Cape broom was thick along the western been an avid collector and propagator of Australian boundary with lots of bracken. First plan�ngs were for a plants ever since. Numerous collection trips, primarily to screen along the north boundary with the adjacent Western Australia but also other parts of this country, Melbourne Water pipe track. A couple of the large trees plus the development of some specialised plant from this plan�ng s�ll remain but the garden is much propagation techniques by Phil, has seen the introduction changed since those days. of many rare and unusual Australian plants into A recent herculean effort by both Marilyn and Geoff Australian gardens. has seen much hand digging along their long northern Phil was presented with the Award of Merit at the boundary with the pipe track, to remove the indigenous 2018 Australian Ins�tute of Hor�culture annual awards. but very invasive Gahnia radula. This was necessary in The Australian Ins�tute of Hor�culture presents awards order to replace the old boundary fence with a new in recogni�on of achievement of excellence in rabbit-proof fence. Rabbits have plagued Marilyn’s professional hor�cultural prac�ce. “Phil Vaughan has plan�ngs for so many years, but with respect to the made the best of the Western Australian Wildflowers rabbits, it looks like the hard work has paid off, although available as gra�ed plants to home gardeners. Phil is �me will tell with the gahnia whose creeping roots went arguably our greatest ever pioneer of making fabled WA down more than 2 feet in places! wildflowers, and spectacular wildflowers in general, Although there is ample parking on Montrose Road, available and manageable for garden use”. it is strongly recommended that a�endees park just Phil will be talking about collec�on trips and plant around the corner in the quieter Tasman Court or selec�ons for the nursery industry in general. He will be directly across the road in Chestnut Court. bringing some of his “special” plants with him that will be auc�oned off at the end of the night. So come Plant Auc�on prepared to bid for something very special. After the AGM, we will auction off the special potted Friday mee�ngs are held at the plants that Phil will be bringing along from his collection. Australian Unity Hall In consideration of the difficulties facing so many of our 8 Main St, Blackburn farmers in Southern Queensland, NSW and even parts of East Gippsland due to continuing drought conditions, we near the Blackburn train sta�on have decided to donate the proceedings to drought relief. Your Committee will pay Phil for the plants, and also Annual General Mee�ng donate an additional dollar of APS Maroondah group funds for every dollar spent at the auction. So as well as The Maroondah Group AGM will be held purchasing an excellent quality and potentially much during the regular Friday mee�ng on 18th October. Mee�ng details are on the insert. sought-after native plant, we encourage participants in the auction to consider their expenditure as a generous We will be holding the AGM at the start of the contribution to a very worthy cause and to ‘open up their night. It shouldn’t take very long, and then we can wallets’. enjoy our very special guest speaker. Cash, cheque or IOU will be accepted on the night, but we don’t have credit card facilities. Eucalypts as Street Trees Notes from the talk by Bruce Schroder in September wri�en up by Sue Guymer An example of street plan�ngs in Whi�lesea. ruce spent most of his working life in Local Now that we have decided to plants street trees, we BGovernment, mainly in Parks and Gardens. The last need to consider what we actually want to achieve: 20 years, before re�ring in 2014, he worked at the City •Trees for tree sake? ie any old tree of Whi�lesea as Manager Parks & Open Space. •Rows of homogenous trees? Bruce’s found that street trees are one of the most •Avenues of broad spreading canopy trees? emo�ve and conten�ous issues for residents. Complaints •Rows of specimen trees? include leaves in the driveway; the tree might fall on my •Shade in summer, light in winter? house; block sunlight from solar panels; birds in the tree •Life expectancy? Consider planned obsolescence? poop on my car when I park there! However, there are But there are restric�ons! The engineers specify many good reasons to have street trees: clearances from footpaths, powerlines, underground •Visual Amenity services, and roadway “clear zones”. It is also •Environmental Amenity – shade undesirable for the tree to overhang residen�al •Habitat links/corridors proper�es. And the tree will need to avoid powerlines – •Reducing the heat island effect usually by pollarding or pruning to a “Y” shape. •Climate change And there is a “Concrete Founda�on Code” which •Increased property values – $30,000! restricts plan�ng of trees – no closer than 1.5 �mes the •Compliment the borrowed landscape from the ul�mate tree height from any structural founda�on. For “quarter acre block” a typical dwelling set back 4m at the front and 1m from •Perhaps the only significant landscape element the side boundary, with a footpath 1.5 metres wide, this when there is no borrowed landscape. limits plan�ng to trees with ul�mate height of 4.5m (or Street trees which were planted a long �me ago 2.5m on side boundary)! In prac�ce, most local councils were allowed to flourish, and are now a significant part tend not to adhere strictly to these restric�ons. of the borrowed landscape, especially when there is Characteris�cs of a good street tree are: li�le significant vegeta�on in private gardens. It has also •Visually appealing – form, foliage, flowers been demonstrated that the tree cover makes these •Clean, single, upright trunk areas cooler, as in the leafy inner Melbourne suburbs. •Consistency of form It is sobering to realise that, from 1984/85 to •Rela�vely open canopy, providing light shade in 2008/09, house sizes have increased from 162 to 252m2 summer whilst property sizes have diminished from the 1000m2 •Preferably not broad spreading, 8-12 metres high (quarter acre) to typically 300-450m2. •Deep rather than shallow root system Corymbia eximea dwarf 2 APS Maroondah Group – founded in 1966 Kunzea October 2019 Corymbia citriodora •Capable of being forma�vely pruned around power lines? •Minimal maintenance – never drops a leaf, twigs or bark! Some of the “eucalypts” (eucalyptus, corymbia or angophora species) which have been commonly used include: •Corymbia maculata (a big tree! – once they get to full Eucalyptus leuhmanniana height, they start to spread to provide a good canopy) •Corymbia citriodora •Eucalyptus scoparia (nice clean trunk, 8-12m tall) •Eucalyptus leucoxylon •Eucalyptus sideroxylon (quite large, some par�cularly good forms) •Eucalyptus mannifera (probably ssp maculosa) •Corymbia ficifolia, par�cularly the smaller gra�ed forms (although people complain about the gumnuts being thrown up by mowers and causing damage) •Angophora costata (Bruce thinks this is one of the best “eucalypts” for street plan�ng). There used to be a small, coppiced form called ‘Li�le Gum Balls’, which was good for plan�ng under powerlines. Unfortunately, it isn’t around anymore. Some smaller-growing “eucalypts” which Whi�lesea have tried and Bruce considers worth plan�ng: •Eucalyptus spathulata (cannot grow any vegeta�on Vale Diana Snape under these) We learnt of Diana’s death just before our •Corymbia citriodora ‘Scentuous’, ‘Marion’ (mul�- September mee�ng. Diana had suffered ill trunked) and ‘Super Dwarf’ health for many years but somehow it was s�ll •Corymbia maculata ‘Sale’ and ‘Lowana’ a shock to hear of her passing. •Corymbia eximea dwarf (very good floral display) Quite apart from being a friend to many of •Eucalyptus leuhmanniana (one of Bruce’s favourites, us, Diana exemplified our aims of promo�ng with smooth trunk and purplish new growth) the beauty and hor�cultural value of •Eucalyptus leucoxylon ‘Euky Dwarf™’ Australian plants. She wrote books on design •Eucalyptus pauciflora ‘Li�le Snowman™’ with Australian plants and was the leader of •Eucalyptus ornans (previously E. elata) (dwarf the ANPSA Garden Design Study Group for form) ‘Dry White™’ many years. She also worked as a hor�cultural •Eucalyptus olivacea ‘Summer Scentsa�on™’ journalist with The Age. She and Brian opened •Eucalyptus mannifera ‘Li�le Spo�y™’ their garden in Hawthorn East on many •Eucalyptus lansdowneana ssp albopurpurea ‘Purple occasions, including several �mes for Open Patch™’ Gardens Australia. Diana was recognised by •Eucalyptus sideroxylon ‘Bluey’. our na�onal body, ANPSA, with the 2018 Growing from seed results in a great variability between Australian Plants Award in the Amateur individuals within a species.