Did Eucalyptus survive the frosts in 2011?

Pat McArdle

Hi all,
I'm thinking of planting 4 or 5 acres of Eucalyptus trees to grow and coppice as a commercial crop for firewood. I'm considering separate plantations of Eucalyptus Gunni and Eucalyptus Nitens. I know it's high risk, with the Nitens in particular, but I'm wondering if anyone has had eucalyptus planted and how they fared in the big frost last year? Any intelligence, comments or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

fits

The forestry commission in the UK lost a very sizeable area due to the cold weather last area. Might be worth contacting coillte also.

Oldtree

Eucalyptus did not fare well in this neck of the woods last year, lots of mature trees that I know of were rip. its normal range is in a somewhat warmer climate so it is very very risky planting it here as a commercial venture, esp for firewood. I think you would be better off with the usual tried and tested suspects, poplars and willows with ash standards, or just ash.

Having examined the damage to the trees it seems similar to what has happened to escallonia and other seaside plants, planted inland in 2001/2/3(cant remember which) and again last year.

There is the straightforward frost damage, but also there is a second type of damage that occours to non frost hardy or semi frost hardy plants where the plant freezes and there is a warm day following that and the bark just explodes off the plant, effectivly ring barking the plant. While the plant may regrow from the roots the same thing can happen again wipeing out your crop?

Another point is have you researched the yield possibilities, I'm not sure that eucalyptus can match the usual suspects in this country. Will the plants recover as well after cutting? I suspect that your setup costs of plants would be more too. Where are the plants coming from.

fits

Oldtree wrote: »

Another point is have you researched the yield possibilities, I'm not sure that eucalyptus can match the usual suspects in this country. .

Oh yes it can, and far exceed them. If it survives the frost

Pat McArdle

Oldtree, I was thinking of growing the trees from seeds. Propagate in a polytunnel and plant out when they're about 8 inches to a foot high. I have a good bit of research to do yet, but so far the yields seem to stack up, big time.

jeffwode

Do you know what varieties were killed, Oldtree? I'm thinking of planting some eucs too. As far as I know, there isn't a grant available for planting eucalyptus. Has anyone any more information on this?

alanmcqueen

Neither my eucalyptus nor my neighbours survived the frost. Both were reasonably substantial - over thirty feet. Just single trees, garden planted.

Birdnuts

There is a Coillte plantation with a group of these trees in Manor Kilbride(down the road from me). As far as I can see the entire lot were killed by the harsh frosts at the beginning and end of 2010.

fits

Birdnuts wrote: »

There is a Coillte plantation with a group of these trees in Manor Kilbride(down the road from me). As far as I can see the entire lot were killed by the harsh frosts at the beginning and end of 2010.

nitens was affected badly by frosts. Gunnii is hardier but lower yields as far as I know. Coillte are the people to contact.

greenfingers89

i stand to be corrected on this but cant eucalyptus destroy soil in terms of nutrients? iv been told that massive amounts of fertiliser are required to keep rotations going. the yield can be exceptional however i wouldnt risk the frost

Birdnuts

greenfingers89 wrote: »

i stand to be corrected on this but cant eucalyptus destroy soil in terms of nutrients? iv been told that massive amounts of fertiliser are required to keep rotations going. the yield can be exceptional however i wouldnt risk the frost

Their leaves have a toxin that kills other plant species and many soil invertebrates. AFAIK its also toxic to fish. It also plays havoc with water tables when planted in large numbers. In some countries it is classed as an agressive invasive species.

MOSSAD

I have about 5-6 acres I grow for foliage but had severe damage to about 10% over the last two cold winters, particularly E. subcrenulata. Larger trees-15m-have been quite damaged-with bark split by frost.
Re the invasiveness alluded to, the same can be said of sycamore, to name but one other alien. I find my foliage crop provides great cover for pheasant and woodcock, and eucalyptus in trials also adds up to 14kg of calcium/hecatre to the soil thru leaf-fall.
The larger trees provide a surprisingly beautiful display of flowers, which often appear in late summer/early fall, thereby providing a badly needed supply of pollen and nectar to insects, which are in turn hunted by treecreepers. The larger trees after ten years act as pumps removing water from wetter areas.
I know of a supplier in Wexford who was trying to sell the idea of Eucalyptus as a coppice tree for firewood. http://www.dplant.ie/EucalyptusasaPotentialWoodFuel.htm
From what I can see, E. gunnii is the hardiest and E. glaucescens is good. With weather like last year, they will need to be in a site that gets winter sun and that has good air drainage. I do have one species-name escapes me- but it is 7 years now, growing at 200m altitude, windpruned on top,dbh of on average 20cm, topheight of 12m, and it was topped at years 2,3 and 4 by 1m each year. Unfortunately, 25% got slammed in the winters so I have to decide what to do.
It's been interesting, but I'm going to phase them out over the next few years.
The eucalpyt was E nitens stunningly beautiful scented tree, amazing growth but in trouble after -20c and prolonged shade in freezing conditions.

Oldtree

fits wrote: »

Oh yes it can, and far exceed them. If it survives the frost

Can you point to the info of the yield in this country. I am just worried given what has happened with the weather will happen again and you could avoid the future losses now and it does not seem practical to take a commercial chance on our unpredictable weather. Mossad's losses of 25% is a huge loss.

Oak can also act as a water pump after about 15 years.

fits

I actually had a look yesterday for any published information and couldnt find any.

I got my information from Coillte and the Forestry Commission who both reported very high yields.

Pat McArdle

There is some information here on trials in Kent in England. I know Kent is a few degrees further south but they had a pretty hard winter there too.

the images in the first link are pretty impressive.

http://www.primabio.co.uk/Biomass/srftrials_enitensinKent

http://www.primabio.co.uk/Biomass/srftrials_enitensinKent_yieldsandcomment

robp

I know several in the Kilkenny area that were lost, mainly the older trees.

Oldtree

Lived in the south of england for 14 years, vastly different climate to here.

Wild Bill

Sadly, extensive damage was done to E nitens trials in the Tipperary, Waterford, Cork and Wexford in 2010; both in January and December; in December there was a wipe-out; 25m high 15 year-old material (past clearfell for nitens) was killed stone dead :eek: .

Only plots near the South coasts of Waterford and Cork survived. -12c was the critical remperature it appears.

Eucalyptus Gunni survived much better and was little damaged when the temp hit -14C in some plots in December; but it is much slower growing than nitens and would struggle to beat Sitka on many sites.

F.D

if they are so fast growing and as good for fuel as suggested would it not be worth the risk to grow it anyway especially for home use, we have passed another winter with very little frost which seems to be the norm, are the saplings expensive to buy? that article from the uk was very interesting by the way thanks

Oldtree

I dont understand why you want to take the risk. Your life does not depend on it I know, but why waste the time and effort with a high probability of failure?

reverenddave

i only lost a single one that winter because of wind (east cork)

i'm tempted to try a 100 or so E. Pauciflora (Snow Gum)
it has been known to survive temperatures down to about -23°C and year-round frosts.
it has also been introduced as an alternative in Scandanavia.
to supplement their huge firewood needs with very few failures.

the only problem i found with them is they all need staking for a couple of years at least (but i am in a very wind exposed area so need to do it with everything)

knownothing

lost all mine,in kilkenny

Pat McArdle

I still think it's worth the risk. The growth rates and the calorific values are miles ahead of other species. Would it make any difference to plant Gunni on the outside of the plantation as a windbreak with Nitens on inside in shelter?

Knownothing, how many did you lose? What variety?