[permaculture-oceania] Plant selection question - hedge, drought-hardy, non-edible

[Anne Burns]

Jedd,
Interesting list of requirements.  In my experience, when times are tough or 
gardens have easy access native animals do eat anything, same said for farm 
animals.
Also in a rural enviornment a mono hedge is very .... could i say suburban. 
In these types of tough conditions when you want plants to ultimately look 
after themselves, you can have greater success if you replicate a more 
natural environment. ie. mixed planting.   Having a mix of deciduous and 
evergreen is complimentary as the deciduous provide some relief from frost 
and heat in summer. I am not suggesting every second plant is say a 
Raywoodii (Claret Ash) but say 1 or 2 over 10/15m would make a difference.
Now suggestions not in any order -  Berberis thunbergii - tough, frost 
tolerent, can be planted close together, thorns/barrier
                                                        Ilex aquifolium  - 
frost tolerent, heat ?, tough when established.
                                                        Coprosma repens  - 
now this is a strange one, we have some well established plants at our place 
(central west nsw) they would be 2.5 to 3m tall, tough as old boots, cope 
with heat 50C, cracker frosts every winter, the sheep eat them sometimes, 
but they keep going. They make a great barrier, i have never seen them as 
tall as these ones, so anything is possible. (they would be pretty old)
                                                      Hakea salicafolia - 
not sure how frost tolerent.
                                                    Lagunaria patersonia - 
not sure how frost tolerent. fine prickles on underside of leaf would put 
the roo's off.  can get to 7m tho
                                                    You could plant some 
Acacia as pioneer plants and add to the hedge as they grow and give some 
relief to the 50C  as they are relatively short lived they could be replaced 
over time as the more predominate plants took off. Check with your local 
State Forestery Nursery as they have a good range of the local species.
Please do not plant Pyracantha's, Cotoneaster's or Privet.
that's all i can think of for the moment.
anne
----- Original Message -----
From: "jedd" <jedd at progsoc.org>
To: "permaculture-oceania" <permaculture-oceania at lists.cat.org.au>
Sent: Monday, August 14, 2006 6:19 PM
Subject: [permaculture-oceania] Plant selection question - 
hedge,drought-hardy, non-edible


> Howdi,
>
> I'm on the hunt for a tree that has a few qualities, viz:
> o  up to 4-5 metres tall, maybe 2-4 metres across,
> o  drought-tolerant  (incl. temps up to 50C)
> o  frost-hardy  (to -5C)
> o  long-lived
> o  evergreen
>
> Am happy to irrigate it for the first few years, but ultimately want
> it to survive on around 500mm / year.
>
> The hedgeable thing - more to do with a tendency to sucker,
> or at least cope with close planting along a row.  It'd be nice if
> the plant grew in such a way as to make it nearly impossible to
> penetrate for both man and beast.  Oh, and I obviously don't mean
> 'like a rampant raspberry' when I mention suckering.
>
> Also needs to be able to cope with a rising soil level over time, as
> the area silts up naturally (and as I dump soil up behind it).
>
> Finally, it needs to be non-edible as far as livestock and native
> animals go - as roos have devastated all kinds of types of trees
> in this part of the world.
>
>
> Now .. my thoughts so far have led me to oleander, partly because
> it also has some aesthetic appeal for parts of the year.  Of course
> it's not a particularly useful plant, and indeed as I understand it
> can be tricky to deal with - you can't burn prunings, etc.  I was
> thinking a smaller (B. multiplex ish) form of 'boo, but this hedge
> will be sitting behind some B. oldhamii, and that's been a target for
> the native animals (who also eat my raspberry, olive and lemon tree
> leaves, which gives an idea as to their eagerness).
>
> Any suggestions for a superior choice of plant?
>
> Jedd.
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