[Pil-pc-oceania] alternatives to bamboo for windbreaks

[Linda Shewan]

Thanks Sue, we don't have bamboo here but I am checking with the shire whether we can cut down poplar and willow trees on the stream edges for the same reason but yet to get a response. It's not really the Landcare operation of complete removal so possibly not hugely beneficial but then I don't imagine it would do any harm either. We have thickets of both along the streams right in town and they are both considered a significant weed...

Linda

From: mossmans [mailto:mossmans at internode.on.net]
Sent: Wednesday, 22 August 2007 7:09 PM
To: 'permacultue discussion list'
Subject: Re: [Pil-pc-oceania] fumigated pallets - conclusion

One thing that can be a win-win situation is to use bamboo, Down in the bush area there is a large area of running bamboo that is a real pest, We harvest the bigger pieces which can be up to an inch thick, then you can weave the smaller thicknesses.

We make sure they are dried so there is no chance of sprouting, and or use it upside down.  Probably can't regenerate anyway, but just in case....  You can also split some of the thicker bits when it is dry, and these weave easier.

Then you use a tomato stake into the ground and tie the bamboo to it.

Sue

________________________________
From: pil-pc-oceania-bounces at lists.permacultureinternational.org [mailto:pil-pc-oceania-bounces at lists.permacultureinternational.org] On Behalf Of niree bingham
Sent: Wednesday, 22 August 2007 11:36 AM
To: permacultue discussion list
Subject: Re: [Pil-pc-oceania] fumigated pallets - conclusion

Further to this discussion on pallets and methyl bromide, etc.  and windbreaks, I would still like to know what other ideas people have for windbreaks as the description Linda has given  below still does not deal with the facts that there must be a high embedded energy in pallets coming from Asia, someone still has to do the MB gassing and therefore will be exposed (and so will the ozone) regardless of the fact that the risks have diminished by the time they are being used, there is the potential for the timber to be 'not-so-sustainable' and there may be a more 'useful' solution (the obvious one would be a fruiting hedge).
Sorry Linda, I know you may be in a hurry, this is not an attack on your decision, I am just keen for alternatives.

Thanks

--
Niree Bingham

Greenweave Landscape Architecture and Sustainable Property Design

0407 808 852




On 8/21/07, Linda Shewan <linda.shewan at bryn.com.au<mailto:linda.shewan at bryn.com.au>> wrote:
Thought I would update you from our investigations in case anyone else uses them or is thinking of doing so:

Pallets are treated one of three ways -  fumigated with methyl bromide, - heat treated, - "debarked" , prior to being imported to Australia. The method used is usually printed on the pallet.

Methyl bromide is a toxic pesticide (and ozone depleting) that is injected into soil before planting strawberries, grapes almonds and other crops, and to kill pests in stored commodities in agricultural shipments and in buildings.  As a gas it used to fumigate pallets and is used in pre-shipment applications, applied no less than 21 days prior to export (in NZ).

Reports of acute toxicity seem confined to those who inhale the gas up to two days after application.  Chronic toxicity is reported in people who are repeatedly exposed to the gas over long periods of time - usually those who apply it.

It may build up in soils due to repeated applications.

As it is used as a gas for fumigation purposes and most of the gassing off seems to happen within a relatively short period of time we have decided that aged pallets of this nature will be ok for windbreak purposes.

If anyone has anything more to add, would be happy to hear.

Cheers, Linda

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