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Thread: Paulownia Trees / Fire Break ?
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14th March 2015, 12:26 AM #16
Rob,
Seriously though....
I was driven into see my stepson and his family on the weekend following Black Saturday.
Ninks Road, St. Andrews.
A roughly south west - north east running dead end road, in the direct line of that fire storm.
I was able to sit and listen to the de-brief by the NSW fire investigators as the family told the story of their defense of their property, and the others in the street that were saved.
I know this for a fact ... we have family alive today because of deciduous tree and shrub plantings. Anyone who says otherwise, is just not well informed.
That day, just a week after the fire I walked a couple of kilometers along Ninks Road, a grey moonscape. Then walked around two of the green patches where the inhabitants of that road found refuge.
Not a single life was lost in that road.
It is best described like this... I've counted 7 things needed to be absolutely right on that day for the residents of that road to survive.
One of those factors was the tree and shrub plantings. If they weren't there, it is almost certain that over 25 more names would be on that list of 170+ who lost their lives.
On our block on the Mornington Pen, in the first few months after moving here we arranged a visit from the CFA rep, and got all the current best information.
The bloke who came told us he used to be a nurseryman. I will dig out his contact details and pass them on to you later.
He was strongly advocating certain types of tree and shrub planting.
One publication that might interest you is ...
http://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/plan-prepa...-for-bushfire/
Any attempt to discourage you from investigating the proper vegetation to choose, and how you design your block, with blanket statements like those I read above are more than just foolish. They are uninformed and dangerous.
There is PLENTY you can do to help yourself in choosing the proper tree plantings, and making yourself aware of the factors that influence the choice is very well set out in the publication above.
I also would encourage anyone who plans to stay and defend, to have a chat with at least half a dozen of those who have actually done it.
Find out what the physical and emotional ramifications have been. It can be pretty devastating. Even for those with supreme confidence in their capabilities, and with all types of great equipment. I know some who have done it, and I know what the results are in the years following.
Hopefully more people can understand what is likely to happen to them in the years after, and they change their Fire Plan to prepare the property as best they can financially afford to do, and do what they can physically do to it...then leave early.
Good Luck with your new block.
Cheers,
Peter<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <woNotOptimizeForBrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]-->
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14th March 2015 12:26 AM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
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14th March 2015, 08:58 AM #17
Thanks Pete , for a great helpful post .
Of course , Im asking for info in the wrong place, aren't I.
Its worked though , this new direction has come from it.
The link to the CFA is the obvious place to look , I hadn't thought of them as recommending vegetation.
The Black Saturday memories and the weeks that followed bring tears every time.Every time .
I don't mind that , it makes me wonder what good the emotion grief is .
My Nephew survived the day, sheltered by the CFA at Kinglake.
what comes to mind is the words
Lest we forget
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14th March 2015, 09:50 AM #18
Rob,
happy to help.
I just remembered another great source of info.
Got an email last week from a mate in Tassie...recently retired "Forestry Tasmania, Head of Fire Management".
Very keep Preston Tool collector, boat builder, general good guy.
I'll ask him about the Paulownia.
A few Years ago he came over, and with RayG, Josh and a few others we had a saw making day and "handtool guy" get together at my place.
What a day....should have another of them one day.
Cheers,
Peter<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <woNotOptimizeForBrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]-->
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7th January 2018, 12:34 PM #19Novice
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I have planted pawlonia on river flats west of taree and well as silky oaks. A fire went through a few years back and the area of silky oaks and pawlonia were not as effected as the fire stuck where eucalyptus leaves were on the ground. I have a 50 acre eucalyptus plantation which had minor damage. Nothing will stop a savage fire but silky oaks and pawlonia seemed to slow down and hinder undercover fires. A eucalypt 5 metres from a silky oak burnt out while the silky was untouched.
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7th January 2018, 01:30 PM #20
Almost been three years since I first posted this . It's gone quick! I'm now sitting in a lounge room looking out over paddocks and bush . My city life has ended ! Thank bldy goodness !!
I ended up building the workshop where all the other hay sheds and work area was , which is nestled in amongst some native bush . I've had to push or cut some of that back to make room and make it safer in case of fire . Funnily enough though I just pulled out the packet of Paulownia seed three days ago and about 30 were put in a jar of water and left on the kitchen window sill. No action yet . Hope to see some soon . I've got enough seed for a 30 acre forest I think . Not that I'll be going that big . Wouldn't mind doing some around the workshop still . And trying a round group of ten or twenty as a shelter from the sun for animals . We have cows and patches of trees in a nice low moist spot down in one paddock and it's nice to see how cattle enjoy sitting around under some shelter in the shade on hot days . Totally bare paddocks except for grass seem a bit unfair . The poor things are giving there bodies up for milk or meat so a bit of comfort for them seems like a nice thing to do .
Rob
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7th January 2018, 02:58 PM #21
Paulownia's are indeed superfast growing with big, mushy leaves. The wood is like a sponge. Very, very soft.
We had two in our backyard each around 10-15 years old but their roots were quite invasive (shooting new trees eventually) around our pool, fenceline and into the neighbours properties.
Because the wood is so soft winds break off large branches quite often and after a really big branch fell into the backyard children's playarea without warning we removed them (very easy to fell with an axe - took all of 3 minutes!).
Lovely trees but a pain in the neck really (I didn't even mention sweeping up thousands of A4 sized dead leaves every Autumn!)
V
Edit:
You may want to doublecheck that these trees are suitable for cattle ie. not poisonous, but you've probably already done that...
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7th January 2018, 08:42 PM #22
We do get very strong winds so they may not work . They are good with cattle though . Apparently the cows love it so any off shoots not fenced will get eaten quickly I think . The tree is promoted as a stock feed of sorts. I don't know much about that, but I read somewhere of comparisons in nutrition to other things .
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