Thread: Banksia pods

Hi Jaap,

Pops shed in lilydale has them.
Thats only about 30km trip across to there.
They are a sponsor here.
If she wants I'll run her over to there as I'm not far from berwick.
I think from memory they were 10 dollars a KG.

Buzz me if you want

Pieter

$10 per Kilo, we pay up to £7 each!

Originally Posted by Phil Hansen

Not sure if this the right place but here goes.

My sister (we live in South Africa) is visiting a friend in Melbourne in April.
Friend lives in Berwick.

I would like her to get some banksia pods to bring back.
Any suggestions on where to get. Preferably somewhere close by.

Thanks
Phil

Phil check your import restrictions into Sth Africa. Being seed pods they may quarantine them or hit you for a hefty treatment fee, or worse fine your sister for importing them.

A big one could easily weigh 1kg, so there's not much difference if paying individually, or by weight. For turning, diameter is more important than length. Long and skinny aren't much use, short and fat are better. The longer they are, the more curve they tend to have. The ideal one is long, fat, and straight, but they tend to be snapped up pretty quickly.

Which ones are you after Phil? The ones mentioned are the big Western Australian ones, but there are many difference species of Banksia in Aus, the smaller Coastal Banksia is available for free around the coast of Victoria (although only good for pens). There are also the Swamp Banksia that are like the WA ones, just shorter and smaller dia, but good for handles/bottle stoppers/candle holders etc and often planted for main road landscaping. Not sure about Vic, but I have just seen some around NSW , definitely in QLD.

Also, David at Turnfest last year had WA very large ones on special at $4 each, I bought a huge bag full. Not sure about this year, but perhaps someone from Melb could bring back some for you.

Originally Posted by _fly_

Hi Jaap,
Buzz me if you want
Pieter

Thanks. Will send PM
Phil

Thanks to all for the replies.

Dai, looking for ones about 75-100mm diam and 100-125 long.

Mobyturns - didn't think of that. Will look into it.

Pieter - PM sent.
Cheers
Phil

Yep they are the WA ones. See here: https://www.woodworkforums.com/f222/banksia-nuts-160863/, might have some left or be able to get more

Thanks for all the info.
Pieter has found various sizes at Pop's Shed which is close to where sis will be staying.
Emailed a few people in govt departments (forestry etc) and haven't received one reply.
Typical. Most probably waiting for a bribe.

Phil

Originally Posted by Phil Hansen

Thanks for all the info.
Pieter has found various sizes at Pop's Shed which is close to where sis will be staying.
Emailed a few people in govt departments (forestry etc) and haven't received one reply.
Typical. Most probably waiting for a bribe.

People in Govt Departments will have to play it by the book.
In Western Australia you are not supposed to remove any parts of WA native plants from a living tree and take them out of state without a permit.
It does not matter whether it is private property or not, a government issued permission to remove native plant out of state permit is technically still required.
The landowners written permission is also needed.
If the plant is on public land another permit is also required and this one has to be obtained first.
Naturally there are fees associated with all these permits.
I discussed this with someone from WA forestry who supposedly issues these permits and asked them how many different permits they issue each year and the answer after a long pause was "not many"
The only situation where collection of WA native plant parts (except timber) on private property does not require a permit is if the plant is dead.

Originally Posted by BobL

People in Govt Departments will have to play it by the book.

In Australia that is certainly true, but Phil is in South Africa, and unfortunately it's not unheard of for officials to ask for bribes to do what they are paid to do over here.

Originally Posted by BobL

In Western Australia you are not supposed to remove any parts of WA native plants from a living tree and take them out of state without a permit....

Last time I was in WA I got mine off the ground under the tree, so not strictly taken off the living tree. Does that mean I didn't need a permit , that is the way I read the regulations anyway

Originally Posted by Colin62

In Australia that is certainly true, but Phil is in South Africa, and unfortunately it's not unheard of for officials to ask for bribes to do what they are paid to do over here.

So true Colin, and unfortunate that, that is the way things are done.
Where are you based?
Phil

Phil, I'm just down the road from you - I'm just outside Greytown, towards Pietermaritzburg