Originally Posted by
Stu70
G'day Mapleman
Blackwood can often be seen growing in pure stands, yet form is nearly always poor with retained branch stubs resulting in little if any recoverable clearwood. As a single species it's slow at self thinning, resulting in slow diameter growth. I've seen successful examples of pure Blackwood stands in NZ, planted at 2500 stems/ha and thinned to 150-200 stems/ha by age 10. Problem with this approach is the huge task of thinning which makes the economics questionable while form pruning and clearwood pruning is still required. As an underplanted species, form is often very good due to low light levels. However, diameter growth will be very slow due to the competition. Stocking rates need to be 150-200 stems/ha with no other competition to produce commercially viable stands.