UWG Members at Native Pruning workshop.
The Urban Wildlife Gardens (UWG) program continued its bi-monthly workshops on Saturday 9th October in the Cooran Garden of Jan Cole.
John Olds, who had previously talked to us about Biodiversity Resilience, fronted up again to share some of the secrets of successfully pruning Australian natives, including what is trying to be achieved, how to do it, the tools to use and the need to observe basic workplace health and safety practices.
John structured his presentation around the 5 W’s. Why, When, What, Where and Who.
Why included using pruning as a replacement for naturally occurring fire, maintaining healthy plants and rejuvenation, for safety reasons particularly on small urban blocks, protecting utilities such as overhead wires, and promoting flower production and habitat.
When to prune can often be done at any time or when convenient, or at specific times such as after flowering or fruiting.
What to prune provide some basic candidates such as; dead heads, deadwood, diseased material, and crossovers. John introduced the rule of 1/3’s when pruning live plant by; remove 1/3 of live least desired structure, pruning 1/3 of live remaining, leaving 1/3 (the most desired structure. We were also made aware that some natives, with lignotubers can be taken back to ground level. A word of caution was introduced here that you shouldn’t attempt to prune anything which can’t be reached from standing on the ground.
Where to prune became very technical and we were introduced to terms such as CODIT (Compartmentalisation of decay in trees), and Targets (cuts made close to parent branch), BBR collar (Branch Bark Ridge) and finally advice pruning back to nothing less than 1/3 of the main stem.
Who finished off the list and included considering bring in the experts to handle larger tasks, and always keeping and eye on safe work practice.
There was also an extensive display of a variety of John’s pruning tools including saws, secateurs, and loppers.
The workshop was ended with morning tea provided by Jan and appreciation to both John and Jan was carried by those attending.
By Tony Haslam