"David Hare-Scott" wrote in
u:

Starting in 3 weeks I am revegetating parts of a country property that
is just pasture. This will require many hundreds, ultimately thousands,
of trees, shrubs and ground covers to be planted. Except for one area
for fruit, veges and some exotic ornamentals these will all be natives
selected for being suited to the district. There will be 10 to 15 main
species that will be planted in bulk and it is these that I am concerned
with here. I will attempt to get material that was drawn from the
district or nearby if I can.

What is the best way to go about this - should I use tube stock or
seeds? This is assuming that I can get the species that I want in
either form. Obviously if a species I want is only available in one
form then that's it.

If I start my own seeds and plant out the seedlings it is likely to be
cheaper as tubes are about $1.50 each in bulk and seeds are about $10 to
$25 per 25gms which is several hundred to many thousand seeds depending
on species. If I can get sufficient viable seedlings starting from seed
this approach looks like saving a couple of thousand dollars which could
be put to good use!

Using tube stock will give me a head start in time but how much time?
In other words how old are good tube seedlings that are not rootbound?
Time is an issue to some extent as I need to get up some wind breaks and
nurse species ASAP

Also tubes mean I don't have to worry about germination rates. However,
if I buy 3000 seeds the germination rate doesn't have to be great to get
a few hundred plants. I suppose it would be smart to steer away from
those species that are particularly tricky to germinate and get those as
tubes.

I will have the space and work-time to raise the seedlings and early
spring ( in a sheltered spot) would seem a good time to start them. I
guess the question is: starting in September where will I be in 12
months if I
(1) start seeds and plant them out when big enough
(2) plant tubestock

Any thoughts on this issue, especially if you have experience in this
area, would be much appreciated. Also I have been looking for a book
that covers raising natives from seed in some depth but not found
anything yet, a reference here would be good.

David


hi,

My thoughts on the issues. I would use a mixture of tubestock and seeds.
Tubestocks will naturally grow quicker than seeds as you do not have to
wait for germination etc. I would place quick growing native tubestock
around as for the windbreak you need, and at the same time raise seeds.
Ideally though I would probably stick just to tubestock but if money is an
issue, tubestock fast growing trees, and ground covers as they will provide
windbreaks and shelter, then you will be able to plant out smaller
seedlings as they will be protected.

I have a book about growing australian native plants from seed by Marray
Ralph, it covers treatment needed and in some species the expected
germination.