"Jonno" wrote in message
...

"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
. au...
"0tterbot" wrote in message

having said all that, i read recently (and i can't remember where!) that
longstem planting is surprisingly effective for more trees than you
would think,

It was certainly featured on one of the Gardening Australia programs.
amazing really as it goes against the grain after all those years of
being told to plant at the level the plant was in the pot.

They also said it may not work for some trees.
Casuarinas sound pretty tough trees so I wouldn't worry...

See here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casuarina

This part would worry me though if you built a garden bed under or near it
The plants are strongly suspected of having allelopathic properties, as
evidenced by the near absence of understory once a mat of litter
develops around the plants.
Allelopathy is a biological phenomenon that is characteristic of some
plants, algae, bacteria, coral and fungi by which they produce certain
biochemicals that influence the growth and development of other
organisms. The biochemicals, called allelochemicals can have a beneficial
or detrimental effect on neighbouring organisms.

On Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:54:03 +0000, Jonno wrote:


This part would worry me though if you built a garden bed under or near
it
The plants are strongly suspected of having allelopathic properties,
as evidenced by the near absence of understory once a mat of litter
develops around the plants.

Naah, no probs, the chief gardnere produced a crop of spuds under ours
this year. The major problem is you are watering the tree as well as the
garden.

"terryc" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:54:03 +0000, Jonno wrote:


This part would worry me though if you built a garden bed under or near
it
The plants are strongly suspected of having allelopathic properties,
as evidenced by the near absence of understory once a mat of litter
develops around the plants.

Naah, no probs, the chief gardnere produced a crop of spuds under ours
this year. The major problem is you are watering the tree as well as the
garden.

Wouldn't you be doing that if you watered the garden and the roots are
located under the garden?

On Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:26:50 +0000, Jonno wrote:


Wouldn't you be doing that if you watered the garden and the roots are
located under the garden?

I said before, if you dump soil above casuarina roots, then they grow up
into it much more voraciously than gum trees do. Makes a bit of a mockery
of no-dig gardens as you have to dig a patch to give seedlings a starting
edge.

If the roots stayed below, then they would be just picking up the excess,
which is no problem.

The other problem is that the tree leaves a rain (less) shadow.