Are Eucalypts Weeds?
For many years they’ve been seen as a symbol of pride in Australia. Expatriate writers in the 50’s and 60’s would write about returning to Sydney by ship and about being greeted by the smell of wafting gum tree leaves as they waxed lyrical about the nostalgia they felt for home.
Authorities still plant them everywhere. In parks, next to footpaths, street corners, new housing development estates, Eucalypts are as Australian as the Emu and the Kangaroo. They are seen nearly everywhere and nobody seems to take them as a threat in Australia.
But should Eucalypts be re-examined as a noxious weed?
Supporters of Natural Sequence Farming describe Eucalypts as:
- It is invasive.
- It burns.
- Its alleolopathic
- It’s residue fails to break down.
- Its a monoculture.
- It’s poisoning and killing ALL of our catchments.
- It prevents biodiversity from growing beneath it.
Peter Andrews thinks so and gives them a blast at Mulloon Creek recently whilst we were filming at the field day held there. In this video clip he gives a frank assessment of their worth in planting along river beds. Oddly enough its the humble Willow tree that he loves and has plenty of time for, replanting them along creek beds. This has brought him at odds with Government authorities who have declared willows as noxious weeds and are ripping them out of creeks and rivers.
We filmed Mr Andrews hugging the trunk of a willow for the cameras as he said,
“If I had a daughter, I’d name her Willow!’
Government authorities in Land, Parks & Conservation declare Willows as rampant invaders and believe Peter Andrews’ methods are disruptive of biodiversity and the natural ecosystem. Tony Coote of Mulloon Natural Creek Farms where willows are grown on the creek beds is a firm supporter of Peter Andrews and his methods of land management and sees no evidence of Willows threatening landholders downstream.
I agree with what Peter says. Eucalypts have created an environment that they thrive in and take over, becoming a monoculture, they need fire or smoke to regenerate, they don’t improve soil quality, they break easily and fall causing a lot of damage, they stink when they drop leaves into water, stagnating it. Artificial chemical fertilisers act like a bleach, killing microbiology in the soil and when water runs through the soil, the artificial chemicals leach out, they also add to the mess in our water ways. Willows filter nutrients through their root systems, they aren’t responsible for the stagnate water- the mess chemical fertilisers and eucalypts leave in the water is the problem. Having been through the Black Saturday fires I look at eucalypts in a different way and intend to plant trees-I will be planting exotics as well as natives- that are fire retardant or resistent, on my property, that build up soil quality, increase humus and they have a lot of other benefits and allow me to feel safer. They may even help improve the amount of rain we get! The controlled burns that are considered to lessen the risk of bush fires seem to be adding to pollution levels, why aren’t they looking at pulling out the trees that burn so badly (at least burn them in combustion wood fires and have a use at least) and replace them with many different species that are deciduous and beneficial to the environment, native and exotic. In the end, narrowing your view by saying it has to be indigenous and native doesn’t really help when you know there are other choices out there that will do the job a lot better.