Re: Re(2): Wind
- To: "medit-plants"
- Subject: Re: Re(2): Wind
- From: G* B*
- Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2000 06:29:58 +0200
. Also the many Cupressus
>macrocarpas that naturally grow right along the seashore where they are
>native (which is that general area I believe). C. macrocarpas actually
>look better when they're exposed to wind as they stay small and develop
>thick trunks and fantastic windblown shapes.
The macrocarpas are not seen here in SA. Our winds are much along the lines
of Moiras description of being normally gale force & its only when roofs are
lost that people start taking notice. My memory of NZ, where they are used
widely, was that they are weakly crotched & subject to bad storm damage. The
most amazing area I have seen them used there is coastal Southland, which
is right down the bottom end of the South Island, & subject to the most
intense continuous Southerly storm blast. It appears the farmers stripped
all the native vegetation & suddenly realised they had to shelter their
houses somehow, so planted up thickets of macrocarpa all around them. You
now have a landscape of bare rolling fields running down to the sea with
isolated farmhouses half hidden in grotesquely gnarled & windshorn & twisted
thickets of macrocarpas; every tree bearing great gashes & stumps of broken
limbs. A very bleak & melancholy sight.
That you have these naturally growing coastally in California without this
breakage is actually an indication of how restrained your wind conditions
are I guess.
Regards
Glenn Breayley. Ragnarok & Valhalla Research.
POBox 26158, Hout Bay, 7872, Capetown, South Africa
Ph/Fax SA 021 7904253 E-mail valhalla@iafrica.com
Wholesale nurseryman & Tillandsia specialist wholesale & retail grower.
