Re: Re[2]: hedges for very hot areas
- To: "m*@ucdavis.edu" , D*@kaiseral.com
- Subject: Re: Re[2]: hedges for very hot areas
- From: t*@picknowl.com.au
- Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2000 12:04:35 +1030
- Priority: normal
Further on those old carob and olive hedges here in Adelaide,
South Australia; most of them are around 2.5m or higher and about
2m thick. They were, after all, originally planted to keep out free
grazing cattle and horses. The clipping is usually done once new
growth has ripened in mid-summer. I noticed a large olive hedge
being clipped yesterday when I drove down to the city. Some of the
work is now done using high ladders and low platforms constructed
from linking aluminium tubes and locking joints. Nearly everyone
now uses a long reach electric pruning shears for the work.
As to the species as far as I know they are just the common wild
olive, Olea europa (have I got that current and right?). Olives used
for hedges do not usually crop unless thay are let grow wild and
untrimmed. The olives were introduced in part by people who
thought we could develop a perfume industry here in the early
days. The olive oil would have been used to extract the scents of
roses, lavender and citrus. Sadly synthetic perfumes were invented
about that time........
You would need to be careful about roots lifting pavements. I
wonder if root pruning might work with the intruding roots being
'planed' off flat so the paving could be relaid? A question there for
experienced gardeners in the real Med.
Trevor Nottle
Garden Historian, Garden Writer, Designer, Consultant
WALNUT HILL, 5 Walker Street, Crafers, SA 5152 AUSTRALIA
Tel./ Fax. 61 8 83394210
