Re: Was thin screen now Notofagus
- To: m*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: Re: Was thin screen now Notofagus
- From: J* A*
- Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 17:16:27 +1000 (EST)
At 19:14 10/05/00 -0700, Richard wrote:
>
>
>Michael Barclay wrote:
>
>> I must put in a word here for a favorite group of plants for tall
>> screening, the evergreen southern beeches, Notofagus spp. They are fast
>> growing,
>> good rooting, beautiful and easy once you find the one you are looking for.
My favorite tree too (except maybe for snowgums). However I've had trouble
getting the Austaralian species (the only ones I've tried) to stay alive
where I am near Sydney.
>Would Notofagus stay discreetly thin, or become spreading? Do they all
>eventually become very large forest trees?
>
>Moira, do you know? Having seen some in NZ, some of them are quite ponderous -
>are they all that way?
The only small one I know is the deciduous beech in Tasmania -- in its
native habitat at least, it tends to be a scrambling shrub.
In both New Zealand and South America, beech can be small and shrubby up
near the treeline -- it forms thick almost impenetrable subalpine scrub in
both places -- but these are the same species that grow to medium to large
trees in more congenial circumstances, so unless you get a fair bit of snow
and high winds, they'll probably do the same in your garden.
All the NZ beeches are evergreens, as are all the Australian ones except one
(and the New Guinea and New Caladonian ones too, I believe). However there
are several deciduous species in S America.
>Some seem to be the main forest tree - do they need full
>sun when young? Will they start out in full shade?
Yes (or pretty near). At least, they do in the wild.
John.
