Re: "It" trees/Metrosideros excelsa and other species

david feix wrote:
> Metrosideros excelsa may be a great tree right along the coast, but
> it has no freeze tolerance, and even in San Francisco, many were
> badly damaged in the freeze of 1990.  At 24F, one year old 15 gallon
> trees were killed outright.  This is a tree that is best where it
> doesn't freeze regularly, and has heavy coastal influence.

The natural range of this tree, coupled with its usual site right on the
edge of the sea or even half way down a cliff, means that it rarely
experiences frost in its original home sites. As a result of  planting
by keen gardeners it has naturalized in quite a few places around the
southern half of the North Island and is becoming extremely common
around the edge of Wellington harbour. Though it looks very fine
environmentalists are rather unenthusiastic, as they claim it is
crossing with the local Northern Rata (N robusta) and seriously
contaminating its stocks. As the Rata is also very endangered by
constant possum attack there is quite serious possibility that the pure
species might disappear entirely as a result of this tendency to illicit
"marriage". It would be  a great pity if this happened as the Rata ia a
vey handsome forest tree in its own right and considerably hardier than
its coastal cousin.

> I also find the aerial roots somewhat sinister looking, check out the
> very large specimen adjacent to the newly renovated Australian
> section at Strybing Arboretum in San Francisco, the aerial roots are
> massive and nearly to the ground.

These are not a constant feature of the species, indeed I have seldom
seen them here, where we seem to have mostly a non-root producing strain, though friends who once lived in the Bay of Plenty had a very large and speading wild tree growing in reserve land just outside their garden on the edge of an inlet, which certainly had lots of aerial roots, though not huge ones such as you describe. When we would go to stay with them they always hung a few ropes and swings along the branches to amuse our kids who were soon up the tree like so many monkeys..
>
> Also, the tree is very densely canopied, and gives heavy shade over
> time, so it is not an easy tree to garden under. They can be thinned
> out to open up the canopy, by they don't grow this way naturally, and
> it needs constant effort to keep this appearance. Perhaps best used
> as a street tree or wind screen, for which it is well suited.

I would not recommend them as a shade for a path either. I once gardened
for a household where there was  a large Pohutukawa overhanging a paved
courtyard and found ita  most untidy tree, shedding debris all year
round, so one was constantly having to sweep up.

Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan,
Wainuiomata, North Island, NZ.     Pictures of our garden at:-
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cherie1/Garden/TonyandMoira/index.htm
NEW PICTURES ADDED 4/Feb/2004

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