IPPS New Zealand Conference - 14-17 May 2009

Hobart, Tasmania - Combined Conference with Australia Region

Frutifull 42 Degrees South

Things kicked off with a reception at Government House followed by a classy meal par excellence (for some of us) at the Drunken Admiral on Hobart’s waterfront.

Thanks to these 2009 conference sponsors
Daltons
Hortfert Plus
Industrial Processors
InfoServices
Morgans Rd Nursery
PSP Athco
RX Plastics
Scotts Australia
Southern Horticulture
Commercial Horticulture
KingGrapes

Terry Hatch’s presentation on NZ natives for hedges got matters formal underway on Friday morning. Terry’s illustration of potential aplenty was followed by Natalie Tapson detailing her work on the preservation of a rare Tasmanian plant, Lomatia tasmanica. Mark Stevenson then summarized the complex relationships among potting mix characteristics – chemical, physical, biological - and their influence on container production.

After a stretch and some tucker at morning tea, Australia’s Rod Tallis awardee, Luke Dent, told us of his trial work on Grey Mangrove, one of the most prolific plants on the world, but threatened by habitat degradation. Iain Thompson from South Africa followed with a comparison of two propagation systems for the production of the Eucalyptus, 38% of South Africa’s forestry is Eucalyptus. Jeff Elliot then discussed his holistic approach to irrigation and nursery-wide microbial balance.

Nick Cracknell’s challenge of building a state of the art tomato production unit resulted in a first class facility which some of us visited Saturday’s field trip. James Wood from the Tasmanian Seed Conservation Centre showed the work of preserving endangered plants though seed collection and preservation in storage. Lunch was preceded by Landcare’s Hugh Gourlay’s presentation of biological weed control principles and practice worldwide.

Robert Chin got the afternoon underway with his Churchill Scholarship comparative study of invasive weed management in Australia, Canada and USA. Liza Whalley’s experiments on the use of activated honey in propagation showed that any honey does the trick, while Erica Obenholzer’s presentation featured her work in commercial production of South African traditional medicinal plants - a presentation sparked a lot of positive comment.

Graham Saltiel started the last session off with an overview of what growers should expect from a potting media supplier and Nicola Rochester reported on experiments to put the case for nutrition amendments in propagation media.

Dinner was preceded, by some, with a speed blast up and down the Derwent River. These brave souls who experienced the cold, wet, windy and rough trip were likely the better for it?

Saturday got off to a cold and early start with breakfast: included in the conference fee, this was rouse to get us all to the 8am AGM that followed! Then, we saw just why it was so cold – the top third of Mt Wellington, a peak dominating the western skyline, had a liberal dusting of snow! At 1270m its peak is just nine kilometers from downtown Hobart.

Then it was on to a brief stop at the Salamanca Markets before the group split in three for the morning’s field visits. Lunch at Westland Nursery was followed by a nursery tour and demonstrations of potting (a very nice 60 x 2L per minute Demtec potting machine), budding, grafting and knife sharpening.

Saturday’s formal dinner and awards saw Dave Ogilvy presented with the John Follet Award of Recognition and Ken Davey’s exhaustive contribution to propagation and NZ IPPS was acknowledged with an Award of Merit, our highest honour. Congratulations to both well-deserved recipients.

Sunday’s paper sessions saw Terry Hatch discussing Dracophyllum, slow-growing but nice; Greg Neighbor from Scotts’ highlighted some trends in propagation and Hugh Gourlay presented details of the cost of exotic plants that go wild. Peter Ollerenshaw spoke of his work on the breeding of Correa and Michael Danelon showed us the benefits of optimizing our irrigation systems.

Mark Salter spoke on the opportunities presented by exporting berryfruit to Japan and James Gardener spoke on the use of seaweed extracts to enhance propagation success.

With the useful traditional Australian question and answer session the conference was wrapped up and pronounced a resounding success with all being invited in May 2010 to Blenheim and Perth in New Zealand and Australia respectively!

2009 Conference Paper Reviews

The "How To" guide to biological weed control - Hugh Gourlay

New Zealand leads the world with its expertise in the biological control of weeds, and one of the key people at the forefront of this research is Hugh Gourlay. A long time employee with Landcare Research, Hugh was invited to Tasmania to present 2 papers, and this was the first of them.

Biological control of weeds is a natural method of controlling the presence and reducing the nuisance value of pest plants in our environment. This might not be the way we are used to dealing with weeds in a nursery situation, where Buster is one of our best friends, but beyond the nursery gate there are some situations where biocontrol is often the only answer. Not all pest plants are suitable biocontrol candidates, but there are a few that fit the bill - widespread, invasive, and unable to be controlled by other methods. Think gorse, banana passionfruit, old man's beard, broom, ragwort, boneseed, hieracium, all thistles ...

Normally an investigation of the plant in its native habitat will indicate whether or not there are natural predators which might be suitable to introduce into NZ. In some cases there are up to 200 insects and diseases which attack these plants, but maybe only 2 or so that are effective enough to consider as a biocontrol agent worth importing here. Very strict testing is done on these candidates by giving them a "choice" test including closely related species, economically important species, and related native species. At this stage there can be no room for error, so the testing is extensive and very conservative. Application is made to ERMA for permission to introduce any new biocontrol agents, along with opportunity for public comment. If permission is given then the insect or disease will pass through quarantine before numbers are bulked up for release. All the weeds mentioned above are currently being worked on by Landcare in NZ, and in some cases overseas too. There are some great success stories, such as the ragwort flea beetle.

Review by Jill Reader

Invasive plants and the nursery industry - Australian, Canadian and American experiences - Robert Chin

Robert spoke about his trip to North America as part of the Churchill Fellowship, and some of the similarities and the differences in and around weeds. Some interesting differences overall were scale (nurseries of 2000 acres and 2000 staff!), little or no mechanisation, cheap labour and attention to quality.

With weed problems, there were some interesting similarities including a disjointed approach to weed control, lack of consultation over plants to go on the weedy list and bad publicity given to weedy plants originally cultivated in garden even though they are a very small part of the problem. It was also interesting to note that Eucalyptus is now considered a weed in California.

One area in which Australia is doing very well compared to North America is the promotion of alternatives to weedy plants for garden situations.

Robert finally emphasised that if you travel, use your IPPS connections within the industry.

The Global Cost of Exotic Plants - Hugh Gourlay

We all know weeds are expensive to control and Hugh Gourlay presented some sobering figures from around the world on how much it does actually cost for various problem weeds. The cost of weeds to NZ is only $1 billion per year which is small compared to $4 billion for Australia and $138 billion for the United States. To prevent plants turning into weeds, Hugh suggested a number of actions including the correct labelling of plants, not using plants that are in the same genus of known problem weeds and checking overseas for their weed status. He also emphasised the need that whole genus need not be entirely banned when there are sterile species available.

How to Better Model your Irrigation System - Michael Danelon

Presented to the society was a thought provoking talk on irrigation practice. He explains that it is vital to know details of your irrigation performance, water audits, what must be done to meet the outcomes of the audit and to assess your irrigation investment return.

We learned that until around 1999, many nurseries did not know or take into account water costs, use rates, pumping/maintenance costs and the like. Nurseries and other horticultural ventures should be accounting for regulatory requirements. Water meters, it was noted, were an excellent management tool for diagnostic purposes, and to demonstrate to authorities what your water needs are.

An efficient irrigation system, he explained, results in savings in water and labour costs and the quality of plants produced.

Review by Alistair Pegg

Selecting the right potting mix - Graham Saltiel

Graham knows potting mix, as you would expect with 26 years in the business. His knowledge and willingness to work with growers and their staff, have proven to be a very productive combination.
Graham states: Geography, land contours, weather, water systems, even pot size need to be taken into consideration in order to meet each plants individual needs and specification requirements.

Graham's employers Daltons in Matamata offer onsite testing and provide physical and nutritional analysis. Both Daltons and Graham understand the obligations of a supplier and stress that observation, communication and delivery are the keys to success.

We are pleased Graham's career as an Elvis impersonator didn't take off, as we would have missed an interesting and informative presentation.
Report Chris Scott

Propagation of Lomatia tasmanica - Natalie Tapson

From the Hobart Botanical Gardens, Natalie spoke on their efforts to propagate this very rare and difficult to grow Tasmanian plant. A small shrub from the Proteaceae family, it is only found in a 1.2 square kilometre area of S.W Tasmania that is under threat from human activities, fire, root rot and
climate change. It is extremely slow growing; a plant 240 years old only has a diameter of 6cm. It does have a pink flower but does not set any seed due to it being a triploid and therefore sterile. Propagation only occurs when a piece breaks off and takes root.

It is interesting to note that all the plants are clones and that the same plant has been reproducing for at least the last 43,000 years. So there are a few challenges to ensure its survival which the Botanical Gardens have been involved with for the last 13 years.

The Gardens hope to build up 50 plants as insurance for the wild propagation and currently have 46 in their collection grown from cuttings and grafting. Cuttings take up to 12 months to root but absolutely dislike any root disturbance hence very high losses. Grafting onto similar species works but plants don't survive well in containers.

Tissue culture has also been tried, but there has been a problem of cut stems blackening causing the plants to die. Various treatments are being used with plants now surviving longer in culture.
Report by Hayden Foulds

Propagation of Avicennia marina - Luke Dent

Luke was the recipient of this year's Rod Tallis Award which the Australian region presents each year to a propagator aged between 18- 30 who has completed a research report, written an article or article(s) or developed a new process or product. Part of the award is that the recipient must present a paper to conference.

Luke is the general manager of Wallum Nursery in Queensland which specialises in South East Queensland flora and like many in the nursery industry, started at the bottom doing the basic jobs.
After giving an overview of the ecology of mangroves, Luke then outlined why mangroves need to be propagated 12% of the mangroves forests have been destroyed since Europeans arrived and with 85% of Australia's population living close to the coast, urban development is a crucial factor.

With this in mind, Luke set about transplanting mangroves, a risky process which suffered high losses due to transplant shock. In the end, the success rate was 42% and since then, they have been planted out with mixed results due to some being planted too deep and getting their leaves covered in algae.
It is interesting to note that the area of mangroves in New Zealand is actually increasing!
Report by Hayden Foulds

Propagation of Dracophyllum - Terry Hatch

Terry Hatch spoke on the propagation of Dracophyllum, the unusual New Zealand native shrub or small tree of which there are 60 forms that could be grown commercially, but are generally not as they are difficult to propagate. Passionate about these plants, Terry introduced a number of species and the various characteristics of each. He then outlined their propagation, of which they have a reputation of being slow and difficult. Terry gave a number of tips to get the best results including using honey, using beneficial michorrizal fungi and smoking the seeds. He also showed how to take basal stem cuttings which gives good results.
Report by Hayden Foulds

Propagating indigenous medicinal plants - Erika Obenholzer

Pico-Grow started in 1995 supplying the cut flower industry. In 2006 all the old structures were broken down and rebuilt into 1 ha of galvanised framed houses. Labour consists of a management team of African people who are educated until the age of 17/18 years old, some South African people in the administration and unskilled labour to make up the team. In 2008 3ha of extra land was purchased and luckily found water so started from scratch building 4000m2 of new production space.

Most plants are produced in a smaller grade (plug size for easy transport) with outdoor beds used as mother material. Plants such as lavender, thyme, rosemary, chamomile, teatree, buchu (indigenous) and rose geranium (largest volume crop with 5 million grown last season for oil production) were grown.

Then Erika became involved in supplying plants for re-planting indigenous crops that are being used in the muti-market (indigenous medicine) where roots, seeds and bark are sold as 'prescription medicine' from indigenous healers but are not being replaced in the wild. Approx. 400-500,000 traditional healers are prescribing medicinal plants for 50-100 million consumers, so vast quantities are being sold which include over 1000 species. Some of these plants have been researched and are being used in western medicines, others are yet to be studied.

Some of the plants propagated are; Siphonochilus ethiopicus (African ginger), Helichrysum aureonitens, Elephantorrhiza elephantine, Pelorgonium sidoides, Scletetium tortuosum, Harpagophytum procumbens, Eriocephalus punctulatus.
Report by Lana Hope

Commercial Forestry Cuttings in South Africa - Iain Thompson

Six packer and South African exchange person Iain Thompson spoke on the forestry industry in South Africa which covers 1.3 million hectares made up of 53% Pinus, 38% Eucalyptus and 8% Wattle.
He then covered differences in production between two nurseries producing eucalyptus cuttings, the main varieties grown are E grandis x E urophylla (subtropical) and E grandis x E nitens (cold tolerant). There were advantages and disadvantages to both, with one being the potential to increase production and the other more suited to the South African labour market, which is cheap at around $9 an hour but very unskilled.
Report by Hayden Foulds

NZ Native Hedge Plants - Terry Hatch

Terry Hatch spoke to encourage people to think outside, or beyond the box when planting hedges. He spoke of many exotic species used as hedges having become weedy. In encouraging the use of native sSpecies as hedging he pointed out not only the aesthetic desirability but also the ecological values of natives in sustaining native animals and birds.

Species suggested or promoted by Terry included Hebe, Corokia, Melicytus, Pittosporum and Pseudopanax, all of which clip to shape very well. But then why clip? Perhaps we should consider the value of free form hedges especially the divaricating plants of New Zealand.
Report by Bronwen Rowse

Acadian seaweed extract - James Gardner

In what was probably the most entertaining presentation of the whole conference, James Gardner presented the results of work done on Acadian sea weed extract. Greenhouse and field trips have shown the extract, made from Ascophyllum nodosum, can improve plant quality and allow them to survive periods of stress such as drought and salinity better.
Report by Hayden Foulds

Germination Testing at the Tasmanian Seed Conservation Centre - James Wood

James Wood is the seed bank co-ordinator at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens. James talked about the joint Project between the Tasmanian Seed Conservation Centre and the Millennium Seed Bank. The aim of this project is to develop a plant collection of 800 Tasmanian natives including 60% of Tasmania's rare and threatened flora.

The main points of the talk covered the need for a seed bank as an insurance policy against plant extinction, different methods used to test the viability of seed to be stored and the different methods used to break seed dormancy. All collections greater than 500 seeds are tested and need to have a 75% germination rate over 3 rounds of testing to be suitable for storing. Seeds have a wide variation of physiological dormancy factors across family, genera and species and this testing can show patterns through these.

James also talked about the challenges of access to information about seed dormancy and said some of their results are now available on their website www.rtbg.tas.gov.au.

I found this talk very interesting as I work with New Zealand native seed and find the challenges of seed dormancy fascinating and frustrating !!
Report by Juliette Curry

Breeding & selecting Correa - Peter Ollerenshaw

Peter and Jennifer Ollerenshaw own Bywong Nurseries 30kms northeast of Canberra (which was established in 1984).

Peter gave a talk about the correas that he is breeding at the IPPS conference in Hobart.
There are many species of Correas with numerous subspecies, some of which have hybridized naturally. They range from ground covers to shrubs that are 3-4m tall.

Peter has been breeding Corneas for quite a while and has come up with many different coloured flowers and forms - pink & green, red & pink, green, yellow etc. He has a number due for release in 2009/2010.

Peter propagates from cuttings anytime of the year and treats seed with smoke to help in germination.
Peter has been selecting different varieties for the retail market. These plants must have good attributes such as large colourful flowers and good form.

He has also manage to produce a double flower which unfortunately due to the way it hangs it doesn't do the flower justice.

Report by Jason from Blueskin Nurseries

Out of season berry production - Mark Salter

Mark presented a paper on the production of berries, these being strawberries and raspberries under glass. After 25 years in apple and pear production, Mark saw a market for high grade strawberries in Japan, the main use being cake decoration. After 5 years the market declined due to high cost in production, transport and packing. On the packing side each strawberry had to be individually wrapped.

Mark moved to raspberry productio,n as in Australia, there is no fresh fruit available in winter and early spring. In 2005 he won the Churchill Fellowship which he used to take a 7week study trip to USA, UK and Europe. And now he is successfully growing the variety Tulameen with the secret in air movement, no wet feet and a good liquid feed program.

Report by Mark Seebeck

Dirty Water - Jeff Elliot

Jeff tells his story about learning the hard way, at his nursery in Amberley, near Christchurch.
Right from the start, Jeff had recycling in mind; but it wasn't until later that he managed to begin to put this into practice. So began the process of recycling runoff water, using a chlorine based system. Problems with disease still prevailed. He then began utilising 'good' microbes in the water. His research led him to find that by boosting the 'good' microbes, instead of just trying to eliminate the 'bad' ones, disease could be balanced out. In fact the 'bad' could be offset by 'good' microbes.

Thus he began the cultivation of aerobic microbes through compost tea, and adding this to his water catchment.

A real “holistic approach” to production disease management.

Report by Alistair Pegg

Formulating quality potting mixes for propagation and growing container crops - Mark Stevenson

The days of just potting plants into some garden soil have long gone. Today we have to look at what type of plants to media, chemicals, aeration and containers for plant production.

With this combination is possible to create a healthy saleable plant in a given period of time.
Advances in plant research have shown us that there are things we can do to improve the growth speed and health of our container plants.

Basically a good propagation / container medium should have good aeration, water retention, controlled release fertiliser applied with good management giving us a top quality plant for sale.

Report by Gordon Scott

IPPS Pre-conference Tour 2009 - part 1 of 2

By Hayden Foulds

Prior to the joint New Zealand/Australia IPPS conference in Hobart, 17 New Zealanders joined members from the Australian region for a week's tour around Tasmania, an island known for its spectacular scenery and rich cultural heritage.

Starting in Hobart, the tour followed the Derwent River on whose banks are two of Hobart's main employers, Cadbury Chocolate and the Norske Skog paper mill which produces half of Australia's newsprint. Along the way, we also saw a wide variety of activities involving the land, ranging from rows of cherries and currants, to hop production and forestry and even a trout hatchery, the first in the Southern Hemisphere.

The spectacular Russell Falls in the Mt Field National Park was the first stop of the day and probably the most impressive one as well. A short walk through lush native bush, almost reminiscent of New Zealand soon brought us to the spectacular falls which cascade down over two levels. The photos don't do justice to this one.

Continuing further on, we stopped at Derwent Bridge which is half way between Hobart and our final destination for the day, Strahan on Tasmania's west coast. Here we visited 'The Wall' a sculpture that is a commemoration of those people, past and present, who shaped the Central Highlands of Tasmania. The privately owned and funded work is being completed by Greg Duncan, a well known Tasmanian artist.

The sculpture consists of three metre-high panels, mostly of the rare Huon Pine and when it is finished in 2015, will be a very impressive 100 metres long. At the moment, it's a fraction of the size but still fairly impressive.

Our next destination was Lake St Claire at the southern end of Cradle Mountain - Lake St Clair National Park. If it had been a fine day, it would have been spectacular but unfortunately the light drizzle and low cloud meant there wasn't much to see. More spectacular scenery followed on the way to Strahan and it almost felt like you were back home in New Zealand.

Strahan was our base on the west coast of Tasmania to visit two of the regions (and Tasmania's) premier tourist attractions. The Gordon River Cruise is based out of Strahan and so we boarded the Lady Jane Franklin II for several hours of cruising in very calm seas, but low cloud obscured much of the view for the trip. It was also rather cold which didn't bother the kiwis that much but the Aussies weren't used to it!

From Strahan we headed to Hells Gate at the entrance of Macquarie Harbour, a very narrow and dangerous entrance but one that has been enhanced with the construction of several rock walls. Further on up the harbour, the boat stopped to view one of the fish farms and then continued on up the Gordon River and its magnificent rain forest right down to the water's edge. This area and indeed much of western Tasmania is protected under World Heritage Status and is one of only two places in the world that have achieved 7 of the 10 criteria. About 12km up the river, we went ashore for a walk through the lush tropical rainforest, very much like parts of NZ and dominated by the Huon Pine. This was an important timber tree with the ability to withstand decay and rot for very long periods of time, so it was ideally suited for building ships. It is however, very slow growing, only a centimetre or so each year so 700 year old trees were only a few metres tall. It is for this reason that it is now protected and the only timber is what floats down the river.

The final stop on the cruise was Sarah Island, a penal colony that was used in the early 1880s, before Port Arthur was established closer to Hobart. Sarah Island had a very harsh reputation, so much so, that many prisoners committed murder so they could be sent to Hobart for hanging or died trying to escape, either in Macquarie Harbour or in the vast area of bush in Western Tasmania. Two very entertaining and informative guides took us around the Island and the ruins of the various structures. One interesting feature was the slipyards, still intact and one of which could launch a 300 tonne boat. This was made from Huon pine which again shows its strength and durability.

It was then back to Strahan and some free time to explore this small fishing and tourist town before seeing the play 'The Ship That Never Was' in the early evening. This play is based around the last ship build by convicts on Sarah Island, on which they overpowered the guards and sailed the ship to South America. A very entertaining evening with a lot of audience participation, including IPPS members who probably won't be getting a call from Peter Jackson anytime soon.

The other main tourist attraction at Strahan is the West Coast Wilderness which runs between Queenstown, a mining town, and Strahan. We headed to Queenstown to board the train for the 35km trip back to Strahan with several stops along the way for various activities, including honey tasting and panning for gold. Several of the IPPS members struck it lucky and were able to take a very small speck of gold home with them. Of course, there was the magnificent scenery along the way - lush rainforest and spectacular views of the King River.

Originally built in the late 1890's to transport copper out for export markets, it covers some very harsh terrain which made its original construction a massive challenge and all by hand. It's also very steep in places, meaning a third rail was used in the centre of the track that could give extra grip. The original line closed in the 1960's but a restoration project began in 1999, with the help of the government, to restore the line as a tourist attraction which was opened in 2002. Restoration cost $30 million dollars; the original cost of the railway was only $400,000.

From Strahan, the tour headed further up the west coast and inland to Cradle Mountain National Park which covers 161,443 hectares. It is also part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage area which covers about 1.38 million hectares (about 1/5th of Tasmania) and satisfies 7 of the 10 requirements in order to be listed as a World Heritage area - this is the only place on earth that this occurs.

Our day at Cradle Mountain started with an explorer tour which told of the history behind the park. Because the terrain and climate is so severe, human impact has been limited and so the park today is relatively untouched by man. The tour took us to a replica of Waldheim Chalet of which the original was built by Gustav and Kate Weindorfer in 1912. Gustav was the main driver behind the Cradle Mountain area being protected, something which happened in 1922.

Most of the group then headed up to Dove Lake and walked the track around the lake which is at the base of the spectacular Cradle Mountain. The more adventurous and energetic walked
up to Marion's lookout with great views over Dove Lake.

Continuing north, the tour visited the Emu Valley Rhododendron Garden. The garden was started by members of the local rhododendron society and its development has all been done on a voluntary basis by members.

The garden covers 13ha and includes over 20,000 rhododendrons arranged by country of origin, including an extensive collection of vireya rhododendrons set among plantings of trees and shrubs. Included in the collection were a number of rare species so the garden is very important in the conservation of many species threatened in their natural habitat.

The autumn colours were fantastic and one could only wonder what the garden would be like at springtime in full bloom, the website is www.emuvalleyrhodo.com.au

In Tasmania, the main industries are tourism, mining and forestry. Our next visit was to Gunn's Nursery at Somerset, just out of Burnie on the northern coast of Tasmania.

Gunn's is the big forestry company in Tasmania and the nursery supplies an estimated 18 million seedlings, mostly Eucalyptus and Pinus species for plantations. It has also recently diversified into producing grapevines for Gunn's vineyards in Tasmania.

The nursery is extremely mechanised with only two full time staff and casual labour being brought in for busy times. Once the seeds are sown in the plug trays, there is no further transplanting until dispatch when the plants are removed and packed bare root into cartons. Large frames on tracks are used to move the plug trays from the germination house to the outside growing areas and then into dispatch. One of the innovations we saw was encasing the seedling at dispatch in a red net in order to reduce losses through animal browsing once transplanted out into the plantation. The net then breaks down in the field allowing the plant to grow. Despite the extra cost of applying the nets manually (about 13c per plant), it has been shown to significantly reduce the losses through browsing and a machine is in development to automate this process further.

Travelling around the north coast where forestry gave way to farmland, we headed inland to the town of Sheffield which is known for its murals and a visit to Clematis Cottage Nursery which is run by Todd and Carol Miles. The nursery grows over 100 varieties of clematis which are sold through the adjacent garden centre, over the internet and to retail customers across Australia.

At Launceston, we visited the scenic Cataract Gorge which is less than 2km from the city centre. The gorge is most famous for its chairlift which is the longest single span in the world at 357m, and the scenery which we got a good view of from the Alexandra Suspension Bridge.

Our next visit was to Allan's Production Nursery at Youngtown which is part of the United Nurseries group across Australia. Established in 1964 and still run by the Allan family, the nursery employs around 20 staff and also has several retail outlets. Production is based around bedding and vegetable plants, potted colour, house plants and a small selection of trees and shrubs. Bill Allan showed the group around the very tidy nursery which was in full swing for autumn sales. One trend noticeable in the nursery was the rather large labels being used for some of the seedlings, in fact you wondered if a garden centre was selling the label rather than the plants!

The tour then continued into the very scenic north - west of the island and visited Woodlea Nursery between Scottsdale and Launceston. It is another forestry nursery producing around 8 million seedlings a year to forestry and revegetation projects, farmers and the general public. The level of mechanisation here was less than at Gunn's Nursery with staff still transplanting seedlings from trays into plugs, although there are plans to use a mechanical transplanter more.

From the scenic north east, we moved down the much dryer east coast which only receives 1/5th the rainfall the west does to the Freycinet National Park. Our time here was very limited but we did manage a brisk walk up between two peaks known as the Hazards to the lookout over Wineglass Bay, a very picturesque bay popular with tourists. There are also some spectacular rock formations in the area which is mostly granite rich in minerals. It is also very dry so there was little in the way of animal or bird life.

From Freycinet, the tour continued south to Pulchella Nursery at Buckland which is run by Les and Helen Payne. Specialising in Australian native plants, there is a particular focus on cold hardy and east coast plants and they also do revegetation projects for south east Tasmania. The display area is well laid out with plants grouped according to regions and heights.  Next door to the nursery is the Tasmanian Bushland Garden with 50 hectares of plantings not yet open to the public, but we were told well worth a visit on your next visit to Tasmania.

Our final stop before Hobart and the end of the tour was the historic town of Richmond which is home to the oldest bridge in Australia, built by convict labour in 1823.

Touring with a group from IPPS is a great way of meeting fellow members and you learn a lot from each other during the trip. You also get to visit some places not usually seen by the average tourist and have a bit of fun along the way. If the chance comes along to tour as part of an IPPS group, I suggest you go for it.

International Ramblings

You don't have to be an optimist to work with plants, but it helps. Whether you grow plants, breed plants, hunt wild ones or teach others about them, it often relies on several things that are beyond your control, but which you hope will turn out right when the time comes.

At the recent IPPS Conference in Kilkenny, the region of Great Britain and Ireland played host to the International Board and other assorted delegates from far and near. Inevitably there was much discussion about the global economic downturn and how this has impacted on the nursery industry. Whilst there were few people who were not adversely affected, I was very impressed by the resilience and positive attitude of the delegates. Older members, myself included, offer the scant consolation that we have seen it all before, and things will work out in the end. Others, again including myself, reckon that good weather at the key sales times will have more impact than media gloom and doom. The smarter, more realistic delegates realised that we are in for a period of tightened belts and increased focus on the economics of plant production. The general feeling was that to balance the supply and demand equations it was better to reduce production numbers than to cut wholesale prices. Will they be brave enough when they get home? Watch this space!

The conference was very well attended. The International Board and other overseas delegates brought a lot of extra knowledge to the event and their active participation was very much appreciated by the GB&I members. It brought home to me how valuable our society is. Years before "networking", "benchmarking" and "best practice" became buzzwords IPPS was doing it. Seeking and sharing is so obviously effective that I can't understand why more people didn't start doing it sooner. The most surprising thing is that some people still need convincing as to what a good idea it is.

The overall membership numbers of IPPS worldwide have been declining in recent years. Some regions have suffered more than others have but we all need new recruits to maintain our knowledge base and generate fresh enthusiasm. If every existing member were to bring along a friend, a colleague or a neighbour to their next local event it might be the start of a lifelong involvement. That's how I got hooked.

Over the years I have visited countless horticultural operations around the world. My colleagues dread my return from yet another trip, with yet another daft idea, but invariably, with a little modification, we have found an improvement. Very occasionally my colleagues will even admit that it was an improvement. I firmly believe that the neat ideas and generous advice that I have gleaned from my IPPS involvement have been key factors in making our nursery what it is today. My annual subscriptions have been repaid several times over.

The International Board is working on ideas to develop more membership benefits. With easier communications now available I hope the international links can be developed further to make our unique society even more valuable to its members. There is a lot of scope for more members to make use of the international contacts available through IPPS. Whatever your current challenge, there is a good chance someone on this planet has a solution to offer.

One speaker at the GB&I conference forecast that there will be a return to traditional values after this current economic crisis. Greed and envy will be replaced by honesty and integrity. Let's hope this comes true. Seeking and sharing will become fashionable. People may look at the longer term and recognise the importance of plants and plant people. It may encourage young people to consider horticulture when making career choices. Us optimists have lots more fun you know.

I am nearing the end of my Presidential year. It has been an honour and a privilege to serve in this position. I would like to thank all of the International Board for their support and wish Jim Johnson well for his term of office.

Clippers or a Knife?

What tools do you and your propagation room staff use to make most soft, half ripe and firm cuttings?

Me? I’m a knife man.

At the recent joint Australian, New Zealand IPPS Conference in Hobart I was asked to put the case for the use of a knife for making cuttings. Conference organiser Rose VanderStaay had asked me to try and convince those attending that “a better cutting can be made with a knife rather than clippers and that cutting production with a knife, once mastered, is quicker”.

For those of you who were unable to make it to Hobart here is my argument.

Firstly let me clarify what cuttings we are working with here. Hardwood cuttings are probably best done with a good sharp pair of secateurs or as is common these days, even with a band saw. Very soft cuttings like Coleonema or small cuttings like Leptospernum are probably excluded from my argument and I am happy to acknowledge that small clippers work best here.

Why use a knife? After all a good quality knife can cost big dollars right?

I did a little Google search and found top quality Tina budding knives priced at AU$100-$120 or NZ$125-$155 or there abouts, while cheap clippers seen in a lot of propagation rooms these days only cost $10 or $15. I myself use a Tina 64110 standard budding knife that I purchased in 1992 for about $75.00. It has, by now, probably cut well over 3 million cuttings and is still going strong. Let’s see if you can get that many cuttings out of those $15 clippers, I doubt it.

A question asked numerous times during my presentation was to do with the Occupational, Health & Safety (OH&S) issues ....knives are very sharp, they cut hands and fingers, is that good?

I guess we all know that it is usually the blunt knife that does the most damage.

If the knife is kept as keen as possible, this will help prevent a lot of potential wounds. Of course it is also important to have suitable safety policies in the propagation room as well as good training and suitable supervision for the new hands. A handy box of Band Aids is also advisable.

There is however another issue to consider ... Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI).

It is my contention that there is a lot less hand movement when using a knife than there is using a pair of clippers. Every cut with a pair of clippers requires the operator to both open and close the cutters two, three and maybe even four time per cutting. The weight of the clipper return spring can also have an effect. Less hand movements of course means quicker production.

And what about the quality of the cut?

I believe a knife makes a much cleaner cut than a pair of clippers and this may have an effect on the quality of the struck cutting or indeed the cuttings ability to root at all. Stems can be bruised and crushed by clippers and these sloppy cuts can be a target place for decay. Wounding of cuttings is also difficult to do with a pair of clippers and the wound is going to be very rough.

I have put a challenge up in the Australian newsletter ‘The Propagator’ on page 12, have a look at it
www.ipps.org.au/images_pdf/The_Propagator_22_Winter_09.pdf
Michael Gleeson

Coming Up

Done and dusted - news from the 2010 Conference - details here.

International Tour and Conference is in Eastern Region from 16 September

Spring field day plans are a work in progress

News

At the Blenheim conference Richard Ware was presented with the Award of Merit.

Peter Waugh was honored too - with the John Follet Award of Recognition.

New Japan / New Zealand Exchange.

IPPS Travel Scholarship details

Seven hours on the Tongariro Crossing Field Trip

An update on the McGredy Rose Garden

IPPS stands at the Nursery Trade Days

Liza Whalley reports on her IPPS Scholarship experience.

 

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