A rambling reply... Yep, The Koala eats these and spends many hours sleeping in the tree blissed out as it digests the leaves, apparently in an altered state. Also colourful parrots (cockatoos, lorakeets, rosellas...), sugartail gliders, bats, goannas both nest in the trees and feast on the blossom. Each tree is an entire ecosystem of plant and animal interactions, and is the backbone of much of the Australian landscape. In Australia (where Eucs are native) there are 300 types and some grow over 400feet high(taller than redwoods!!). In the summer the eucalptus oils evaporate from the leaves and fill the bush with the most amazing scent, which also makes the mountains appear shades of blue. Near my home is a Eucalypt called the Corroboree Tree, estimated at 600-700 years old. It is an important tree to the Coolun Nation indigenous Australians, whose seven groups would meet at the tree before invasion. Currently we are planting native grasslands around the tree in its honour.
Eucalyptus Oil is a very powerful antiseptic, and here we use it for nearly everything (tea tree oil is used for everything else), from washing the bathroom floors, to gargling(with water) when we have the flu. The trees are also an amazing water regulator and the deforestation in many parts of Australia has shifted the climate dramatically, and caused droughts to be longer and more intense (if you want to dry out a boggy patch, plant a Eucalypt - although I quite like boggy gardens and their own peculiar ways). Unfortunately, like the redwood forests, we have very little of our old growth forests left. Hardly any of our high quality old growth is protected and much is being logged as I write. It is a disaster for our country, even more depressing as nearly all is chipped, exported to Japan and used to make paper, all for US$6/tonne (not including assiciated costs of road building etc)!!!!! We do have plantations as well, and many farmers are switching from intensive crops to tree farming. Unfortunately these plantations are generally monocultures without much interplanting of acacias and other indigenous flora, but it is so much better that logging old growth, which must stop! Now, back to gardening, as Eucalypts are all around us, we use the mulch from our local council green waste depot as mulch in native garden beds, and as paths. I haven't used it in the vegie garden as I use pea straw but well composted it shouldn't be a problem (different euc species have different levels of growth inhibitors - a bit like pines), studies have shown that it doesn't seem to do obvious damage to plants, and I cant think of a bush garden where growth has been affected, and much of our richest farmland was once magestic eucalypt forest. Also, fresh bark chips seem to repel insects such as mosquitoes due to the scent, (this stops as they stop smelling strongly). Goodluck, Tamsin Melbourne, Australia On 26/10/02 12:44 AM, "a.h.steely" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The cute Koala bear eats these I think, they are somewhat sluggish critters > and have a special digestive enzyme like the sloths that eat another more > poisonous tree. That may be why someone advised not using Eucalyptus for > compost though I think that I saw some sort of concoction in the health food > store with Eucalyptus as an ingredient. > > Thanks for the suggestion to use the phrase that is the business that I do > for a living. The Extension Service person from Phila. Pa. also very > intensely kept repeating that Community Gardening is all about Food Security > that is also part of Homeland Security. Well, I always knew that but now > the people of Penn State Univ. are saying that. > > Sincerely, > Helen Steely > Harrisburg, Pa. > > > > > ______________________________________________________ > The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's > services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out > how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org > > > To post an e-mail to the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: > https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden > On 25/10/02 5:43 AM, "Walter Romanowski" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I have been told that it's not really a good idea to > compost Oleander for use in the vegetable garden > because the phytotoxins may not fully be broken-down. > A fellow community gardener also suggested I not use > Eucalyptus leaves/stems in this compost. Is the > Eucalyptus really bad, and are there other > plants/trees that I should not chip/shred for use in > the vegetable garden compost? > > ______________________________________________________ > The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's > services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out > how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org > > > To post an e-mail to the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: > https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden > ______________________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden
