Jacaranda

 

Jacaranda mimosifolia is a tree indigenous to Brazil and Argentina, but because of its abundant purple flowers, it is used as an ornamental tree in warm parts around the world. I particularly like the second part of its botanical name, mimosifolia which refers to the small leaves which are a part of the larger compound leaf, is sort of rolls off the tongue. Jacaranda flowers are bell-shaped and if you want to talk pretty, the colour is violet and are good bee fodder.

 

We used to work in a village called, Monduli, which is an old village that hosted a teacher’s training college, the regional office and on the outskirts, an army headquarters and barracks. It was the Tanzania army who got rid of Idi Amim the butcher of Uganda while the United Nations sat on their hands. Anyway, there are a few avenues of Jacaranda around Monduli and it is there I collected seed for my tree nursery. The reason I went to Monduli in the first place was twofold, Maasai kids were taught at Ngarash Primary School and we carried out a tree planting project with them. The project’s success was down to the qualities of the head teacher, a woman much respected within the community. The other reason was because another volunteer became friendly with a local woman, who expressed the desire to start up a women’s group and establish a local tree nursery. I met the women and from the start, could tell they weren’t very motivated, nevertheless to appease the volunteer, I raised some funds and supplied the necessary materials. I think the women expected they would receive money in the hand which curbed their enthusiasm… and I suspect that was what the volunteer thought too.

 

Jacaranda can survive in dry boney soils, but if there is fertility, it will rob it all. The soils in the areas mostly where I worked were generally rich enough to support two and even three tier farming… if there was adequate rain or irrigation. Three tier farming is timber trees underplanted with maize and with beans growing between the rows of maize. Nothing would grow beneath Jacaranda. But if you see an avenue of them in flower, with the road covered in fallen ‘violet’ flowers, you’d want to plant at least one at your house. The seeds are enclosed in a thin, woody capsule, about seven centimetres across; the capsule becomes brown when ripe and splits open. The seeds are on a roundish, papery wing, so I picked the capsules before they opened. Cutting around the edge to open them was difficult but each one contained about fifty seeds and maybe 75% of seeds sown germinated.

 

As for uses, the trees make good enough firewood and the tree provides shade but otherwise its not very useful… except. You’ve probably seen those black carvings that come from Africa? They are made from African blackwood or Dalbergia melanoxylon. Unfortunately, overcutting has made the species become rare because it is slow growing and doesn’t grow with much vigour. The seed is more difficult to germinate too but I did grow some, but in the village situation, they weren’t popular because they grew too slow and weren’t attractive. The faster trees grow in the villages the better; fertilize them with dry cow manure, protect them from browsing livestock and scratching hens and manually water them for the shorted time allows novice tree planters to see success quickly, which encourages tree planters… it’s the same around the world.

 

The entrepreneurial youth found that Jacaranda carves beautifully and the whitish wood is quickly changed to black with the application of good old Kiwi brand shoe polish! Anyone with the knowledge would know the difference in wood weight, but although it might appear to be  a bit fraudulent to some, it is a good conservation measure and keeps a number of youths employed. After all the wooden ornaments are bought during the fervour of travel, and they often end up as dust-gatherers on a shelf somewhere.

 

Hifadhi mazingira! Protect the environment!

 

 

Androscoggin Poplar

Spring has sprung, the grass is riz, and the buds on the Androscoggin is aburstin’.

Yeah, yeah I’m no poet, but just the same at this time of the year I feel pretty chuffed about my Populus androscoggin trees!

Mind you I like them all year round, even the grey back when they are naked, but because they are a balsam poplar, the wax on their bursting leaves and buds is fragrant. There are some two hundred trees alongside our house, so the fragrance pleasantly wafts around the property. I wish I could describe the smell, the most similar being the propolis that bees make from catsear. I guess that’s no help either! Catsear is a dandelion-like weed and propolis is a glue bees make to maintain their hive. It is made from material they gather mixed with wax extruded from glands on their body. It is a recognised health product.

Anyway I have been fighting gorse pretty much all of my working life, mainly to establish exotic forest but also to maintain pasture. There are a number of methods, which don’t matter here, but for those of you who have gorse as an indigenous plant, here in New Zealand it was introduced as a farm hedging plant, but it has escaped to become an invasive weed species.

Our property comprises two ancient river flats, terraces, between them is a shady, steep, southerly face. The elevation between the bottom terrace and the top terrace is around sixty metres, so on a map, it doesn’t look to be much area but on the ground the total area amounts to nearly two and a half hectares. When I took over the property in 1967 the face was covered in gorse which was four metres high! Sorry I know figures can be dull!

Anyone who reads my stuff has probably figured out that I have a passion for trees, and it is trees that are the best way to combat gorse. I have used three genera along my southerly face; Pinus, Eucalyptus and Populus. With the first two, I had to cut lines through the gorse and keep the seedlings weed-free until they could manage on their own. On steep ground and with tall, vigorous gorse it was hard work, and maybe not everyone’s cup of tea. The complication was bunnies! In the month of February 1975 I shot 46 rabbits in a small area of Eucalyptus that I had to totally replant. I have harvested some of those Eucs, amazing when I think of it, I sowed the seed, pricked them out, grew them on and then planted them out. Gun barrels they are now, getting on for fifty meters tall and my hands don’t meet when I hug them!

The Poplars were somewhat easier, I cut light-wells in the gorse and in the centre planted Poplar poles of about two metres long with a small end diameter of around two centimetres. They took no care at all after hefting a crowbar to drive in the holes about a third to a half meter deep for the poles. The trick for anyone trying this is to cut the poles and to charge them with water before planting out! Soak them for a month before budburst time when the planting should be completed. In the nursery we made cutting about the size of pencils, so they don’t have to be big poles at all.

Gorse is a light demander, so cutting down available light will eventually kill it. The fallen autumn leaves seem to cut more light because the sit on the green parts of the gorse. While the Poplars are in leaf, they compete with the gorse for moisture too. Once the gorse has gone, and because Poplars are deciduous, during the winter the soil has a chance to recharge moisture levels so sheep are able to feed on the grass that grows. Another little bonus for the sheep is the pollen-rich flowers that fall just before budburst, during lambing!

My trees are now large, getting on for twenty metres and the edge ones are fat, too big to hug! Androscoggin have a strong root system including on the soil surface, which binds the soil together, thus preventing erosion!

Edge trees grow large branches too and the fallen leaves deter planting too close to houses. Those branches can be brittle during strong wind but a good source of fuelwood. The timber is very good for timber truck decks, beehives and as firewood Androscoggin burns well but leaves more ash than pine or eucalypts. The autumn colour is brilliant, at least in years when the rust not around. Poplar rust was feared to decimate Poplars in New Zealand but over the thirty or so years it has been present (arriving from Europe) they have built up a resistance to it except in very wet years.

At this time of the year I celebrate my Androscoggin Poplars, for their rebirth, their fragrance and the benefit they provide to our environment!

Curbing Enthusiasim (or The reason for tree planting failures)

I have just been typing up old diary notes and realise there is a need to spell out why there are so many tree planting failures.

Alfred at Engorora was the chairman of the environmental group there and so to set an example to other members, he planted more trees than anyone else. That was all very well during the long rains, but what happens when the drought comes?

Well he was busy doing his usual work, his wife was busy finding food for their zero grazed cow and calf and the children had their school work and other activities to attend to. As well water was short and as far as a water source goes, Engorora is not as bad as many other villages.

So a lot of Alfred’s trees did not survive the drought!

Had he planted a few trees, time could have been found to water them – by a few, I mean no more than ten. Fifty trees takes a lot of watering time especially if water has to be carried any distance at all.

There is a lot of time, effort and expense gone into raising a tree seedling to the time it can be planted out. Then there is the time to plant it and shelter it from the severe sun and from animals – including hens!

I remember Mama Kuku funding the supply and transport of trees to Arusha from Moshi or Same to several village throughout Arumeru – 60 000 trees on a load. They were delivered – I almost said ‘dumped’ because that’s what it amounted to – at village offices and Diocese offices for distribution. How were those offices were supposed to maintain those trees until village people could collect them I have no idea. There were no funds for delivery to households.

SCAPA were no different – they delivered far too many trees and they just could not be cared for in the village situation.

If you are writing a funding proposal, funders’ eyes light up when you mention big tree numbers because ‘this will prevent climate change’. But causing village people extra work had to be modified to something that they are able to achieve reasonably – the process is slower but the outcome more satisfactory.

Losses are not only financial or time, the biggest loss is in enthusiasm for the idea of tree planting to enhance environments and indeed to save the planet.