I work at a large plant nursery in Australia and sometimes they throw out perfectly usable trees if they're not growing how they want. I always take the chance to save them from death and I've been planting them in swales on my small front lawn. I've grown many eucalyptus varieties and I see them everyday. It's very interesting looking at the biomass and microclimate side of things because I've noticed completely different growth behaviours in the dense planting I did 1 year ago. I come from a Permaculture background but also living in Australia with hundreds of eucalypt species, I love to see people innovating with different applications for species many overlook.
I'm planting as many fruit trees as I can in amongst the acacia and eucalyptus. I'm able to immediately start chopping and dropping to feed my fruit trees. And they are sheltered from the heat and cold
Prunus serotina is an invasive species in my country but what I have noticed is that it's mostly a problem in our monoculture pine forests. It's one of the only trees that grows in these monoculture pine forests. Yet somehow biologists say it's an invasive while actually it's filling a niche rehabilitating these artificial mono culture pine forests that aren't native here either. They also provide more food for birds and insects increasing diversity and life. It's time we have a different honest conversation about invasives.
According to a few sources on Wikipedia, its invasive in quite a lot of Europe so its likely not harmless in other European countries. Though, I know that large scale monoculture stupid.
I started my food forest here in Zambia last week 23/11/24 my first 30m tree line. Put in eucalyps every 2m. Thanks to your videos learning a lot. On the next tree line will be 1m apart. I need alot of biomass.
Interesting that there's no mention of wattles in the system. They last about 15 years and are nitrogen fixers. Only difference is that they don't grow as tall as gums, but grow quicker
I have two mature Eucalyptus trees on my desert land less than 20 miles from Death Valley on the Nevada side. They are thriving while other species struggle. They are quite hardy as well surviving many strong wind storms.
3. It is like saying salt is disgusting in your food when your dish only exists out of salt. If your dish consists of many things, salt will complement it well and helps bring out the taste of your other ingredients as well!
Great vid Byron! I hope this will convince the world of the importance and value of eucalyptus. I am a bit late in planting them at my place. But now its all about the eucalyptus. Funnily enough natives grow quite well here on the wet west coast tree tutu is very fast and great for chop n drop. So biomass isnt my main reason for planting eucalyptus. Shelter and durable timber are the main ones for me. The plan for my garden is to have seasonal eucalyptus canopy protecting fruit trees ect during the wet and stormy winter and spring, prune them hard in late spring when the climate is friendlier, to let full sun into the understory and limit their drying effects for the dryest months then they can re grow and do it all again. I would say that there are durable and fast growing species in both monocalypts and symphomyrts groups.
"Bad species don't exist" *Gleditsia Triacanthos joins the chat* If you want a personal challenge, try to find a way to manage this tree from hell and you will save thousands of hectares in Argentina. This tree doesn't care about anyone or anything, it just grows and propagates, ruining fields, closing roads, destroying fences and tires, and maiming cute wild animals. It's a billion dollar opportunity, and a fast-track to the agroecology hall of fame. Permaculturists: "Oh honey locust is a pioneer so it will just go away after its job is done". No here it won't, it will stay and propagate and lit your property on fire, and then it will resprout and claim the property as its own.
Eucalyptus is a horrible plant in most situations, if it is not controlled (Which would also require you never let it produce seed). Although I agree about many of the things in the video, planting eucalyptus is extremely irresponsible if it is not already established in your area. I'm also not opposed to introducing exotic species as a general rule.
@@davidsmith9189 yep, that too. I doubt this TH-camr cares about the environment since he's stupid enough to recklessly plant Eucalyptus which is pretty invasive in some of the Americas!
Hey Byron, Thanks for this lesson. Really good topic and content. I've just bought a place in SE QLD (Aus) with a fairly slopey few acres - mix of open ground and established / tall flooded gums. Be keen to hear your thoughts on approaches to building a syntropic agroforest in amongst them. My plan so far is to establish in the open areas and then slowly encroach into the wooded parts. I can't clear the established trees because they are a home for a large colony of cockatoos.
Insanely invasive here in Florida and they have outcompeted thousands of acres of natural habitat for native species, I'm sure this happens around the world when I rather be reforesting with the native species, I'm just a biologist what do I know just makes more sense to create diversity with natives
Novel ecosystems (natives + exotics) are more biodiverse than simply using natives for reforestation. But conventional ecologists aren't ready for that conversation
As an aussie (QLD) with lots of local eucalypt species, does anyone have any resources for figuring out whether a local species is a monocalypt or not? I would think it'd be best to use a local species in your systems right?
Generally monocalypts have rough bark, single cap covering the flower and found in cooler climates, vs smooth bark and double flower cap in arid or semi-arid habitat symphomyrts
Look up 'Living Atlas of Australia'. You can quickly find what is in your area, then read about each species. They vary in many ways between species as far as how useful and dangerous they are. In Qld it is often illegal under state and/or council laws to cut the main trunk of a eucalyptus (or any native tree). As a general rule it is a terrible idea to plant them, unless you know you can kill or coppice it whenever you want. Not saying you should never ever plant them, just it is often a terrible idea. Also you should certainly only use local species, or very carefully select the exact species and research it well. many species are far worse pests than others and should not be introduced to new areas.
Been hoping for a deep dive in to eucys for a while thanks for the info! I have a question, my yard where I hope to start a food forest already has scattered eucalyptus all through it, they are all mature full size trees I imagine would cost a fortune to clear, about 1/3 an acre and about 12-15 full size trees and like you say soil health is very low, question is can I start a food forest here without removing them, there seems to be a good amount of light still getting to the ground. Cheers
If I can offer some advice, if you're hoping to apply Syntropic principals, which I assume you are if you're asking Byron, then having them heavily pruned would be beneficial. This would mean you would have a significant amount of material to feed back to the system you'd be planting. The reason for this is because these mature trees would have a large area of influence. Planting young plants and seedlings around them, even if they are allowing light to come through would generally have quite an detrimental effect, as they are at a completely different stage of life, potentially having a "senescent" affect.
I don't know where to get eucalyptus where I'm from. I'm using mulberry for biomass instead and it's amazing. I'm having a hard time imagining eucalyptus is better at biomass and hardiness
Mulberry is great for biomass. Very different to eucalyptus though - Different strata/lifecycle. Would plant both (eucs can be bought from many online forestry nurseries)
It's a little too cold for me to put in Eucalyptus trees in my area. I have tried some silver dollar Eucalyptus trees, but most of them died very quickly. I only have one left, lol. I have been using saw tooth oak as a support species.
In contrast to other specias eucalyptus have very thik iner bark i asume this is used for energy storage and regrow after fire. How big is the difference in regrowing capability with in a species? I asume this can be selected quite easily in many species. Maybe it's enough to crosspolenate two tres with god regrow and some of there seedlings will have drasticli incresed capability.
I just love your channel, cant ever get enough knowledge. Its just beautiful what you created and you show us everything with examples. Unfortunately I live in Europe zone 5B and i dont think any eucalyptus specie will survive in our climate and the closest tree i found to take its role is Poplar or some species of Willow but I am super curious if there are any other trees to speed up the process becouse I plan to make Agroforestry big in our country and finaly spread some alternative for industrial agriculture. Thank you for everything you do I will continue to follow you and support all people who spread this knowledge, I would be super grateful for any tips and species that may be useful in my climate( our winters get us to -20 Celsius, rarely more and last from December to March)
@@byrongrows Thank you soo much, I started using Black Locust this year and wow its growing soo fast even in degraded soil, it is also a great source of nectar for my bees so I will be planting more for sure I just wonder how they will deal with our winter but that is why we experiment. As for pine how do you manage it becouse they grow very thick and I am afraid they will choke other species if we plant them as dense as we do in Agroferestry, I know you can prune the lower branches but the way they grow seems like a struggle to maintain especially with fruit trees next to them and I wonder if they would be more beneficial then harmful.
I work at a large plant nursery in Australia and sometimes they throw out perfectly usable trees if they're not growing how they want. I always take the chance to save them from death and I've been planting them in swales on my small front lawn. I've grown many eucalyptus varieties and I see them everyday. It's very interesting looking at the biomass and microclimate side of things because I've noticed completely different growth behaviours in the dense planting I did 1 year ago.
I come from a Permaculture background but also living in Australia with hundreds of eucalypt species, I love to see people innovating with different applications for species many overlook.
I just bought 22 acres here in Australia. After fires in 2019 the property is now covered in acacia and eucalyptus. And they are native here.
I'm planting as many fruit trees as I can in amongst the acacia and eucalyptus. I'm able to immediately start chopping and dropping to feed my fruit trees. And they are sheltered from the heat and cold
Bows low - Thanks for lifting ideas in this small mind , experiential knowledge is what I am seeking.
Prunus serotina is an invasive species in my country but what I have noticed is that it's mostly a problem in our monoculture pine forests. It's one of the only trees that grows in these monoculture pine forests.
Yet somehow biologists say it's an invasive while actually it's filling a niche rehabilitating these artificial mono culture pine forests that aren't native here either. They also provide more food for birds and insects increasing diversity and life. It's time we have a different honest conversation about invasives.
Great take ☝️
According to a few sources on Wikipedia, its invasive in quite a lot of Europe so its likely not harmless in other European countries. Though, I know that large scale monoculture stupid.
I started my food forest here in Zambia last week 23/11/24 my first 30m tree line. Put in eucalyps every 2m. Thanks to your videos learning a lot.
On the next tree line will be 1m apart. I need alot of biomass.
Great summary, well done, Byron. Can definitely see a big difference in how you're trying to present your information lately.
Interesting that there's no mention of wattles in the system. They last about 15 years and are nitrogen fixers. Only difference is that they don't grow as tall as gums, but grow quicker
Love wattles. Use tons of them myself and have similar observations - This was just a eucalyptus specific one
Yes Blackwoods, A melanoxylon are a fantastic pioneer and secondary tree
I have two mature Eucalyptus trees on my desert land less than 20 miles from Death Valley on the Nevada side. They are thriving while other species struggle. They are quite hardy as well surviving many strong wind storms.
3. It is like saying salt is disgusting in your food when your dish only exists out of salt. If your dish consists of many things, salt will complement it well and helps bring out the taste of your other ingredients as well!
U gave me the confidence to plant Eucaliptus 8 months ago, best decision of my life for my agroforestry system 💪🏻🌱
Legend! Loved seeing your progress in our recent Fellowship call 🔥
Great vid Byron! I hope this will convince the world of the importance and value of eucalyptus.
I am a bit late in planting them at my place. But now its all about the eucalyptus. Funnily enough natives grow quite well here on the wet west coast tree tutu is very fast and great for chop n drop. So biomass isnt my main reason for planting eucalyptus.
Shelter and durable timber are the main ones for me. The plan for my garden is to have seasonal eucalyptus canopy protecting fruit trees ect during the wet and stormy winter and spring, prune them hard in late spring when the climate is friendlier, to let full sun into the understory and limit their drying effects for the dryest months then they can re grow and do it all again.
I would say that there are durable and fast growing species in both monocalypts and symphomyrts groups.
Sounds like you've got a great system in place. Looking forward to seeing the results!
That's intersting and makes sense. They grow fast too.
"Bad species don't exist"
*Gleditsia Triacanthos joins the chat*
If you want a personal challenge, try to find a way to manage this tree from hell and you will save thousands of hectares in Argentina. This tree doesn't care about anyone or anything, it just grows and propagates, ruining fields, closing roads, destroying fences and tires, and maiming cute wild animals.
It's a billion dollar opportunity, and a fast-track to the agroecology hall of fame.
Permaculturists: "Oh honey locust is a pioneer so it will just go away after its job is done". No here it won't, it will stay and propagate and lit your property on fire, and then it will resprout and claim the property as its own.
Exactly.
Eucalyptus is a horrible plant in most situations, if it is not controlled (Which would also require you never let it produce seed). Although I agree about many of the things in the video, planting eucalyptus is extremely irresponsible if it is not already established in your area.
I'm also not opposed to introducing exotic species as a general rule.
@@davidsmith9189 yep, that too. I doubt this TH-camr cares about the environment since he's stupid enough to recklessly plant Eucalyptus which is pretty invasive in some of the Americas!
Theres a species specific chicken of the woods mushroom that grows on eucs. Super yummy.
So grateful to see this today
Hey Byron, Thanks for this lesson. Really good topic and content. I've just bought a place in SE QLD (Aus) with a fairly slopey few acres - mix of open ground and established / tall flooded gums. Be keen to hear your thoughts on approaches to building a syntropic agroforest in amongst them. My plan so far is to establish in the open areas and then slowly encroach into the wooded parts. I can't clear the established trees because they are a home for a large colony of cockatoos.
Insanely invasive here in Florida and they have outcompeted thousands of acres of natural habitat for native species, I'm sure this happens around the world when I rather be reforesting with the native species, I'm just a biologist what do I know just makes more sense to create diversity with natives
Novel ecosystems (natives + exotics) are more biodiverse than simply using natives for reforestation. But conventional ecologists aren't ready for that conversation
Am in South Florida, what can you recommend as a substitute?
@@alcohonis Corymbia
Its ilegal to plant them here in my place
@@byrongrows Do you have any reading material on this subject? Specifically on biodiversity comparisons?
Thanks, I often thought this about eucalyptus & it's role. Nice to hear it explained.
As an aussie (QLD) with lots of local eucalypt species, does anyone have any resources for figuring out whether a local species is a monocalypt or not? I would think it'd be best to use a local species in your systems right?
Generally monocalypts have rough bark, single cap covering the flower and found in cooler climates, vs smooth bark and double flower cap in arid or semi-arid habitat symphomyrts
Look up 'Living Atlas of Australia'. You can quickly find what is in your area, then read about each species. They vary in many ways between species as far as how useful and dangerous they are. In Qld it is often illegal under state and/or council laws to cut the main trunk of a eucalyptus (or any native tree). As a general rule it is a terrible idea to plant them, unless you know you can kill or coppice it whenever you want. Not saying you should never ever plant them, just it is often a terrible idea.
Also you should certainly only use local species, or very carefully select the exact species and research it well. many species are far worse pests than others and should not be introduced to new areas.
Been hoping for a deep dive in to eucys for a while thanks for the info! I have a question, my yard where I hope to start a food forest already has scattered eucalyptus all through it, they are all mature full size trees I imagine would cost a fortune to clear, about 1/3 an acre and about 12-15 full size trees and like you say soil health is very low, question is can I start a food forest here without removing them, there seems to be a good amount of light still getting to the ground. Cheers
If I can offer some advice, if you're hoping to apply Syntropic principals, which I assume you are if you're asking Byron, then having them heavily pruned would be beneficial. This would mean you would have a significant amount of material to feed back to the system you'd be planting.
The reason for this is because these mature trees would have a large area of influence. Planting young plants and seedlings around them, even if they are allowing light to come through would generally have quite an detrimental effect, as they are at a completely different stage of life, potentially having a "senescent" affect.
I don't know where to get eucalyptus where I'm from. I'm using mulberry for biomass instead and it's amazing. I'm having a hard time imagining eucalyptus is better at biomass and hardiness
Mulberry is great for biomass. Very different to eucalyptus though - Different strata/lifecycle. Would plant both (eucs can be bought from many online forestry nurseries)
@@byrongrows I live in a 3rd world tropical country. I've search online and there's only eucs oil XD
Ive literally just moved to a spot with native eucalyptus everywhere. Its river clay pan, hopeful i can relocate some natives to try this
It's a little too cold for me to put in Eucalyptus trees in my area. I have tried some silver dollar Eucalyptus trees, but most of them died very quickly. I only have one left, lol.
I have been using saw tooth oak as a support species.
We have trees in the desert, mostly legumes.
In contrast to other specias eucalyptus have very thik iner bark i asume this is used for energy storage and regrow after fire.
How big is the difference in regrowing capability with in a species? I asume this can be selected quite easily in many species. Maybe it's enough to crosspolenate two tres with god regrow and some of there seedlings will have drasticli incresed capability.
I just love your channel, cant ever get enough knowledge. Its just beautiful what you created and you show us everything with examples. Unfortunately I live in Europe zone 5B and i dont think any eucalyptus specie will survive in our climate and the closest tree i found to take its role is Poplar or some species of Willow but I am super curious if there are any other trees to speed up the process becouse I plan to make Agroforestry big in our country and finaly spread some alternative for industrial agriculture. Thank you for everything you do I will continue to follow you and support all people who spread this knowledge, I would be super grateful for any tips and species that may be useful in my climate( our winters get us to -20 Celsius, rarely more and last from December to March)
Poplar and Willow are fantastic, I’d also look at Black Locust & alder as good options. For evergreen trees, you might consider pine varieties
@@byrongrows Thank you soo much, I started using Black Locust this year and wow its growing soo fast even in degraded soil, it is also a great source of nectar for my bees so I will be planting more for sure I just wonder how they will deal with our winter but that is why we experiment. As for pine how do you manage it becouse they grow very thick and I am afraid they will choke other species if we plant them as dense as we do in Agroferestry, I know you can prune the lower branches but the way they grow seems like a struggle to maintain especially with fruit trees next to them and I wonder if they would be more beneficial then harmful.
@ they’ll get cut out before becoming detrimental. Same as the eucs
Great video. Please work on slowing down your speech ❤
Attracts delicious koalas 😋
Forbidden fruit
constant camera cuts make me motion sick lol