Starting off

Makana Green Fun Run
The Makana Green Fun Run on Sunday 1 May was very much a community event and a great success. The organisers would like to thank the wide section of the community who helped in so many ways.

Makana Green Fun Run
The Makana Green Fun Run on Sunday 1 May was very much a community event and a great success. The organisers would like to thank the wide section of the community who helped in so many ways.

 Funds raised at the event go towards greening and making our town more environmentally sustainable.

This year, the Makana Environmental Education Forum received all Green Fun Run donations, and Ntsika Secondary School were donated 19 indigenous trees, planted in honour of the winners. 
On Tuesday 17 May the winners had an opportunity to plant their symbolic prizes at Ntsika Secondary School, Extension 7. The event was attended by representatives of the RU Environmental Committee including Dr Gladman Thondhlana and Nikki Kohly. It is hoped that these trees will be cherished, and serve as an inspiration for a better living environment.

Tree Seeds
On the subject of trees, how many of us have grown trees from seed? This is almost a neglected side of gardening, and something on which there is surprisingly little information available. Yes, it is all-so-easy to just buy a potted tree from a nursery for between R70 and R200, simply dig a hole and plant it – a job that may take about 20 minutes. But is this really satisfying? Someone else did all the work, and all you did was to translocate the sapling. In the wild, the largest of trees started off as the smallest of seeds, and it is such a good feeling to look at a massive, beautiful tree and think, “Yes, I started that off as a planted seed”. 

It will almost certainly outlive you. I have two coral trees of different species in my garden both grown from seed. The larger Erythrina caffra is now 10m high and the trunk so thick that I cannot put my arms around it, nor would I want to due to the spines! 
Most trees can be grown from seed. Those with the harder seeds, like Acacia, Schotia (Boerbeans) and Erythrina (Coral trees) need to have the seeds soaked overnight in near-boiling water before planting. Putting something living in boiling water seems counter-intuitive, but it really works. Those seeds that swell up are the ones to plant. The hard shell is softened by the hot water, and germination is often very rapid thereafter. 

Other seeds that have a fleshy coating need to have this removed before planting. This is because these seeds are destined to be eaten by birds and other animals which serves as the dispersal method. Often such seeds have a germination inhibitor in the flesh. The hard kernel inside passes right through the animal and is dispersed in its faeces.
Tree seeds should be planted in shallow trays filled with a mixture of river sand and fine compost. Try and avoid ordinary soil as it is often full of weed-seeds that will germinate and smother the tree-seeds before they emerge. 

These trays should be kept slightly damp, but not soggy, otherwise the seeds rot. Germination can take between five days and three months depending on the species. Plant the seedlings out into 5 or 10 litre volume bags filled with sand and compost at the fully-developed two-leaf stage, and be careful not to damage the tap root that many seedlings will have already at that stage.  Many trees have strange-shaped leaves at this stage, very different from that of the adult tree. 

The Septee (Cordia caffra) has juvenile leaves like small scallop shells, totally different to the smooth ovate leaves that develop later.
At this time of year (autumn) many of our indigenous trees are bearing seeds. These are well worth collecting and planting. If anyone has any of the rarer examples of seed-bearing indigenous trees in their garden, please email me at the address below. I will be happy to come and collect some.

5 June – Invader Plants on the Move
Join the Gowie Valley Conservancy group on Sunday 5 June – World Environment Day – at Graeme College Templeton Hall, at 2.30pm. Alien SWAT Team members Ralph Clark and Tim Mattison will show us how to identify invasive alien plants, what to do with them and then there will be an opportunity to practise our new skills in the Gowie Valley. 
More info: Ralph (072 439 8981, vincentralph.clark@gmail.com), Tim (060 527 7816), or Willem wcoetzer@gmail.com