Questions

How do I ensure the survival of my plants?

Contact Firewheel Rainforest Nursery for advice on planting techniques and species selection. Don’t waste valuable energy planting a wish-list of species and watch them die.

A natural rainforest can take hundreds of years to grow to a mature diverse structure, however with careful planning you can create a protective rainforest canopy in 2-5 years suitable for nurturing a diverse emerging rainforest.

All plants prefer a good-sized planting hole, well watered in and well protected from grazing and trampling. Most rainforest trees need fertilizer and lots of mulch – one hay bale for each 6-8 plants.

Some plants are fairly drought tolerant after establishment – these are on the Species List page of this website.

Maintenance is critical, even tough plants need to have weed and grass controlled when they’re small: plantings will grow faster if weeds are controlled till  a canopy is formed.

Which ones are the Big Scrub species?

There is a printable list on the Species List page of this website. This list is reliable but not exhaustive as there are many species not currently being propagated.

Which species were on my place before it was cleared?

Contact Firewheel Rainforest Nursery to arrange a site visit and consultancy to identify the specific species occur on your property. Also there are several generalised catchment-specific species lists available. Contact the local Catchment Management Authority or Johanna Kempff at Richmond Landcare Services.

Wallabies – will they eat my plants?

You bet. We have a Specialist List of the species least likely to be eaten by wallabies. Note that wallabies will still eat these species in drought times, or when there is a general scarcity of food. If you have lots of hungry wallabies (or rabbits, cattle, or horses) you will need to fence your plantings or individually guard them.

What about genetics?

Firewheel Rainforest Nursery is aware of the issue of genetic inbreeding and outbreeding. We collect seed from as many mother trees as possible from within the ecologically significant unit commonly known as the greater Big Scrub. We also track the collection site of each seed lot through to the fully grown seedlings to ensure genetic diversity and help prevent inbreeding.

The ins and outs of this complex issue are dealt with succinctly in the publication Subtropical Rainforest Restorationby the Big Scrub Rainforest Landcare Group. This publication is also available at the Firewheel Rainforest Nursery. 

What about Restoration?

The first rule of thumb is to look after what you have. If there is some existing vegetation, either a remnant, secondary regrowth or even a camphor forest, this can be used to encourage natural regeneration with little or no planting. See the publication Subtropical Rainforest Restoration by the Big Scrub Rainforest Landcare Group for details.

Where you have little or no existing forest, planting is essential to establish rainforest. However always be aware, a carefully selected range of local species will also encourage natural regeneration as seed is brought in by birds and wind.