Central Canterbury Farm Forestry have a demonstration/trial area at Silverwood.
View Silverwood in a larger map
Learn more about this trial by downloading this file Silverwood Cypress trial Sep 2009.
Please note- if you want a printable trial plan to take to the site- please use the download document above.
Trees were about 30-40 cm high when planted on 22nd September, 2009. Lines were ripped then rolled down again with a tractor running on the rip line.
Soil was moist but ‘could do with rain’ at planting.
Plots are unreplicated (only one plot of each type) and so this is a demonstration kind of trial- but will yield very useful information as time goes on.
Plot 1 NZR
Plot 2 Dean Satchell Lusitanica x torulosa. Note in this Plot 2, trees 21-23 were NZR, not DS
Plot 3 Silverwood Selection
Plot 4 Hamish Sturrock No 2
Plot 5 Dennis Hocking, Canker Resistant
As you enter the trial, from the main road side there are two rows of trees planted. The first row you come to, running parallel with the tar seal is
a row of widely spaced, very old deciduous trees, then
One row of canker resistant Lawson Cypress C. ovensii.
After that you get to the ‘trial’ proper.
| There is a 4 m gap from fence to a single row of Stapehill planted 4 m from last row of trial plants. |
Natives with one large tree which is towards Leaches Rd |
Enter here | Leaches Road | |||||
| One guard row planted at approx 1.4 m spacing Stapehill (approx 70 trees) |
One row of canker resistant Lawson Cypress C. ovensii |
Row of large, old deciduous trees |
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Plot 1 NZR
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2 DS Dean Satchell, lusitanica x torulosa Note in this Plot 2, trees 21-23 were NZR, not DS |
3 SS Silverwood Selection |
4 HS Hamish Sturrock No 2. |
Plot 5 DH Dennis Hocking, Canker Resistant |
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| 6 To be planted in Dean Satchell / P. Milne selection of macrocarpa. | ||||||||
| Perhaps keep a similar sized area free for the same group of 5 cultivars to be planted here next year? | ||||||||
Each plot has 5 x 5 = 25 trees – 3 m between rows and 3 m between plants. There is an extra 1 m between plots- instead of 3 m between trees, there is a gap of 4 m.
Data collection- if individual trees are assessed – here is the method. A plot is defined by the code used above so trees in Plot NZR would be known as-
| NZR 1 | NZR 2 | NZR 3 | NZR 4 | NZR 5 |
| NZR 6 | NZR 7 | NZR 8 | NZR 9 | NZR 10 |
| NZR 11 | NZR 12 | NZR 13 | NZR 14 | NZR 15 |
| NZR 16 | NZR 17 | NZR 18 | NZR 19 | NZR 20 |
| NZR 21 | NZR 22 | NZR 23 | NZR 24 |
NZR 25 |
In time we will add photos to this page.
August 2010- Plots looked great. A second quick form prune was done on a few trees – all plots required a little management. Plot 5 was looking particularly good/straight.
Enjoy and we look forward to your comments.
May 2011 – a few – approximately 40 branches pruned from trees across all plots – minor form pruning.
September 2011 a few more form pruning cuts made to remove ‘ugly’ branches competing with main leader.
7 Sep 2011 – Plot 5 – very vigorous side branches – each tree in plot 5 pruned to approximately 10 cm from ground level. Up to 10 branches/tree greater than 5 mm diameter. Tony Tripp has photos. There were often 2-3 branches in first 10 cm of trunk that were greater than 20 mm diameter.
Native area – spread approximately 30 large bales of straw around natives and ready for further natives to be planted at end of Sep/early Oct.
14 rows were ripped in early Sep towards Hororata from the main cypress trial area – Doug King.