Radiata Pine trees are a common sight all over South Australia, especially in the Adelaide Hills. Whilst most people would agree that they look out of place and pretty much nothing will grow underneath them, very few people understand just how damaging they are to South Australia’s biodiversity. Regarded as a significant environmental weed in South Australia with numerous community groups actively seeking to manage their impact it’s time to up our efforts and remove these trees from the Adelaide hills

 

So how did Radiata Pine get here? According to Weeds Australia Radiata Pine was introduced into Australia in 1857 as a seed batch for the Melbourne and Sydney Botanic Gardens. From there it was distributed widely to nurseries around Australia and was sold through catalogues of the mid and late 1800s.

 

Radiata Pine is a versatile, fast growing softwood, (up to 1.5 meters each year if grown in favourable conditions) and has become one of the world's major sources of softwood. Grown not only for timber but also as an ornamental specimen, in rows as wind brakes, for erosion control, bee forage and as Christmas trees. Radiata Pine can also be found in products like fire starters, garden mulch and potting mixes. The species has mostly invaded native vegetation, roadsides and waste ground and spread to these areas around the Adelaide Hills from large Radiata Pine plantations. It can have a dramatic effect on the environment. The thick pine leaf litter can reduce the fertility and change nutrient cycling in soils as well as changing the water cycle. This leaf litter will also create a thick layer that prevents seedling establishment, especially of native species reducing plant biodiversity in the Adelaide Hills.

 

Most of the Radiata pine trees we remove in the Adelaide Hills are processed and turned into pallets as they do not meet the required grade for construction timber. So whiles the phrase ‘tree removal Adelaide Hills’ can divide a room, in the case of Radiata Pine we are removing a significant weed and turning it into something useful. Couple that with the fact that there is presently a global shortage of pallets and you have a win, win, win!

 

As we increasingly look towards mitigating the impact fire will have on our land we need to acknowledge that Radiata Pine is classified as ‘Highly flammable’ by the CSIRO. They can also be killed by even moderate intensity bushfires meaning that if a fire comes through you will almost certainly have a number of dead pines on your property that will require removal.

 

Since November 2014 there has been another reason to look at removing these trees from the Adelaide hills. In that month the somewhat curiously named giant pine scale, (they are extremely small insects) were first detected in metropolitan Adelaide and Melbourne. These tiny critters suck the sap from a small number of pine species (including Radiata pine trees). If left unchecked their numbers can quickly build to the point where they can kill the tree.

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Whilst most landowners in the Adelaide hills are not particularly attached to their Radiata pine trees there are commercial growers in the state that are. The issue is that the smaller stands of Radiata pine in the Adelaide hills can act as a breeding ground for the giant pine scale. This issue is exacerbated as most landowners do not regularly check their radiata pine for the scale, or in fact even know what to look for. This makes life much harder for farmers with pine tree plantations, and then in turn everyone else when the price of wood and thus construction skyrockets.

 

If you have Radiata pine on your property and would like to understand what it would cost to have them removed and what the space might look like after they are gone give Steve a call today. Since 1956 we have been the go to people for radiate pine tree removal in the Adelaide hills.