Country Life

Hi LOL,
Is it true they are cutting down losts of cork oak due to the wine industry going over to plastic corks.

 

Evening, Pete, an interesting question.

It is a very serious concern amongst the cork producers here, however, we've not heard,nor seen, that they are cutting the trees down yet.

When we were up in the Serras on Monday and went to the ruin, they were working there stripping cork, but they are in general everywhere. Cork is stripped every nine years from the trees, mainly the trunk and some of the "heavier" lower branches. The trees are marked with a big white number ... let's say 8 and that means that tree will be stripped in 2008. When they get to nine they will revert to 0. Does that make sense?

We have a cork processing factory about ten kilometers from us. Where we go up into the mountains (serras) you always see huge piles of cork stacked up at strategic places.

Cork oak trees, once set alight, don't recover well but the Eucalyptus and Arbutus unedo (strawberry tree) are virtually fire resistant ... burn to the core and spring back into life in the Spring, thank goodness! Cork oak is a very hard wood and so, as a firewood for homes, burns slowly and well.

I hope this has answered your question.

[ 22. December 2006, 09:17 PM: Message edited by: Lady of Leisure ]

 

Thats interesting that it takes nine years to regrow, presumably your logs are from "grubbed" out cork oaks, (to use a word we use alot around here applying to the orchards).
Its still a viable industry for the moment then?
Just a thought, but maybe the reason the cork oaks dont recover well after fire is because the cork is their defense, having it stripped, could be the problem.
I would have thought the gum trees would have been considered a pest, a bit like rhodos over here in certain parts.

 

No, I don't think it's to do with the cork being removed form the trees ... the wood just burns well, good solid oak!

I can't speak for the Eucs and the Arbutus but it's amazing watching their growth following a fire, and we have had some horrendous ones here.

Two years ago, 90% of our county (Silves) in Algarve was burnt out by arsonists from mid Portugal (42 people were charged, because they thought it was fun). Already things are very green. You can't be a pest if you are consistently burnt down ... be it by careless holidaymakers / locals with cigarettes or by arsonists. We actually saw a Brit throw a cigarette out of his convertible BMW into the roadedge this summer ... God only knows why we didn't overtake him in our Clio, stop him and bop him!

We will go back up into the Serras over the holidays and I'll remember to take my camera and you will not believe what you will see ... believe me ...

 

Oh, I believe you LOL being an Aussie plant the gums can come back after fire really quick.
Am I right in thinking the arbutus is a native?
I have a smallish one in my garden, slow growing the books say, thats not my experience.
I presume it reshoots from the roots after fire as the stems dont seem particually fire resistant to me.
Reasons for fire causing damage, and not causing damage to certain plants is a complecated subject. The addition of the gums could actually turn what was years ago just a quick moving grass fire, into a hot bush fire.
The results being much more severe damage to the native trees. Just my own thoughts on the subject, and probably wrong.

 

The Arbutus unedo is native to Southern Europe, the West Med and Ireland and yes, both it and the Eucalyptus re-shoot from the roots after fire. The fruits are used here for making the firewater, Medronho. You never see the fruit for sale.

I would say they have average growth and you can train them into a nice shape, but they are naturally a craggy (is that the word I want?) shrub, rather like an olive tree. They tolerate a lot of abuse and poor soil but prefer to be in the sun and not waterlogged at the roots. In saying this, the one I was eating the fruit off the other day was growing in the shade of pine trees!

The Arbutus menziesii is native to Mexico and California. Obviously they have different requirements to the unedo, which is what you get in England.

There was something last year about what trees to plant that are fire resistant, not necessarily for regrowth but those that don't burn in a fire. Must try to find where I read that.

 

Interesting that you should describe the arbutus that way, LoL - that's exactly what I thought when I saw one for the first time at Kew



but I loved the look of the fruit....


I would love to grow one here, but I really doubt whether it would like the conditions. What do you think, LoL and Pete?

 

Lovely photos, Dendro, and look at those scrumptious berries ... when they are ripe, of course!

I had one for years, first in Bucks (in the ground) and then we moved it to the IoW (in a pot) where it still is as the new owner wanted it. It flowered and fruited every year. In Bucks it would be covered in frost and snow ... they are frost tolerant to an extent.

They grow wild the mountains of Algarve and up through the Alentejo mountains. The Alentejo is both the hottest and the coldest of the Portuguese regions.

I would say, try one but plant it in a sunny, sheltered position. The fruit, should you get any, won't really be edible but will certainly be pretty. We have discovered they definitely need the long hot summers like here to develop juicy, sweet fruit.

If you can't get one there, I can always pull up a root and send it to you!

[ 23. December 2006, 05:12 PM: Message edited by: Lady of Leisure ]

 

Sounds like it's worth a try, LoL. Main thing should be to give it good drainage, as well as being sheltered, I would think? Eating any berries would be an unexected bonus - just to grow the tree would be great! I'd love a root, thanks! :D

P.S. those photos were taken on 31/10 - a glorious day!

 

Gnarled was the word I was looking for! :D

I'll see what I can find next time we're up in the "serras", hopefully over the holiday season ... it IS only 20 minutes or so away! The one I got for myself earlier in the week is about 12-15 inches tall so maybe I should look for one 10-12 inches so I can safely send it in an empty paper towel roll or something.

 

I've had mine for about 15yrs now dendy and never had a hint of frost damage.
They say that cold icy winds are the big problem with such evergreens, I think I would put it on a par with the bay tree, if that grows around your area I dont think you will have a problem.
I've never tried the fruits, must give them a go next time they ripen.

 

I like gnarled old trees, this one is I believe a Lucombe oak, if that is true its a cross between the Turkey oak and the Cork oak.
It has a slightly corky bark and keeps it leaves up until after Chrismas. Its in our local park but gets the usual abuse, rope swings and bonfires lit under it, its only a matter of time before its gone.

 

What a fine old character Pete..Love it.

 

Agree with you Pete on par with the Bay laurel. Mine here I actually brought from England. They are both tough little characters and, saying that, their leaves are about the same texture! Hmmmmm.

Having had one in England for, like you Pete, perhaps 15 years, you'll still never get the fruits you get here.

Love that tree Pete ... oooh, wouldn't I like a property that I had such on ... and ... watch this space as we've sort of looked at an old mill ...

 

What kind of mill?
Water mill? Wind mill, (oh no thats Amsterdam). :D
Grinding corn? Thats hard work. I reckon.