Lutana Hall

Due to issues with the powerline into the Hall being wrecked by the large blackwood tree in the south corner, Aurora removed the powerline and informed that they couldn’t provide power to the Hall until the tree was removed. The powerline was only hanging from a bit of casing and I was informed that it was lucky it didn’t set the tree on fire or connected with the fence and making the whole fence live.

With consultation from a few experts it was decided that the only option was to remove the tree. This was done today and power has now been restored. It was sad to see the tree removed but interestingly it now provides better views of the south end of the Hall, including the front porch.

The voluteer gardener of 30 years informed me that when the tree was first donated to the school in the 1970s she was told it was a small to medium sized bush and this is why she planted it on the fence line under the powerlines.

A great tree but unfortunately in the wrong spot.

Strong winds today broke off branches from trees around the garden.  The two main loses were large branches on one of the older gum trees and on one of the new gum trees.

Weather reports that the storm may have had hurricane-force gusts of wind. The most powerful gust was on Hobart’s eastern shore - 176 kilometres per hour at around 4:00am.

Unfortunately the healthy Jacaranda tree had to be moved (or would have been built on!). So biting the bullet we decided it should be done before it started to grow this spring.

The tree has been moved to new location and will be watered in well over the next few weeks.

Interestingly as part of digging it out we found some concrete footings so will investigate these further to see if we can work out why they are there.

After the strong winds of the last few days one of the Jacarandas (Jacaranda mimosifolia) fell over breaking the main root.

Planted in June 2000 the tree has not grown very well - at the time of falling over it was only a bit over 1 metre high with very little root system and only the one main branch. The main issue seems to be the wind but it has always been a lot smaller than the other one growing next to it.

It has been repotted in the hope of keeping it alive and perhaps planting it in a more sheltered spot.

The following plants were planted August 2006:
Acmena Smithii - Lilly Pilly x 2
Banksia Ericifolia - Heath Banksia
Callistemon - King’s Park Special
Chamelaucium - Meringur Mist
Eccremocarpus Saber - Chilean Glory Vine
Eriostemon Myoporoides - Long Leaf
Eucalyptus Lehmannii - Bushy Yate
Garrya Elliptica - Catkin Shrub
Grevillea - Big Red
Hardenbergia - Happy Wanderer
Hymenosporum - Native Frangipani
Koelreuteria Paniculata - Golden Rain Tree
Lilac - Syringa Vulgaris ‘Mme Lemoine’
Lilac - Syringa Vulgaris ‘Mrs Edward Harding’
Myrtus Communis - Common Myrtle
Pandorea Jasminoides - Bower of Beauty
Prostanthera Ovalifolia - Common Mint-Bush
Protea - Red Rocket - Reflexum Red
Trachelospermum Jasminoides - Chinese Star Jasmine

Over a weekend in June 2000 a group of volunteers planted over 450 plants to create a natural fence. This included climbing plants on the wire fence, bushes of many sizes and colours, and a few large trees.

Before this weekend the existing cyclone wire 1.8 metre fence was moved to the boundry line and continued between the two neighbouring properties to replace the old wooden fences. This fence will provide a support structure for plants to grow on.