Establishment of ornamental trees and shrubs on a saline site using drip irrigation.  J. D. Morris.  December 1983.  22 pp. (unpubl.)

SUMMARY

This report describes the establishment of a field trial designed to provide information on methods and effects of growing trees on salt-affected land, and presents some early results.

The experimental site near Kerang, in north-central Victoria, comprised a saline sodic clay soil overlying highly saline groundwater within two metres of the surface. Measures taken to enable tree establishment included ploughing, gypsum incorporation, drip irrigation and sub-surface drainage. High mortality of planted seedlings occurred in the first and second years after planting as a result of salinity, frost and other site factors. Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh. (river red gum) was the most successful of 22 species planted in terms of both survival and height growth. E. astringens Maiden (brown mallet), E. botryoides Sm. (southern mahogany), E. brockwayi C. A. Gardn. (Dundas mahogany), E. largiflorens F. Muell (black box), E. leucoxylon F. Muell. (yellow gum), E. occidentalis Endl. (swamp yate), Leptospermum lanigerum (Ait.) Sm. (woolly tea-tree) and Melaleuca lanceolata Otto (moonah) also performed satisfactorily.

Analysis of soil samples collected at intervals during the study showed a substantial improvement in site conditions in the first two years after planting, including decreasing salinity of the surface soil and upper profile, and an increase in exchangeable calcium content to 25 cm depth. These effects were attributed to the site treatments rather than the trees. The possibility of trees exerting and ameliorative effect on the soil and groundwater in the future is discussed, together with an examination of the adequacy of establishment methods used in the trial.

Also published:

Morris, J.D. (1984)  Establishment of trees and shrubs on a saline site using drip irrigation.  Aust. For. 47(4): 210-17.