Planting, espacement and pruning of Eucalyptus grandis on a low quality site

Abstract

A planting espacement and pruning experiment in Eucalyptus grandis on a low quality site in Natal is described, and growth behaviour in relation to treatment up to 7½ years of age is discussed. Higher stand densities yielded a greater volume of timber, but severe live pruning reduced the potential timber yield by as much as 25 per cent. On the basis of these results it is considered that cultivation of black wattle for bark and timber production, even on sites as poor as this, would have been more profitable than growing E. grandis for timber alone.