A eulogy for the free-standing gum
The gigantic dead red gum at the end of the rows of cabernet sauvignon vines at Grace Farm. Even though we place high conservation value on all of the native vegetation it is inevitable that free-standing gum trees will occasionally die due to historical disturbance of the bush under-story and the ensuing decline in biodiversity. The natural plant diversity in undisturbed forest is paramount for tree health because the suite of beneficial fungi and other microbes which keep tree roots healthy are most numerous when many different plants co-exist in the same area. This is one of the reasons that the Mair family have planted so many native seedlings on the Grace Farm property. It is a way of increasing...