Welcome to the Silverwood Farm Forestry web site. We are a small group of dedicated, volunteers who are passionate about trees and their multiple uses in New Zealand.

We probably all grow some Radiata pine and admire its ability to grow in a wide range of climates, but our passion is about other species, possibilities and probabilities – sharing ideas and experiences with other like minded people. You are welcome to join us.

Our 5 plots of cypress types is showing wonderful promise and pointing people like you – growers who need answers before ordering trees – towards best options for dry, cold parts of the South Island. They were recently pruned – thanks to a willing volunteer.

Sick of radiata as the only tree to plant? Want some wonderful timber – maybe like the photo here? That bench is Acacia dealbata and we have a few hundred trees in the ground – showing how frost, pruning and plant spacing can allow growers to produce high quality timber. The message in the first five or so years is that you must plant them close as they will require thinning to get to quality trees and they will require form pruning. Also, there seems to be a story – some nurseries have better clones than others.

Our oldest trial was one done in association with an international student, working on oak and chestnut establishment. He’s long gone. We keep the plots alive and the story continues to speak. The oaks and chestnuts either failed to thrive or grew well – depending on weed suppression in the first couple of years.
We have plenty of other activities and trial happening. If you look at our trials, you will see we have places for general information and reports to be attached – in our library. The site is becoming a powerful repository of information and learning – able to be shared with a wider public.

There are maps to show you where we are and what is happening – click here.

We are grateful for support of the Neil Barr Farm Forestry Foundation with our research particularly in the wattle and coppicing of hardwoods trials.

If you want high quality timber – and who wouldn’t – plant enough of these variable trees to give you room to thin to acceptable, well formed trees.
Hard frosts are a real challenge. We’ve seen approximately 20% of our trees severely damaged by frost over this winter. The good news is that the species seems very variable in its sensitivity to frost damage. One of our members has some seedlings growing that have been chosen from trees that withstood the -10 deg frosts that killed many trees in the Darfield district during 2012 winter. We’ll evaluate these at Silverwood for their frost tolerance and form.