There is a tremendous amount of diversity in this species. Farm Forestry are beginning work on silver wattle – it is a wonderful timber – hard and rich and a wonderful brown colour – makes great kitchen benches etc.
This line near Bangor Road show what a good seedline can produce. There are plenty of good straight trunks here. They have been helped by good shelter from 20 year old pines nearby. One photo shows the result of inadequate attention to form pruning – a vertical branch has reduced the straightness of a trunk. Many others, as photos indicate are straight and if they had been pruned earlier – would be well on the way to valuable timber. It’s a pity that many trees like this will end up in firewood when they could be replacing our need for tropical hardwoods.
