Australia comes to Armagh

At a recent foliage technology demonstration event, organised by CAFRE, local growers saw how the Eucalyptus tree, a native of Australia, has been successfully cultivated in Co. Armagh. There are over 500 varieties of the Eucalyptus tree found in Australia, of which only a small number are suitable for foliage growing in our climate.

Eucalyptus normally grows as a tree but in this case a special pruning method is used for foliage production to give a large number of high quality saleable stems. These are a popular addition to floristry designs and retail bouquets.

Mr Brian Hutchinson of Woodview Garden Centre, Armagh hosted the technology demonstration and conducted a very informative visit, showing how he has established this new crop since its planting in 2004. Brian, who studied Horticulture at CAFRE, Greenmount, explained  his diversification into cut foliage production and how he has learned to manage the crop to produce attractive, uniform stems which are used in numerous floral arrangements..

Woodview Nursery and Garden Centre also have a floristry shop where the fresh local foliage is sold and surplus is marketed to the local wholesale market.

The event was part of the cut foliage technology project at Greenmount, which aims to demonstrate novel crops that can be adopted by local growers.

To find out more about the cut foliage project please contact David Kerr, Ornamental crops adviser Tel: 028 37 515645 or mobile 07899 864343

Brian Hutchinson standing in front of his eucalyptus crop with local growers attending a recent foliage demonstration on his nursery