Q&A
Here are some common questions often asked about blackwood:
1) Does fast-grown plantation blackwood have poor wood quality?
A: This is a common myth about blackwood, especially in Tasmania where we have so much native forest blackwood to choose from, and a strong tendency to discount any wood from plantations.
Research has shown that blackwood has wide variation in a number of important wood properties between trees, even in a native forest environment. We don't see this too much as the timber gets graded at the sawmill. Research has also shown that many of these wood properties are under both genetic and environmental control. Research to date has shown no significant negative correlation between growth rate and wood properties. In fact one project in NZ showed faster growing blackwood to have darker coloured heartwood. Environment can affect blackwood wood properties, but it has nothing to do with the rate of growth.
The important issue will be to plant blackwood with the right growth and wood properties, for example research shows there are "dark" coloured and "light" coloured blackwood families, as well as low density and high density blackwood families. Unfortunately there is not yet any blackwood selection and breeding program, so initially the plantations will use unselected planting material. Tasmania has a valuable native blackwood genetic resource. An important priority for the Cooperative will be to establish a blackwood selection and breeding program, to improve wood quality and consistency in plantation blackwood. We may even be able to clone fiddleback blackwood. Now that would be a commercial opportunity!
2) Wont plantation blackwood have too much sapwood?
A: The pale cream coloured sapwood found on the outside of blackwood trees is generally discarded when the timber is sawn. It has far less value than the colourful heartwood of the tree. Blackwood trees sourced from native forest take 80 - 100 years to reach a commercial size. This is slow compared with plantation blackwood that takes 35 - 40 years to reach commercial size. Faster growing trees generally tend to have wider sapwood, so more wood will be wasted. However as the trees reach commercial size so much quicker, this isn't so much of a problem.
Histogram showing the frequency of sapwood widths in two samples of plantation-grown blackwood.
3) What kind of site is best for growing commercial blackwood?
