Broombush
(Melaleuca uncinata)
Product: Foliage & branches
Use: Brush fencing
Broombush, Melaleuca uncinata, is a native shrub whose branches have been used for fence making over the last 60 years or so. Other uses include manufacture of garden furniture, hanging baskets and decorative bird feeders. Broombush is commonly found on deep sands in low rainfall areas, but it also has the capacity to grow well on shallow sands over clays. It is also tolerant of waterlogged and saline conditions and the roots have been seen to penetrate extremely saline clay sub-soils. Based on these requirements it seems that broombush would be well suited for intensive production in the areas below 600 mm in the western part of the Goulburn Broken catchment. It has the added benefits of helping to reduce recharge and being one of the few plants capable of being productive when planted on salinity discharge sites.
The emphasis for future production will be on private land because of bans placed on the harvest of broombush in its natural environment on public lands.
Managing broombush is generally straightforward. The plants first grow from a seedling, as a tree with a single trunk with branches of various lengths up the stem. However, after cutting back to ground level, they grow as a shrub with multiple branches re-shooting from the stump. Cutting height is reached in six to ten years depending on environment and management.
| This map of biophysical suitability for Broombush has been developed by the Centre for Land Protection Research, DPI. It applies to the dryland parts of the Goulburn Broken region. The map has been developed using the Most Limiting Factor method. The factors and critical values used for determining the biophysical suitability are shown in the table below. Please refer to Important Notes about these maps. |
Factors and critical values used for determining the biophysical suitability for broombush:
FACTOR | CRITICAL VALUE | ||
High probability of being suitable | Moderate probability of being suitable | Low probability of being suitable | |
| CLIMATE | |||
| Average annual rainfall (mm) | 450 - 550 | 550 - 600 | < 450 and > 600 |
| Average maximum temperature of hottest month (oC) | > 29 | 27 - 29 | < 27 |
| Average minimum temperature of coldest month (oC) | > 3 | 2 - 3 | < 2 |
| LANDSCAPE | |||
| Slope (%) | < 34 | > 34 | |
| SOIL | |||
| Surface texture | Sand, loamy sand, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, light sandy clay loam, loam, loam fine sandy, silty loam, sandy clay loam, clay loam, silty clay loam, fine sandy clay, sandy clay | Light clay, medium clay, heavy clay, silty loam, silty clay | |
| Sub-surface texture | Light sandy clay loam, loam, loam fine sandy, clay loam, silty clay loam, fine sandy clay, sandy clay, light clay, medium clay, heavy clay, silty clay | Sandy clay loam, fine sandy loam, silty loam, loam fine sandy, sand, sandy loam, sand, loamy sand | |
© The State of Victoria, 1996 - 2009.
This document was last reviewed on 16/12/2008