Jon Stanhope, the Chief Minister of the ACT, joined with members of Engineers Australia and Dr Robert Boden OAM to plant the first Pin Oak trees at the Arboretum on Tuesday 19 May 2009.
In 1926, the Institution of Engineers, Australia was one of a dozen organisations that sponsored the plantings of trees around what is now known as Manuka Cicle. In keeping with this tradition and in celebration of their 90th Anniversary, Engineers Australia sponsored the Pin Oak forest to be planted in Forest 22 of the Arboretum.
From left to right: Mr Peter Taylor, Chief Executive, Engineers Australia; Mr Tom Brimson, President Canberra Division, Engineers Australia; Mr Peter Godfrey, National President, Engineers Australia; Chief Minister Jon Stanhope; Mr John Mackay, Chair of the Board of Governors of the Arboretum.
The Pin Oak (Quercus palustris) is one of Canberra's most outstanding trees. With its straight trunk reaching to 30 metres it is an excellent street tree, growing along Torrens Street in Braddon, La Perouse Street and Stuart Avenue in Griffith. The autumn colour is spectacular but unfortunately the dead leaves are carried right through the winter and not shed until the new buds burst in spring.
In 1965, Dr Robert Boden OAM began developing a cultivar of the Pin Oak which would behave like most other deciduous trees and properly defoliate after the autumn show. He noticed that some Pin Oak trees naturally defoliated and he took cuttings of these trees and grew them in a trial plot at Yarralumla Nursery. From these trees, buds were taken from the apical shoot from the crown of these trees. The buds were grafted onto Pin Oak seedlings which grew into the first trial specimens of what would be later known as the 'Freefall' cultivar which defoliates on cue after autumn.
Chief Minister Jon Stanhope and Dr Robert Boden OAM
Wholly developed through research conducted in Canberra, this cultivar is now grown and distributed around Australia.
The 'Freefall' cultivar has been selected for the arboretum as a host forest for a rare Oak species.
Forest 22, situated on the lower slopes of Dairy Farmers Hill, adjacent to the Event Terrace will be planted with approximately 600 Oaks during the winter months of 2009.