Maureen Donnellon, The Buloke Times

Part one told the stories of the significant gum trees in Birchip, those still growing and those that have disappeared, but were part of the town for many years.

Part 2 will acknowledge the many old Palm trees, Jacarandas, Moreton Bay Fig trees, Peppercorn trees and plantations.

Palm trees

One of the best known and most significant varieties of trees in Birchip are the palm trees, the most noticeable to locals and travellers being the four large date palms in the median strip of Cumming Avenue.

Palm trees usually signify where an old home stood, and if one cares to drive around town, then palms can be seen in front of many homes. Duncan Street, once described as “The Toorak of Birchip”, boasted many palms, some of which can still be seen at the Glen home. I have not been able to find out how long palms have been there, but about 25 years ago, several palm trees at other older homes in that area were dug up by machines and sold to developers in Queensland. Thankfully, some still remain. Another old palm is near the home of Ron and Diona Cooper.

The palm tree at the first Birchip Hospital

In front of the home owned by Mrs Cathy Young in Duncan Street, is a very old tree which was there when the hospital was first named St Burford’s in 1924, and was a big solid tree when the Sanders family bought the house in 1942. Photos were taken in the 1930s when the house was also known as “Fernleigh”.

The Young family bought the house in the 1990s and would love to know the history of that name, which is etched in beautiful red glass over the front door. Was there once a fernery? What stories that palm could tell of the babies born, the patients who were cared for there and the many nurses who worked in the nearly 50 years of its life as a hospital before the next hospital was opened.

The next hospital was the Bunworth home, and later the home of the Scamblers and Lewis families, on the corner near the Cartwright Oval although there has been information given about another private hospital for a short time on the corner of Watson Street, where the house was recently burnt down. There may have been others, but not documented any more.

The “Davis” palm tree

The home owned for many years by the Davis family in Sherwood Street still has a large palm in its front yard and there are several others not so prominent in other parts of the town and in the country often marking where old farm houses have been.

The Cumming Avenue palms

It is hard to imagine Birchip’s median strip without the four date palms but up until the 1910s, there was no median strip and the only trees were a few sugar gums on both sides of the street, as businesses were on both sides and there were hitching rails beside them for horses.

Palm trees were chosen as a tribute to the many migrants who came to Australia from Europe and were planted among peppercorn trees and gums in the centre of the town. They were also hardy trees. In the 1950s the concrete and seats were added under them to form a tribute for the many migrants who came here for better lives after world War 2 from Greece, Italy, Holland, Ireland and Britain. Many of them settled and ran businesses in Birchip. It was also the convenient walk way from one side of the street to the other and one end of the median strip to the other.

The new streetscape removed the concrete area as part of the establishment of a watering system, and now hundreds of small palms as well as copious weeds and planted grasses are causing a big problem as people cannot walk easily from one end of the median strip to the other without having to walk on the road, which is in the direct traffic lane. Requests for pavers or gravel under the trees for walking access, have been made. Slipping on the dates wasn’t a problem in the past, but then neither was walking between artefacts to take photos apparently. Hopefully a pathway will win before a fatality occurs.

Jacarandas

There are still a few old jacarandas also found near old homes and buildings. They are slow growing trees and when covered in their purple blooms, are real eye catchers. Fortunately two of the oldest, one in Cumming Avenue where the Hogan family live in what was once an old bank building, and one in Campbell Street where Porters’ Home once stood before it was replaced with the Cook brick home, are still quite healthy.

The Moreton Bay fig trees in the Soldiers’ Memorial Park

The famous Moreton Bay fig trees are not as old as some may think. The original plans for a memorial park were set in 1914, but abandoned during World War 1 and not raised again until 1919 when Council gave permission for a Peace Park. There were several plans and arguments for a memorial hall instead of a park, even a Technical School, but eventually the Peace Park won and the plans were accepted. Suitable land needed to be bought and more years passed until the land where the sale yards once were in the main street was bought from Mrs McCullough. It wasn’t until 1931 that the actual Park was opened, and an agreement reached that no saleyards could ever be set up there again.

Planting of the Memorial Park trees was begun. Originally the plans were to be 7 Moreton Bay figs as well as kurrajongs, silky oaks, wattles, tamarisks, white cedars, brooms, flowering plums, honeysuckle, boobialas, brooms and Cyprus pines. The memorial World War 1 gun was close to the entrance gates, the first band rotunda, raised much higher than the present one, shrubs including oleanders, lilacs and of course there was no swimming pool or kindergarten planned for the area but a metal slide or two, swings, see saw and roundabout referred to by most as the “wizzy dizzy” were all in place by 1932.

As the Park area had been the town saleyards, the ground was quite fertile and the original trees grew well, with only the rain to water them and hoses attached to 10 taps for lawns, shrubs and flower beds.

Memorial park trees

Over the years, many memorial trees were planted, many with brass plaques placed nearby. Every official visit by a governor or dignitary saw a tree planted, as well as one for the Kindergarten, and one for the Lions’ Club. Centenary trees, the Lone Pine all had brass plaques. The last tree with a plaque was in honour of the late Miss Janet Lee when she was awarded her O.A.M. The strong lawn grass, droughts and various other reasons have seen trees die and plaques disappear. Where are the plaques now? Holding doors open? The former Garden Club fenced their tree, a good move it seems.

Peppercorn, currajong and eucalypt plantation

The last peppercorn plantation is the one near the cemetery on Sunraysia Highway. Several streets had these trees, also the centre of Cumming Avenue at the end near the Bills’ Trough site in the late 1940s and early ’50s. Corack Road had peppercorn trees until the 1960s, but as the sewerage system expanded, they were removed, although most school and church yards had some for shade for the many horses of the congregations and pupils. There were at least a dozen large trees surrounding the old St Mary’s church until the 1980s. The roots could stretch far and caused a lot of problems with sewerage systems when they were installed. Rundle Street had a plantation to the Railway Station in the early 1900s onwards. As roads were sealed and drainage improved, the peppercorns were removed, some replaced with sugar gums or currajongs and other areas were promised replacement trees, but still waiting.

J. E. Taylor Park

The J. E. Taylor Park on the outskirts of the town was planted to acknowledge the incredible contribution by Mr J. E.Taylor who made a considerable bequest for native trees to be planted surrounding the town. The actual Taylor Park was planned with trees planted in the formation of the rays of the setting sun, but droughts ruined that plan in the 1980s. The Park was officially opened during the centenary of 1982 and several historic machines from pioneer times were added. More trees replaced those that died, but a fire in 1990 burnt more and some were not replaced again. Brass plaques were attached with the history of implements and some of the remaining funds held in trust were spent towards the new street trees in the recent streetscape and greening of the town. This fund was set up so that the interest could be spent each year on improving the tree planting in and around the town.

A. D. Hillgrove Plantations and Arbor Day, 1950

This plantation was planted at the northern end of town in 1950 with various eucalypts, with a lot of the work done by school children and flourished successfully for many years, but it too was decimated by drought and then an unsuccessful clearing of the stumps for a replanting. It was named after Mr Arthur Hillgrove as a tribute to the huge amount of work he had done to plant trees and make the environment a better place. Other plantations were around the school, the northern section of the reserve, Corack Road and the sewerage farm.

Hillgrove Plantation is more or less a self-sown plantation now, which is a bit of a fire hazard as access is difficult. Sheep destroyed some of the trees surrounding the school and dry years killed a lot of them. Several reached the end of their lives and were replaced. Several Council schemes encouraged tree planting all around the town from the ’50s onwards with success if the climate allowed.

Arbor Day was an annual tree planting day for all schools from the first in Australia in 1889 and became very popular from the 1920s to 1960s.

From 1964 onwards, schemes were introduced for controlled tree planting in all streets and surrounding the town where trees did not exist. Road maintenance and footpath sealing has seen many removed and a lot of lobbying has seen re planting from time to time, most recently in the latest streetscape. Wherever and whenever trees are the topic, there is a lot of controversy, and has been since 1895 when the first street trees were sown.

Part 3

Part 3 will be the story of the almond tree which once stood in Mrs Davis’s garden on the corner of Sherwood Street and Wycheproof Road, and still blooms and fruits faithfully in Lachlan Barber’s block; the Convent almond tree, the King white cedar, the Reid mulberry, fig and bouganvillia, the Coffey mulberry, the Cartwright Norfolk pine tree, “Our Lady of the Way” tree at Morton Plains, and the oldest building in Birchip, the Shepherd’s Hut, now housed at the museum, made from Mallee pines in 1847. With the interest shown already in Part 1 trees, I have even found a few more trees to follow up. Any others to add?

See all the photos in the issue.
This article appeared in The Buloke Times, 4 June 2024.
Related story: The trees of Birchip – and tales they could tell