Italian Cypress Tree (Cupressus Sempervirens)
Five of these trees survive today which were given as seedlings in 1864 by Baron Von Mueller, Director of the Melbourne Royal Botanic Garden to the Waldau Lutheran Church. They were part of a series of acclimatisation trials for a number of imported species to see how they would cope with the extreme fluctuating weather conditions of Melbourne. The Italian Cypress Tree is often called the cemetery tree as it was widely planted in cemeteries in Europe as an ornamental tree during the 18th and 19th centuries. They normally have a long life and in an extreme case in Iran a tree of this type is claimed to be 4,000 years old. Only one of the five trees is a healthy specimen after more than 150 years of growth as shown in the photograph taken recently at the entrance to the Waldau Cemetery. This tree is now 20 M tall and the trunk at the base measures 90cm diameter. The condition of the other four trees range from near death to struggling to survive due to drought, erosion of soil and competition from the pine trees surrounding them during the past 70 years.
Monterey Pine Tree (Pinus Radiata) I
n 1942 the son of Pastor John Simpfendorfer from the Trinity Lutheran Church obtained permission to plant pine trees within the church property occupied by the Waldau Cemetery and former Waldau Lutheran Church. This was as a long- term investment to harvest timber for the construction of fruit packing crates needed for the export of locally grown fruit. The property became a plantation of perhaps more than 200 trees that would be ready to harvest after 20 years growth. However during this period some trees became infected with Sirex Woodwasps creating wood rot. Any timber that would be harvested from the complete plantation of trees was classified unfit for commercial use. The trees continued to grow although some trees did die as a result of the wood rot. During the early 1970’s many of the trees were cut down to make way for the re-erection of Schramm’s Cottage, Finger Barn and other buildings. More than 100 pine trees remained to complete their life expectancy of 70 to 80 years. down about 30 pine trees on the north and east boundary and another 12 trees that are in danger of falling onto buildings are marked for removal. One tree on the south boundary at the rear of the Wheelwright display was uprooted last July during a storm and fell across Muriel Green Drive. This fallen tree was accurately measured at 35 M tall with a trunk diameter of 85cm. These trees drop dead branches and large quantities of pine needles causing excessive garden maintenance. There are mixed feelings about the possible loosing of all the remaining pine trees as they near the end of their life span by some of our members.
Bunya Bunya Pine Tree (Araucaria Bidwillii)
This tree was planted in the west lawn between Schramm’s Cottage and the Waldau Cemetery in 1974 as the cottage was being rebuilt after it was moved from its original site. A similar tree grew in the garden when the cottage was situated off Doncaster Road, where the Manningham City Council building stands today. The present tree commemorates this and was given and planted by Max & Kate Schramm’s great-grandson Walter Schramm & great-great-grandson Grant Schramm. A native of South East Queensland this tree is noted for its sharp thorn like bark and leaves. Large pine cones grow at the top of the tree on a three-year cycle but are difficult to see from ground level. The cones when ripe each weigh 4 kg and fall to the ground with a loud crash - exploding. The cones are next due to fall from this tree in March 2019. Keep well clear of the tree at this time. Cherokee Rose Tree (Rosa Laevigata) This Cherokee Rose was taken from the original plant brought out from England in the 1850’s by the Speers family who settled in Warrandyte where the Warrandyte Secondary School is located today. It was given by Miss Violet Crouch soon after Schramm’s Cottage was relocated and opened to be the home of Doncaster-Templestowe Historical Society in 1976. The rose is a native of southern China and was established in America and England during the 18th century. Its name is taken from the Cherokee Indian Tribe and is today the state flower of Georgia. This climbing rose has large beautifully formed single white flowers with yellow stamens and a superb smell of apples. It is in full bloom during early spring and after much careful pruning and feeding by our team of gardeners it is a major attraction for visitors situated near the north-east corner of Schramm’s Cottage.
Kashmir Cypress Tree (Cupressus Cashmeriana)
This variety of Cypress tree is a beautiful, graceful conifer with lovely pendulous blue foliage and an overall soft, weeping habit. The one-metre tall seedling was given by Anthony Green in memory of his father and planted in the Irvine Green Memorial Garden when it was established in 1998. This tree has now grown to a height of 13 metres with a trunk diameter of 45cm. The weeping foliage almost touches the ground covering an area of 5 metres in diameter which has resulted in many of the other plants having to be removed from the garden due to lack of space. This type of tree is a native to the eastern Himalaya in Bhutan and is fairly rare in Australia. It is admired by our visitors who often enquire where such a tree can be purchased.
Source: John Boylett writing in the 2018-12 DTHS Newsletter
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