Tasmania is home to many native pines, and one of the most beautiful is the South Esk Pine, but I could be a little biased  as it grows along the river where i live. The South Esk Pine also grows along the St Pauls River and here it is known as St Pauls Pine.

South Esk Pine is a beautiful  formal shaped native cypress pine with bluish green foliage and an upright form. It can be planted at 1m intervals to make a narrow dense hedge. The thick foliage is used by small birds for nesting. Blue wrens love it as a safe haven, disappearing and reappearing feeding their hungry family well hidden within the foliage.

South Esk Pine is extremely drought and frost tolerant, and although it grows along rivers, it strangely doesn't like to be in extended waterlogged sites. It happily grows in full sun or part shade and is suitable for all soils with good drainage. South Esk Pine grows 3-5m high and 1-3 m wide.

Keep watered until established, but once settled in to its new home, it doesn't need any upkeep and it will maintain its nice formal shape.

if you don't have room for a tall tree, South Esk Pine makes an ideal pot plant which can double as a Christmas tree..
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If we think of a plant community as a pyramid, the greatest number and variety of plants are at the ground level. As we go up the pyramid we find small shrubs, then larger shrubs, small trees and then eucalypts. We notice the eucalypts standing head and shoulders above all others, but usually there are only three different varieties compared to the hundred or so different plant varieties living at the base of the pyramid.

The plants growing at ground level, or at the base of the pyramid, support all the other layers, and when this layer is compromised, the health of the bushland is also compromised. There is an intricate health system in operation within our bushland that we can never hope to understand. But it's good enough to know. that like people, each member of the community is important, and their gifts and talents create a healthy vibrant community.

And for our own community to be healthy and thrive, we also have an intricate health system in place. This system provides services that individuals contribute to, such as schools, hospitals, police, supermarkets and post offices. When our community becomes compromised and we lose our base support services, the health and vibrancy of our community goes into a steady decline, losing one service after another. This is obvious in rural communities where people drift into the city wanting better services and job opportunities until our towns are shells of their former self. Some services are noticeable, but then there are the less obvious, more intricate services in our community such as writers, musicians, entertainers and artists of all genres. With greater complexity, our lives are richer, happier, and thus healthier.

In bushland where there is greater complexity, there is always something flowering at this time of year, which makes me smile. Orchids, lilies and ground covers are covered in tiny delicate flowers, and climbers such as apple berry, blue love and clematis are showing off their tree climbing skills.

The challenge is getting closer to the ground, to become more attentive, to notice, and to really see beauty in its many forms and disguises. When we have a relationship with all the personalities living in our bushland, we see their value. Our values represent the very essence of what's important to us in our life. Our values are expressed in our everyday living, and these values influence our actions. It allows us to care for the smallest and most vulnerable understorey plats.

And the smallest and the most vulnerable in our community are our children, and like clematis they make us smile, showing us the importance of the pyramid of life.

If gardening by neglect is your style of gardening, Seaberry Saltbush is the plant for you. If you love gardening but enjoy your summer holiday away from home, Seaberry Saltbush is the plant for you. If you want to tickle your taste buds with both leaves and fruit, then this is the plant for you.

Seaberry Saltbush has semi-succulent leaves that are dark and shiny. The underside of the leaves is an attractive grey colour. The leaves can be cooked and eaten, or dried and used as a salt substitute. The striking pyramidal sprays of red berries in autumn can be eaten raw or made into sauces. The berries vary in sweetness from plant to plant and are easy to pick.

The berries contain betanin. Betanin or Beetroot Red is a red glycosidic food dye obtained from beets, but also used as a powerful antioxidant in the food industry. You will find this natural red pigment when you pick the berries as your hands will turn pink!  It's best to wear gloves. The dye can be used as a face paint or a natural dye for cloth.

Seaberry Saltbush grows naturally in the second line of plants from the coast. It can be used as a windbreak and to hold the soil. It loves good drainage and needs only minimal watering. Seaberry saltbush grows quickly to 1-1.5m high and 1.2-2m wide and enjoys full sun or part shade. Prune regularly to promote bushy growth for an ornamental shrub and it also makes an attractive salt tolerant hedge.

Seaberry Saltbush is a good food source and habitat refuge for small birds and skinks. Its importance is now recognised in the horticultural industry for attracting beneficial predators such as ladybirds, lacewings, hoverflies and predatory mites to deal with the eggs of pest mites on commercial crops
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