This tree was one of the reasons we fell in love with our house. it was very old (200 year plus) and had many branches that had deep hollows that were being used as nesting sites. One Gang Gang pair had nested there for 3 years. 5 months after we moved in there was an “Antartic blob” deep freeze and snow storm with very strong winds. The tree split in half all the way down to the base. One half fell on a mature Ironbark that fell over and pulled down the power lines. With more storms coming we had to remove the top heavy second half of the tree. The stump remains. We think and talk about the tree all the time—as the loss of the 2 tall trees change the light patterns in the garden. We then lost other plants that got too much sun. We planted another E. mannifera — I took a rubbing from this one too—it is the darker one at the end—We planted it from tube stock as it will establish better—it is taller than me now 3 years later. We will probably leave here in 25 years—so this tree is for the next owners of this house. The new tree gets watched carefully—watered trimmed of pests—mulched—measured. The straight edge of the older tree is the cut mark from the stump.

Aranda, ACT. Lower slopes of Black Mountain – Galambary (Ngunnawal). My front yard on Gidabal St.