Life begins at 155 …

English Elm at an Auction

A few weeks ago I participated in my first timber auction. I came back with two large trunks of an English Elm tree. This wasn’t just any ordinary tree either …

These trees were cut down from outside the MCG in 2001 to make way for the new stand they were building. Instead of turning these old trees into woodchips for mulch (which is what was going to happen), a few thoughtfull “woodies” arrange to take the trees, slab them and dry them over a few years before selling them to fellow woodies. I think this is a great result for trees that were otherwise destined for woodchips.

I’ve been reading about the time when these trees were planted. That was in the 1850s! Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller (we’ll just call him “von Mueller” from now on) was appointed as the Victorian Government Botanist in 1853. He worked on developing what is now the Royal Botanic Gardens. At the same time, the site for the Melbourne Cricket Ground was selected and games began being played there.

As far as I can gather, von Mueller was responsible for introducing a significant number of plants into Melbourne during this time. Everything from English Oak, Poplar, Blue Gum and of course English Elm – which I know have 13 slabs of.

A new life begins …

A sanded slab for the long bench

I plan on selling some of these slabs as I don’t need all of them. With the rest I intend to make some new furniture for our home and perhaps a few items to sell (if they turn out good enough). So far on my list are:

• Long bench to sit against the window in our lounge room (a commission from my wife!)
• Coffee table (one for us, one to sell)
• Large dining table (if I can find appropriate pieces for this)
• A few small benches (mainly to sell)

I’m documenting my progress with these slabs on Flickr.