TOKAI NATIONAL ARBORETUM
No other arboretum can match the splendid stand of Karri or the magnificent groves of Scribbly Gum, Jarra and Western Australian Blackbutt that the Tokai Arboretum boasts: possibly the finest in existence anywhere outside Australia. Similarly the stands of Canary, Aleppo and Stone Pines are beautiful. No other arboretum can rival the assemblage of big trees found in the Main Arboretum, an estimated 28 of which are record heights for South Africa. The collection represents an unsurpassed arboreal heritage.
The Tokai Arboretum is, however, a hotchpotch of big and small trees, established without a plan and without sylvicultural or arboricultural finesse. There is a lack of open vistas, swards, shrubberies and beds of flowers to show off the trees. The composition and lay-out is unsatisfactory in that there is repetition of some species in plots and singly. Thus far fewer species are contained than is potentially the case. It is also sadly neglected, infested with invasive species, and without a dedicated maintenance staff.
The Main Arboretum at Tokai is the oldest wholly government financed arboretum in South Africa. The Main Arboretum contains mainly hundreds of single trees and groups of trees as well as numerous small plots and a few larger stands. Some of these comprise the celebrated “Eucalyptium”. Following the establishment of the Main Arboretum, three lesser arboreta were brought into being at Tokai Plantation, namely the Paddock Arboretum (on infertile sands of the flats), the Spekboom Belt Arboretum (on fertile granite slopes) and the Flagstaff Arboretum. The last was soon abandoned.
The area of the Main Arboretum is 14 ha. Several adjacent compartments extend the area to 26 ha.
The first exotic plantings at Tokai were made in 1694, when 4379 English Oaks were established there by Simon van der Stel. The earliest attempt at commercial afforestation at Tokai was in 1884 when Joseph Storr Lister planted Monterey Pines. In 1886 an arboretum was laid out adjoining the nursery at Tokai, and 150 species were established, including a few indigenous and some national-indigenous species. There was already a small copse and scattered trees of Stone Pine. During the year 1902 some 43 plant species were established in the arboretum.
These trees were planted singly in a park-like formation. Specimens of other exotic trees were added from time to time as new introductions became available. This is ideal for displaying a large variety of different trees. However, this mixture of species, as well as the discrepancies between the ages of the trees, precludes a sylvicultural evaluation of the trees. A systematic effort was thus made to introduce other exotic species for plantation trial and, it was decided to obtain species from countries with similar climates. Trees from Australia, India, the southern states of North America and Mexico consequently received attention.
A large number of gums, pines and conifers were imported and planted in small trial plots of various sizes, with new plots added as species became available. However, these were sometimes so small that less rapidly-growing species were influenced by faster-growing neighbours. Nevertheless, general health and acclimatization could be judged, and it was concluded that conifers were more suited to the area than broad-leaf trees, although Gums did well on deep, rich soils. Single trees were still planted for demonstration, including in 1916 Mexican pines and other American trees such as Oaks.
From 1906-1911 Tokai hosted The South African Forestry School “for training men for the higher grades of the Forest Service.” Two students, J.D.M. Keet and A.J. O’Conner, became later directors of Forestry. This was replaced school for training men for the forester grade from 1912-1932. This school was moved to Saasveld, near George, in 1932.
In 1933 the director of forestry, Mr. J.D.M. Keet, requested the conservator of Forestry to devote more attention to the arboretum’s upkeep, and provided specific instructions, aimed at making the area more attractive to visitors and at improving its educative and scientific value. Perhaps because of the war, the arboretum lapsed steadily into a state of greater neglect. During 1951, Mr. Paul Sauer, as minister of Forestry, also remarked unfavourably on the unkempt appearance and the absence of labels. His instructions were apparently barely acted upon.
In the 1970s several dyeing, mammoth Stone Pines had to be brought down limb by limb so as to minimize damage to smaller trees beneath them. Many of the latter had become badly misshapen by shade. Some trees were, unfortunately, no longer healthy, and others had been thrown by wind. In the small plots less robust species have been suppressed or forced to grow sideways.
Although many of the trees are healthy and attractive, many dead, moribund, broken or misshapen individuals exist. Attention to this was given from 1984 to 1986, but more work is still needed. Dangerous, defective and unsightly trees have to be felled or shaped both to render the area safe for the public and to improve its aesthetic quality: not least by opening up vistas which will bring some of the finer specimens into greater prominence, and gaps need to be filled with trees, shrubs, flower beds and lawns.
Heavy invasions by Long-leaf Wattle, Blackwood and also by Cypresses, Gums and Australian Cheesewood need to be continuously controlled. Black Locust and English Elm are coppicing particularly badly. Very heavy invasions by Outeniqua and Real Yellowwood are also evident: dense thickets of these species need to be thinned out or removed. Some areas are heavily infested with Kikuyu and Buffalo Grass: these should be mowed or eliminated.
The roads through the Main Arboretum are generally in a poor condition. They should be resurfaced and properly drained. Footpaths should be laid out in the “Eucalyptium” and repaired elsewhere. Benches, logs and rubbish bins must be provided. Additional toilets and ablution facilities should be provided. A proper water reticulation system should be installed to the main concentrations of shrubberies, herbaceous borders and lawns.
The Main Arboretum was declared a National Monument in August 1985, on its 100th anniversary.
In the 1990s an attempt was made to establish a Gondwana Garden to show off the plants typical of Gondwana, many of which were present at the Cape 60 million years ago. However, competition with existing trees resulted in poor establishment and the plantings were abandoned.
Sources: Our Green Heritage 1973, p. 25-28; S.A. Biografiese Woordeboek, III, HSRC, 1977, p. 541; HB Rycroft & RJ Poynton, Status of Forestry Arboreta, 1983; H. Mauve, Under the Elephant's Eye, a short history of Tokai, p. 9; Standard Encyclopaedia of S.A., p. 447; Chris Botes, TMNP
Tony Rebelo cc by-sa 3.0 (originally prepared for Tokai Manner 1 - newsletter of Friends of Tokai Park, with a view to posting as a Wiki page, but posted here due to copyright delays)
