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Hi, my land has tons of rather large waiwi (spelling?)trees (the ones that make the tiny guavas). I need to cut a lot of them down, and they're very thick and straight (about 3-4 inch diameter), so I was wondering if I could use them for building in any way. Obviously not permited building, but fences, small open sheds, etc. I cut a bunch a few years ago, and built a small bit of fence with them, and now they're totally rotten and break very easily. Is there anything I can treat them with to make them last? They're so smooth and beautiful, I hate to just waste them.
LEN
LEN
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I also have tons of this most useless plant on my acres. Wishful thinking to try to find much value in them. The only thing I could ultimately think of was a good shredder/chipper and use the fiber in a fiber cement product. Cutting them down is temporary unless you kill the stumps and you will have thousands of stumps. For this reason D-9s were invented. Unfortunately dozing seems to be the only real effective way to rid yourself of them and that is costly and will usually kill the few surviving Ohia left in the guava groves.
Wish I could offer you better news. They can release that insect which impedes guava any day as far as I'm concerned.
Oh. I did make some replacement wheel barrow handles from guava. That took care of two. Now I still have several million to find a use for.
Assume the best and ask questions.
Punaweb moderator
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I buried some 10'x10-12" poles of the same plant 2' deep to build a sheep shed. Believe it or not (I've got the photos of it) one of the poles has sprouted new growth up and down the top 2-3 feet! So if you use them for fence post, I'd peel the part that gets put in the hole.
Royall
What goes around comes around!
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Jay likes to use them as firewood and to make charcoal with, I think. That might be a good use for them. I've used waiwi poles to grow beans on but only after they've had time to dry out. You could use them to make a compost bin out of and eventually the bin itself would become compost.
Perhaps for rustic furniture since that would be kept dry.
"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson
"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson
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Had a fire on my place a few years ago. The dead guava and dead ohia that were left standing seem to have rotted at the same pace. Small ones the size of your wrist are breakable over your knee or a rock. I don't think the guava rots especially fast as wood goes but in the wet areas it's gonna rot unless protected. Buried, it will rot.
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Well, waiawi makes great cooking/smoking wood for barbecues. The mottled bark is really lovely and I have seen it used in non-load bearing architectural situations (like ornamental pickets for a deck railing) a couple of times. I have noticed that the bugs really go for it once it dries so if you wanted to try that I might start small and would seal it really well right away.
As Rob says, they do re-sprout vigorously. If you are hand clearing, I suggest you try cutting as low to the ground as possible and then painting the stumps with herbicide. I never used manufactured chemicals in the landscape before I moved here. I confess, I even thought that people who did were just lazy. I wish it were different, but I have learned that it's really pretty much impossible to control the invasive plants like waiawi here without using herbicide. I try and use the least toxic ones I can find to do the job and then apply them "surgically" meaning a very tiny dose where it counts - like on the stumps immediately after you cut them.
It's a lot of work but it amounts to good stewardship and possibly a fine barbecue.
Aloha,
Mitzi
Uluhe Design
Native Landscape Design
uluhedesign@yahoo.com
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I have been told to soak the guava in salt water (about 24hrs.) to sort of help quick cure the wood, then dry it.
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Thanks so much for all the great advice! The furniture idea is especially intriguing.
LEN
LEN
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I have seen gates, fences, and arbors made with it, all looked nice and it was free.
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The salt water treatment might be worth a test on a few samples. Have heard various reports of using salt water to treat wood and bamboo.
That said, our experience using waiwi around the farm for trellises, fences, etc is that it works great at first and then rots and falls down in about two years.
James Weatherford, Ph.D.
15-1888 Hialoa
Hawaiian Paradise Park
