Ripping involves the use of a bulldozer with a finger-plough on the back to rip a slit in the ground up to a depth of about 50 cm. The picture below shows this operation being carried out at a Field Day held at John Woodley's property in Taggerty. The pole and chain on the front of the dozer are to ensure that the correct spacing is maintained between planting rows (3 metres).

Having ripped the ground, the next step is to use a tractor with twin disk ploughs on the back to break up the ground around the rip, and then to heap the earth in a mound above the rip, as shown below at the Field Day. The purpose of ripping and mounding is to allow easier root penetration by the seedlings and to increase the effective depth of broken ground into which the seedling might grow.

The ripping and mounding at Blue Range Close was done on the contours, as shown in this early-morning misty shot of the property. When done this way, the mounding serves another important function of catching whatever rainfall we get and using it to maximum advantage. Even though the property gets an average annual rainfall of 700mm, it is highly variable from year to year. For example, in the first year after planting we received a rainfall of only 400mm, and yet, as will be seen later, the contour mounds managed to catch sufficient rainfall to ensure that the trees got away to a good start.