SILVICULTURAL CHARACTERS
Neem is a light-demander, but tolerates fairly heavy shade during the early years. It has a great
capacity for pushing its way through thorny scrub in the seedling stage; in this respect it resembles
‘semul’. The shade crop, however, has a retarding effect on the growth of the seedlings. It is very
sensitive to frost, especially in the seedling and sapling stages, and was much damaged in the 1905
frost in Phillaur. It is a fire-tender species. It is draught-hardy and can withstand drought and general
maltreatment better than most other species. It appears to dislike excessive moisture and cannot
stand Waterlogging. It can withstand drought better than excessive rainfall. Neem coppices well. In
Tamil Nadu, it was found that high cutting with trimming of shoots gave 3.8% mortally of stools,
whereas low cutting with trimming gave 9% mortality of stools, possibly due to the shaking of roots in
dry soil. Injured roots around felled trees often produce root suckers.