Of course our morning involved more than the nine of us. Barbara & Chris had left slumbering visitors and walked rather than weeding this time. Anne was a visitor elsewhere and we all, probably, neglected spouses and families and gardens whilst working in the “big garden”! I drove in, rather than park in Mildenhall Place. This proved to be a real advantage as we could use the car as a base & it eventually filled up with more than a dozen ‘Clean-up’ bags of grasses.
We began at 8am expecting the day to be hot by 10am. The strong easterly kept us almost cool at first & then provided an excellent working-temperature even if it may have deterred curious small birds.
Heather joined us for the first time after seeing the notices. As an experienced land-carer elsewhere she’s no stranger to African Lovegrass (ALG) and Serrated Tussock (ST). She concentrated on a particular area with scissors and long-handled mattock (double-ended hoe).
We reckon there’s 10-14 days before the ALG really starts to disperse seeds on the wind and our paws and feet so our aim was to behead and bag the seed-heads from tussocks “uphill” of the gravel path. The Mt Rogers “bush” has only isolated ALG tussocks away from the edges of paths and tracks.
The area we worked on southwest of Schey Place continues the work of Jude and Steve a few weeks ago and, most importantly, took in two dense (3m by 3m) patches which are a soul-destroying prospect for solo-weeders.
The area we worked on southwest of Schey Place continues the work of Jude and Steve a few weeks ago and, most importantly, took in two dense (3m by 3m) patches which are a soul-destroying prospect for solo-weeders.
We beheaded two ALG species: Eragrostis curvula, and what I call Tall Lovegrass because it’s taller and more robust than the common ALG. If Mt Rogers is anything to go by it’s probably just as invasive as there were only about a dozen plants 2-3 years ago.
If you Google what might be Tall lovegrass, Eragrostis chloromelas (Boer Grass) you’ll find a revealing site which also lists Mexican Feather Grass as an appealing grass to buy. The website is American however and Mexican Feather Grass was the subject of a frantic “re-call” campaign two years ago as authorities attempted to trace purchasers of this potentially extremely invasive grass. This all goes to show the situation we are in when overseas plants are wanted and sought-after but could be disasters for Australia’s fragile and unique biodiversity.
We occasionally digressed to distinguish other weeds such as Skeleton weed, Flatweed, Prickly lettuce and Salsify. Again, if you search on their names but add images, you’ll recognise the species we came across. Salsify can be used like a parsnip if pulled up before too much greenery has developed. On the Guided walks on 15 and 19 January we marvelled at the Salsify’s huge, lustrous flower heads. Their symmetry and delicate parachutes-in-waiting show the power of design-for-dispersal of the huge “daisy” family’s seeds.
Aidan, Pat, Bomber and Buddy came past but also queried the weeds they’d noticed from several tracks. Aidan showed me what they meant and the weed turned out to be St John’s Wort (SJW). Aidan is happy to pull out some of this for the group. This is a very worthwhile contribution because the capsules of thousands of seeds are pre-dispersal-green at the moment. If the pulled plants are left in the sun to “cook” the remains will eventually rot down and return nutrients to the soil. However gloves should be worn for contact with SJW as the handled plants can give flu-like symptoms. The plants need a steady almost gentle pull as the rhizomes and roots spread extensively through the soil. It’s easy to leave fragments in the soil but at least we can reduce the numbers of viable seeds waiting in the ground for the growth-triggering conditions this spring-summer has presented throughout the local region.
At one point Ann noticed that Ivan & Sue were working within a few metres of a pair of Common Bronzewing pigeons. Some years ago these birds were quite timid and would fly away at our intrusions near the main carpark. As the families have dispersed many of them seem to be less nervous. Their “ooming” calls can be heard, seasonally, from any point of the reserve. The bars of iridescence on their wing feathers show how recent our knowledge of light and colours is but don’t explain why the play of sunlight on their plumage is important to the birds. Even the more common Crested pigeon has some wing-colour if the angle of the sun is right.
At about 10.30 we moved towards what I call the Cryptandra patch, trackside on the track that passes above the twin reservoirs. There aren’t any others on Mt Rogers as far as I know and the original 7 or 8 have been joined by offspring. This is just as well as three of the older plants have died since spring. Cryptandra amara have delicate, heather-like white bell-shaped flowers, which the butterflies, as pollinators, just can’t resist.
The ALG along the track here has been brought in by mowers moving along from the infested carpark area. We can illustrate the Bradley method of weeding here by preserving what is a fine woody grassland area and weeding out invading species, working out from the natural vegetation in the centre.
A few flowers such as Bluebells, Chrysocephalum daisies, Yellow autumn-lilies, Kangaroo grass and unopened Columbine were visible even today. In due season Hardenbergia, Melichrus and Dodonea will add colour. The small amount of rain we’d had refreshed the Rock ferns near and Lichens on the rocks.
Just happening to glance up at blue sky, I chanced on a large raptor. The Binoculars confirmed that it was a Wedge-tailed Eagle using the wind to soar high above the southern edge of Mt Rogers. What a reward for our efforts. Sue, Ann, Aidan M., John and Ivan were in luck whereas Colin, Heather and Lynn had returned to their weekend lives. Previously Sue had watched a small lizard scuttle away but the sun wasn’t consistent enough to see others or the Dragon lizards sunning on the rocks.
There were plenty of appreciative dog-walkers enjoying the coolness this morning. Many have commented on how good the reserve looks now that the mowers have caught-up again. The small mower’s operator went as close as possible to trees and fences giving such a neat appearance. There is a renewed feeling of safety even though we need to be vigilant as the snakes are around, anywhere, in their habitat.
We’ll be monitoring the effects of the various methods we applied and whether the seeds Aidan M. spread round will colonise the inevitable areas of bare soil. Keeping as much ALG out of areas like Mt Rogers as possible is a balancing act between the need for mowing and maintaining mower-hygiene to reduce seed-spread. It was absolutely magical for me to see the enthusiasm and dedication of today’s volunteers and the way they toiled to protect the land we appreciate and need. Thank you all!
Rosemary
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