LANDCARING ON MT ROGERS - An introduction

Mt Rogers Landcare Group's working bees are informal events with minimal but functional equipment.

We have a range of tools, as in the photo below, including:

• Double-ended Hoe (i.e. lightweight mattock) for digging out Serrated Tussock, African Love Grass, Chilean Needle Grass & other weeds...with minimal disturbance.
• Loppers of various weights for cutting weeds' branches.
• Saw for branches and trunks of wider girth.
• Secateurs for smaller branches, berry and fruit clusters.
• Scissors (not shown) are useful for grass flower-heads prior to bagging
• Once-used, reassurance white Clean up Australia bags are useful until the threads fray or, as shown they disintegrate from u.v. exposure.
• Pink marker tape and Marker spray for indicating weed species
• Wand of Glyphosate herbicide with dye. Used by volunteers during working-bee, wearing suitable gloves.
• Fluid-proof gloves.
• (Calico bag of ) Sturdy gloves.
• Bottle of water in case of splashes or spillages.
• (Black bag containing) pairs black knee-length gaiters in three lengths. For reassurance against snakes' presence and they prevent seeds from entering socks and laces. 
• First aid kit plus extra bandages.
• Wool-sack bag into which weeds are decanted to be transported by convenor to green waste site.
• Pronged weeders (not shown) are useful for young, individual plants when soil is damp.

Here's a photo of a typical working-bee on Mt Rogers...except that the grass is exceptionally lush in sprummer 2016. 

We were on hands and knees digging at and cutting off Wild Sage plants. They were growing round an area of boulders where, just weeks before, we'd found five Chocolate lily plants. Wild Sage plants each produce many seeds and they hook themselves onto laces, clothing, fur and socks. We were working out from the lilies. Round the boulders the vegetation is less weedy.

Our volunteers readily form teams so herbicide can be applied as soon as the weed's stem is cut.

Our group supplies, gaiters, tools and gloves. See the list and photo above.

With the group's small numbers, newcomers can quickly learn how tasks are done. We learn by example. We exchange experiences and anecdotes to turn the occasion into a social event.

Every time we concentrate on a small area of bush we can all see that we are making a difference for the native plants and animals in the Mt Rogers reserve.

Rosemary, Convenor
Mt Rogers Landcare Group.   6258 4724