Mt Rogers news, May 2021

Our next morning Landcare working bees: Sunday 23^rd May & Monday 7^th June.

 The initial effects of the La Nina weather patterns brought wondrous displays of native wildflowers to Mt Rogers and other natural open spaces as a result of rehydrated soils. We found flowers not noticed before in the reserve including orchids and lilies. The same happened around our region and in our gardens in that plants put on exceptional growth. Birds seemed to respond similarly and some species raised a second brood of chicks. Let’s hope there were enough insects to feed the young insectivorous birds whilst leaving enough for the invertebrates’ own life cycles and their futures.

As we observed the floral displays, often in miniature as is normal with many Australian species, it soon became apparent that thousands of seedlings were colouring the ground green. Millions of seeds have been “lying in wait” in the soil’s seed bank for the re-hydration and warmth of Sprummer 2020–2021. The seeds germinated into an invasion of weed species that swamped the native plants, visually and possibly biologically.  

It was disheartening to realise that we hadn’t “won the battle” against Paterson’s Curse. The sheer volume of weed ‘biomass’ meant that it was unwise and daunting to move into the wilder parts of Mt Rogers without gaiters, snake bandages and a mobile phone. What weeding impact could be achieved when we couldn’t see where we were going or know where next to tread?

As ever, the active Landcare volunteers have enjoyed conversations with you, the Mt Rogers community, and welcomed the hundreds of newcomers to the reserve met during the mostly co-operative summer weather.

 The Mt Rogers Landcare Group’s most recent working bees were on Sunday 25th April and Monday 3rd May. For each of the events we worked in the reserve north of the houses of Schwarz Place, Flynn. This area was the second Mt Rogers section to be subjected to a Hazard Reduction Burn (HRB), the date being April 2018. With the burn’s ash increasing the nutrients in the reserve’s thin and rocky soils, any seeds in the seed bank only needed good rain to encourage germination and seedlings’ growth. As we’ve seen everywhere the drought-ending La Nina event has re-hydrated the soils providing a massive flowering and growth event for plants.

Our target species were Cootamundra Wattle saplings and Black Nightshade, Solanum nigrum (shown in this photo). 

Acacia baileyana (Cootamundra Wattle) is local to the Cootamundra area and was widely planted before its invasiveness became known. The attractive species also has a reputation for being ‘short-lived’. Whilst this may be true it’s not characteristic of all the 700+ wattle species.

These trees provide pollen to attract pollinators: the pollen and the seeds are food for a range of species. Insects amongst the wattles’ foliage are eaten by small birds. Shelter is provided for them and ant species nurturing the larvae of specific butterfly species. Even when dead there are borers and other invertebrate larvae under the wattles’ bark that feed strong-billed cockatoos. The birds can apparently hear the hidden larvae. Perhaps they also see the signs of trees under stress.

Fire heats Acacia seed capsules, causing the pods to twist and release the seeds onto the ashy ground. Thousands of seedlings germinate. We’ve already been through the reserve's burnt areas several times pulling out the seedlings. Phil counted 353 during one of his pulling sessions. Pulling is easiest when the soil is moist, and it reduces the need to use herbicide. We cut down the larger saplings, very close to the soil. If left, the Cootamundra Wattles would create a monoculture with little space for other species. There are several other species of Acacias in the reserve’s 65 hectares ensuring the enrichment of soils and other plants’ healthy growth through their roots’ nitrogen-fixing properties.

The Nightshade plants’ berries (see the photo above) are attractive to birds, including Crimson Rosellas. We pulled the plants and made several large, dense piles, working on the principle that all their berries would fall in the same place if they did ripen (see next two photos). There are several native nightshade species occurring in southern Australia. Another Solanum, the Kangaroo Apple has attracted the attention of bush-walkers and foraging enthusiasts this Sprummer. Tomatoes, chillies, peppers, eggplant, tobacco and potatoes are useful relatives of the hundreds of invading Black-berry Nightshade plants we have piled up. 

 

In previous years volunteers had pulled out 6 wool bags of Mustard plants from this same area. TCCS crews trucked the bags to the green-waste sites for composting at very high temperatures. It’s heart-breaking for Landcare volunteers to see that there were dozens of Mustard bags-full that we weren’t able to reach this Sprummer when feral grasses and wild-oats grew to off-putting heights due to the rains. Butterflies and other pollinators were able to find the pale-yellow Mustard blooms. The cuboid seeds that result are about the size of an ‘o’, so you can imagine how many seeds fall out of each plant’s ripening pods!

It’s easy to see how each species flourishing outside of its normal range and beyond the reach of natural controls can cause significant problems whilst simultaneously being beneficial to both native and introduced animal species.  

Where are the saving graces of the ubiquitously invasive and detrimental African Lovegrass? I’ve heard the species was introduced to stabilise creek banks. Ted has spent countless hours on his daily walks daubing ALG tussocks by the hundred-fold, and Steve uses a back-pack spray for infestations across the reserve. These major individual and voluntary efforts are recorded to the Collector App by rangers of the ACT Government’s Invasive Species unit. A contractor was employed by TCCS in February to spray ALG along the paths and tracks of the reserve. It’s clear that this work was thwarted by the rain and warmth that stimulated rapid growth of small or newly germinated tussocks.

ALG is spread by mowing. The machines come into Mt Rogers in clean condition, later moving to heavily infested areas such as the Wickens Place carpark. The ALG seeds are tiny: imagine trying to clean every seed out of the nooks and crannies of machinery. Footwear, paws, wheels, wind and water also move seeds around.

The next morning Landcare working bees: Sunday 23^rd May & Monday 7^th June.

I am fascinated by Kurrajongs. They belong to an iconic family related to the extraordinary Bottle Trees. In the reserve there are several, and they represent a good-news, bird-dispersal story, because the parent trees’ seeds are eaten elsewhere and pooed by birds perching on one or other of ‘our’ eucalypts’ branches. I like to think that the main dispersal species are the maligned Currawongs….a ‘nasty’ species doing some good. In their large, boat-shaped pods, the Kurrajong seeds are surrounded by bristly hairs. Indigenous people used to eat the seeds raw or roasted once these hairs were removed. The photo here shows two young Kurrajongs at Theodore. 

  

It’s a bit difficult to describe where the Mt Rogers Kurrajongs are but there are two young ones growing outside the Hall Museum on Palmer Street. Inside there’s a display that includes Kurrajong seeds as the recent history of Halls Creek and Ginninderra’s first ‘European’ village is explained. Indigenous tools & artefacts from this region are there too. Opening hours: Thursday mornings and Sunday afternoons.

Rosemary,
Convenor Mt Rogers Landcare Group.
6258 4724.        11.05.21. 

MT ROGERS UPDATE FEBRUARY 2021

Below is a list of scheduled working bee dates coming up for Mt Rogers Landcare Group in 2021.

You all make contributions to the Mt Rogers Community and have done for years. If you are able to spare a couple of hours every so often, please donate another 3–4 minutes by adding these dates to your 2021 diaries or calendars.

SUNDAYS:
28th February, 28th March, 25th April (Anzac Day), 23rd May, 27th June, 25th July, 22nd August, 26th September, 24th October, 28th November, 26th December (Boxing Day).

MONDAYS:
1st March, 5th April (Easter Monday), 3rd May, 7th June, 5th July, 2nd August (ACT Bank Holiday), 6th September, 4th October (ACT Labour Day), 1st November, 6th December.

We normally meet in the mornings, but both meeting venues and gathering times vary according to the anticipated activity and location. For 2–3 hours each session we focus on protecting the reserve and its native species from invading weed species.

Simultaneous to these working bees, individual volunteers additionally contribute through:

• targeting and treating species that are an urgent problem,
• targeting isolated invasive species specimens deeper into the reserve’s cross country areas,
• maintaining the network of run-offs that take rainwater across the landscape, preventing erosion of the paths that hundreds of other people use each week,
• observing and reporting on wildlife diversity and species' presence,
• sending photographs of these species to Canberra Nature Map (CNM); that action makes a significant contribution to collective information about the ACT region’s natural estate. (You don’t need to know the species’ name because volunteer moderators attached to CNM identify the species – and your location – from the photographs.) The website explains what to do, at: https://canberra.naturemapr.org/
• collecting rubbish during their daily walks, including broken glass,
• welcoming newcomers with a smile.

In the coming weeks we can expect contractors employed by TCCS to be spraying for African Lovegrass (ALG) around the reserve. This highly invasive grass has spread throughout the ACT region and the suburbs. It will be invaluable to have this broader-scale assistance with ALG from TCCS (Transport Canberra and City Services), who are the Land Managers for Mt Rogers and other Urban Open Spaces beyond Canberra Nature Park. If you’re not sure what this grass looks like, have a look (soon) around the Wickens Place, Fraser, carpark where there is a large infestation of it.

We have asked for alert notices to be installed at Mt Rogers. Similar weed treatment may first be carried out along Ginninderra Creek at Latham before the contractors reach Mt Rogers.

 ……………………………………………………………………………

 Mt Rogers Landcare Group is one of about twenty Landcare groups caring for special places in this area of Canberra. We are linked by our connection to Ginninderra Creek.

The connecting factor is rainwater feeding into the creek through the water catchments in Gungahlin, Belconnen, Hall, and Wallaroo (in NSW). In water catchments, the water drains towards the creek, flowing above ground during rain and below the surface otherwise. Ginninderra Creek’s meandering course continues beyond the ACT border out to the west of Parkwood where its waters plunge 40 m over Ginninderra Falls to reach the confluence of Ginninderra Creek with the Murrumbidgee River.

There are several sections of the gravel path around Mt Rogers that show, by their nearly permanent long grass, and green-ness, how water from the reserve’s ridgeline moved through the landscape before bulldozers moulded the reserve and the suburbs in the late sixties, early seventies. 

Water recently flowed and then oozed through our mid-Flynn blocks to reach the stormwater drains prescribed by engineers. When it reaches the drains, rainwater moves rapidly, taking fertilisers, leaf-litter, silt, chemicals and detritus to Ginninderra Creek, then to the Murrumbidgee and then to the Murrumbidgee’s downstream towns and farms.

In urban open spaces, as on Mt Rogers and in gardens being redesigned, bare soil is readily washed away unless there are plants’ deep roots and ‘leaky weirs’ to slow the rainwater and send the flow across the landscape. In natural areas, nutrients from decaying organisms and eroded silt is carried across country to fertilise and revitalise soils. 

The Mt Rogers Landcare community contributes to clean water reaching Ginninderra Creek by:

•  studying the drainage patterns on Mt Rogers,
• creating and maintaining effective run-offs on the cross-country paths and tracks above the main gravel path,
• planning and implementing the restoration of one of the steep, direct paths down from the summit in partnership with TCCS and Ginninderra Catchment Group,
• creating and maintaining an alternative and zig-zagging route to and from the summit in that eastern area,
• collecting, daily, detritus left on the reserve’s tracks. TCCS collects rubbish from the main carpark at least once a week, and bags of dog poo are regularly collected from the specific bin by TCCS staff.

 

Rosemary
Convenor, Mt Rogers Landcare Group
ph 6258 4724

Saturday 17 October - election day - on Mt Rogers

 Two images from a brief walk on Mt Rogers today, Saturday 17 October 2020. 

The top photo shows the glorious bronze, feathery grass from the native Spear Grasses group. 
As you walk round, check for these determined clusters as they do battle against the rampant wild oats and other introduced grass species that are the descendants of grasses imposed on native grasses and wildflowers to improve grazing for stock as land around the area was cleared.  

The lower photo shows a cluster of the saprophytic Broomrape, Orobanche. It’s a native of Europe, not Australia. Here the flower-spikes are pushing through a local native ground cover, Stinking Pennywort Hydrocotle laxiflora. We have often wondered about the Hydrocotle as we’ve been taking a stance against the incredible growth of invasive species since the drought broke. 

Congratulations to Mt Rogers Landcarers both present and past for the incredible efforts made against Paterson’s Curse over the decades. 

We have only to look across to the hills or drive past paddocks or other reserves to see how fortunate the reserve’s 65 hectares are in comparison to other places. 

There are other species waiting for their chance to colour the landscapes of course but 25 years of being weed-conscious has paid off (I’d better say “for now”).

I hope you have been able to take walks in different reserves over the past few weeks and enjoyed seeing how local wildflowers have made the most of the rain and La Nina. 

Birds are busily incubating eggs or feeding young. Koels’ calls have been heard in other suburbs. No doubt these cuckoos are watching for when Red Wattlebirds try for a second brood. Currawongs are hoping small birds will make errors that reveal where their nests are. Today I had a ‘conversation’ with an Oriole calling “Ori…ole” alongside Ginninderra Creek at Evatt’s new wetlands. And yesterday was famous for the thousands of Caper White butterflies that migrated through the ACT during the afternoon. Where had they hatched? Where are they heading? How do they know where to navigate to? On which plants will they feed or lay their eggs?

I have put up extra Snakes live here… signs this year because we’ve welcomed hundreds more people to Mt Rogers since Covid began; people who may not realise we share the place with these usually-wary natives. 
They’ve been placed at the main entry or approaches to the gravel path ...

but inexplicably some of these snake awareness signs have been taken down.  

Thank you for your caring for Mt Rogers, in whatever form that takes. It’s all community-caring, all Landcare!

Rosemary

6258 4724

September work & progress. And on Oct 18, come and learn about Kuringa Drive !

On Thursday 17th an exceptional turnout of Mt Rogers Landcare community members put 18 coir logs in position down the eroded track from the summit. There are four photos of this below. 

The hardest part proved to be creating a hole through each log four times so the stakes could be driven into the ground.

We loosened the compacted soil, scattered native grass seeds and covered the seeds. Some Capeweed plants were dug up to prevent them seeding but, as the second photo might show, the flowers continued to bloom. They still turn to the sun four days later….!

The alternative track across the grass to the north is being used….there are several others in the vicinity including the main vehicle tracks.

Thank you Margaret for surprising us with warm-from-the-oven morning tea that we eagerly ‘washed down’ with our supplies of water. 

Julie, Kerri-Ann, Mark, Michael, Neil, Phil G, Phil N, Ted have new skills for their CV’s and there were apologies from Angharad, Colette, Helen and Jennifer and Steve.

On Sunday 27th our next working bee is scheduled. 

I suggest we meet near the Flynn playground again and at 09.30am

There are several areas of native vegetation that have flatweed, thistles, prickly lettuce, capeweed, fumitory interfering with their wildflowers’ potential. 

Most of these pull out in the dampened soil at the moment…though hand weeders are currently the best tools for the job.

The growth of oats, introduced grasses is phenomenal and one must wonder how the ash from the prescribed Hazard Reduction Burn in 2018 (plus rain) has helped these grasses and weeds recreate the fuel load the HRB’s are supposed to reduce………

Angharad reported that the Frogmouths had abandoned the nest she found. 

I came across an Echidna near Snow Gum Corner today. Whilst showing it to Tracey I learned that there’s a pair again nesting in Schwarz Place trees.

I heard Friarbird calls today up near the Summit. They are returning to our region to breed.

Margaret had a wonderful observation of Superb Parrots feeding “a baby”….this very early breeding record has intrigued the COG*

There will be a gathering in the Kuringa Woodland (parallel to Kuringa Drive) on Sunday October 18th with the aim of introducing the woodland's habitats to their Fraser and Spence neighbours, from 10am. ALL WELCOME.

This is being organised by ecologist, Michael Mulvaney, of EPSDD (the “environment department) and Sarah Sharp, retired grassland ecologist. Perhaps a Landcare Group will eventuate for that area. 

On Saturday 19th there was a walk around the new wetlands at Melba. A similar walk is planned on 26th at the Evatt wetlands below the dam wall. Entry from Croke place and starting at 3pm.  

The native grassland experimental plots there will be explained. 

Both events are organised by Ginninderra Catchment Group (GCG) to show how water entering GInninderra Creek is filtered by such installations and how sediment is trapped by aquatic plants in the wetlands’ settlement ponds. 

The catchment group is the umbrella group for Landcare Groups in our area, supporting what volunteers do and what they hope to achieve for the special places we love. 

For the erosion work we had a great deal of partnership help from TCCS ‘rangers’, the operations team at Charnwood Depot and from the GCG staff…..your rates working for Mt Rogers (as well as all the other reserves around the bush capital).

Cheers,

Rosemary

*Canberra Ornithologists Group members I passed the record on to.

  

  

Mt Rogers news September 2020

The eroding track down from the Trig Point towards the east

Previous newsletters reported on February’s efforts when twelve Mt Rogers Landcare Group volunteers had process discussions and began work on allowing the eroded track to and from the Trig Point to repair itself.

The track is straight up and down, and so feet, wheels and the effects of drought, wind and water-flow have worn away the thin soil and exposed rocks and tree roots. To avoid this track becoming a narrow but deepening and dangerous gully the group decided to initiate repair processes via a partnership with the Land Managers at Transport Canberra & City Services (TCCS), the Ginninderra Catchment Group and TCCS’ operational staff based at Dunlop Depot.

Here is an update from the project’s volunteer managers:

Mt Rogers Landcare Group is committed to meeting strong community requests to attempt to rehabilitate the summit track.  Accordingly a plan has been developed and the following measures will soon be implemented via a working bee (timing TBA) as well as some individual and TCCS effort.  This includes:

1. Temporary, physical barriers at the top and bottom of the track,

2. Signage explaining the action and the need for repair,

3. Coir logs across the slope to limit runoff, to limit erosion of soil and silt and to encourage regrowth of grass and other ground cover species.

4. Some planting of natural grasses,

5. Preparation of an alternate route to the summit which traverses across the slope a little further to the north rather than straight up, to limit the potential for erosion. 

 We’re close to having during-the-week dates for installing the coir logs, planting out grasses and covering the track and its sides. Branches will be used encourage seeds in the soil to germinate undisturbed and to prevent kangaroos eating any new plants.

Please let me know if you can spare a couple of hours to be part of the rostered working team for this project. No previous Landcare experience or attendance at our working bees is needed….enthusiasm for contributing muscle-power to Mt Rogers is probably the most needed attribute!!

 

And here’s the signage that will accompany the Summit Track EROSION works:

    

ATTENTION MT ROGERS COMMUNITY

 

·    THIS AREA IS TEMPORARILY CLOSED

·    TRACK REHABILITATION AND EROSION MITIGATION IS IN PROGRESS

·    PLEASE USE ALTERNATE ROUTES TO ALLOW NATURAL REGROWTH

·    YOUR COOPERATION AND ASSISTANCE IS APPRECIATED

THANK YOU

Mt Rogers Landcare

Explanatory note:

A combination of drought and increased use by people during COVID-19 has resulted in increased erosion of this already badly degraded track. In response to strong community concerns to protect this site, erosion mitigation measures and seeding of native grass will be undertaken.  For these measures to succeed, we have temporarily closed the area for community use. Please use the main vehicle tracks or alternate routes and avoid steep direct pathways straight up and down the hill – kindly “zig zag” or “contour” the slope to prevent erosion gullies developing.  This project is a joint initiative of your local Landcare Group and the ACT Government.

 

For more information please call
Access Canberra on 13 22 81.

 

Please note that it is an offence to interfere with ACT Government approved works and property.

HOW MANY OF THESE EVERYDAY GARDEN WEEDS ARE NEAR YOUR PLACE THIS YEAR?

Each year weather conditions, together with rainfall amounts and sequences, lead to variety in the herbaceous weeds commonly found in gardens and on nature strips around the region. Once native plant diversity was altered after European settlement, seed banks of introduced plant species built up in the soil. The seeds wait for ideal germination conditions. I’ve not included grasses (except Wild Oats), though African Lovegrass is rampant on suburban nature strips.  

Species in bold are over-successful this year!

The species listed are those I’ve noticed in north Belconnen. Other areas may report additional or different species. In 2020 these weed species area also present in the territory’s reserves. Plant species are known as weeds when they have no predators, grazers or harvesters to control their numbers. Some species are edible for humans, at least when the plants are young. See The Weed Forager’s Handbook for details.

RED

• Red-flowered Mallow  Modiola caroliniana Horizontal suckering stems
• Scarlet Pimpernel  Anagallis arvensis Occasionally has blue flowers
• Poppy  Papaver dubium Has a capsule where seeds are shaken out
• Sorrel  Acetosella vulgaris Said to favour acid soils. Suckers grow through soil.
• Bartsia  Perentucellia latifolia Crimson rather than red.

PINK

• Fumitory  Fumaria muralis Pinky-crimson.
• Centaury  Centaurium erythraea
• Proliferous pink  Petrorhagia naneuilli  Thousands of seedlings germinating in bush & reserves
• Onion-grass  Romulea rosea  Grass-like leaves from bulbs dug up by Galahs & Cockatoos
• Cranesbill geranium  Geranium molle
• Storks-bill  Erodium species Seed capsules are shaped like a stork’s bill.
• Mallow  Malva neglecta & M. nicaeensis. Very prolific after the rains came.
• Sandspurry  Spergularia rubra Tiny plant likes bare or stressed ground
• Haresfoot clover  Trifolium arvense  Pinkish flowers embedded in fuzziness.
• Willow herb  Epilobium species
• Common vetch  Vicia sativa
• Broomrape  Orobanche minor Pinkish-beige. No chlorophyll. Parasitic on plants’ roots. 

PURPLISH

• Small flowered opium  Poppy Papaver somniferum
• Periwinkle  Vinca major Canberra’s “favourite weed”. Strong suckering stems
• Salsify  Tragopogon porrifolius Huge seed-heads. Seeds blow away like dandelions’
• Paterson’s Curse – Salvation Jane  Echium plantagineum Significant pasture weed.
  Toxic to horses.
• Wild Sage  Salvia verbenaca  Might be mistaken for Paterson’s Curse though more purple than blue.

BLUE

• Creeping Speedwell  Veronica persica  Low-growing small plant.

YELLOW

• Dandelion  Taraxacum Often amongst grass. Flower-heads can have 170 seeds each.
• Flatweed  Hypochaeris radicata  Similar flower-head to dandelion, thinner stalks. More numerous.
• Catsear  Hypochaeris glabra Similar to Flatweed but smaller. 
• Capeweed  Arctotheca calendula Pale yellow daisy-flowers. Massive numbers. Use for daisy-chains!
• Milk Thistle and other thistles.
• Creeping Buttercup Ranunculus repens
• Caltrops Tribulus terrestris  Summer, path-side weed. Spikes of seed-capsules penetrate soles & tyres.
• St John’s Wort  Hypericum perforatum Orange-yellow masses spreading from paddocks.
• Hairy Mustard  Hirschfeldia incana  Lemon-yellow flowers. Cabbage family.
• Great Mullein  Verbascum Thapsus  Tall flower-stem grows from rosette of ‘furry’ leaves.
• Oxalis species  Also other colours. Bulbs are difficult to completely remove.
• Prickly Lettuce  Lactua serriola.  Germinating  prolifically by October 2016.
• Evening Primrose  Oenothera stricta Pale yellow
• Skeleton weed  Chondrilla juncea Appears to have few leaves.
• Goat’s beard  Tragopogon dubius Huge seed-heads. Seeds blow away like dandelions’
• Hop clover  Trifolium campestre Small clover-like cushion-plants.
• Mexican poppy  Argemone ochroleuca
• Pigweed  Portulaca oleracea Germinates in late summer. Succulent-like. Low-growing.

ORANGE

• Californian poppy  Eschscholzia californica Brilliant colour but very invasive.

WHITE

• Common bitter cress  Cardamine hirsuta  Small white flowers. Disturbed ground
• Chickweed  Stellaria media Weak-stemmed spreading annual in veg. gardens etc.
• Mouse-eared chickweed  Cerastium fontanum Similar to chickweed but hairy.
• French Catch-fly  Silene gallica  Increasingly common by 2020.
• Nightshade  Solanum nigrum Has red then black berries when they’re ripe.
• Shepherd’s Purse  Capsella bursa-pastoris  Smallish plant with semi-heart-shaped capsules

BEIGE 

• Fleabane  Conyza bonariensis.  One of several species whose seeds easily blow away.

GREEN FLOWERS

• Ivy  Hedera helix  Has enough berries for birds to spread them. Tough, climbing stems.
• Sticky weed  Cleavers  Goose grass Galium aparine. Weak stems & round capsules fasten-on clothing.
• Petty spurge  Euphorbia peplus  Has caustic white sap. Can grow to 15cm tall.
• Euphorbia species  Popular feature plants which are “going bush” from gardens.
• Common cotula  Cotula australis Tiny plants which grow in spaces on bare ground.
• Fat hen  Chenopodium album  Bluish-green foliage. Tiny, gritty seeds.
• Wild Oats Avena species Grow 1m tall  in good seasons & ripen, being a bush fire risk in reserves.

INSIGNIFICANT FLOWERS

• Wireweed  Polygonum aviculare  Slightly reddish flowers & gritty seeds.
• Dock Rumex  species  Reddish small flowers. Some are native species.
• Plantain  Plantago lanceolata  Blackish blob flower-heads on long stalks. Ribbed leaves.
• Goosefoot  Chenopodium carinatum  Tends to appear in later summer.
• Stonecrop  Crassula sieberiana  Minute succulent of bare ground. May be reddish-orange.
• Chilean Whitlow wort  Paronychia brasiliana Small, lush-looking plants in bare spaces.
• Purple Cudweed  Gamochaeta purpurea & Euchiton species. Greyish foliage.

These weeds are accepted for high-temperature composting at the Green Waste sites…such as Corkhills’ and Canberra Sand & Gravel’s yards.

At home: if the weeds have set-seed put the seed-heads in a black plastic bag to ‘cook’ in the sun rather than putting them in a home compost bin or heap that may not be hot enough to kill the seeds.

Many households now have green bins to which weeds can be added for commercial composting.

 

Rosemary Blemings August 2020.

Working bees 23 August and 7 September, and a swollen creek!

Here is a view of Mt Rogers in the misty, middle distance as taken from the Umbagong section of Ginninderra Creek at Latham on Sunday 9th August. 

We had some spectacular falls of rain in August 2004 when ‘records began’ on our newly acquired Rain Gauge but Latham folk reckoned this was the highest they’d seen a flood since 1974. 

So just in case you ever wondered where rain on the east, south and west side of Mt Rogers ended up here is one answer. And rain from the north of the ridgeline ends up in Gooroomon Ponds Creek. The confluence of the two creeks is beyond Dunlop and Jarramlee.

To return to the topic….our next working bees are scheduled for Sunday 23rd August and Monday 7th September. Let’s aim for a 09.30am start. 

On Sunday 23rd we’ll meet near the Flynn Playground off Rechner Place and mostly be using hand weeders to dig out the Flatweed and other invasive herbaceous plants that threaten the area near Rechner which is richly biodiverse. 

There’s no need to KNOW what the target weeds look like as we’ll be showing you plenty of examples. 

We’ll see how we go for a venue for Monday 7th but you’ll have noticed that there’s no shortage of Capeweed just waiting to begin flowering….good for the bees and teaching children about daisy chains but the seeds will top up the seed bank for future years on Mt Rogers and around the suburbs. 

Thanks for all you do, in diverse ways, for Mt Rogers,

Rosemary