Monday 4 July working bee

Our next scheduled working bee will be on Monday 4th July from 09.30am

We’re meeting at Wickens Place, Fraser to continue working against:

•  Fleabane (pulling up and beheading plants)
• Digging or pulling out Verbascum rosettes 
• Treating ‘woody weeds’ we come across.

This will happen within walking distance of Wickens Place. 

I found Mt Morgan wattle in glorious flower between Bird and Oster Places, Flynn earlier in the week….planted 15? years ago by Morrie and Fiona who used to live nearby. 

And someone has pulled up and dumped a number of dead wattles onto native plants deeper into the reserve behind Woodger Place. Presumably the someone didn’t like the untidiness…..the deaths were were caused by the Hazard Reduction Burn some years ago. (In the distance there was a HRB happening in NSW)

(Youths were having McDonalds and a ’smoke’ in the carpark. But the magpies liked the uneaten potato cakes) 

I recycled the bottle and kept the lid for the prosthetic limb collection project. 

Rosemary, 30 June 2022

June and July working bees

Following the schedule of fourth Sundays and first Mondays of each month the next working bee comes up on Sunday 26th June.

We’re meeting at Rechner Place, Flynn for a 09.30 start…..finding and pulling up clusters of privet, cotoneaster and ivy seedlings that birds have brought in as seeds foraged from suburban gardens.

Probably the same time on Monday 4th July with the meeting place to be announced.

Rosemary

Next working bees 22 May (Sunday) and 6 June (Monday)

Ted (who is a Mt Rogers volunteer committing multiple hours weekly to work on invasives on our 65 ha site) has referred us to a valuable article on managing Fleabane.

https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/65903/Flaxleaf-fleabane.pdf

"Seed persistence in soil

The majority (90–95%) of flaxleaf fleabane seeds lose their viability within 12 to 18 months in the surface soil. However, a small percentage can persist for several years, particularly if seeds are buried 2 to 5 cm below the surface. "

The photo below shows the seeding heads of a low specimen of this widespread weed; low because the plant had been mown.  Some of the taller plants are well over a metre tall. 

I  therefore propose meeting at Mildenhall Place again on Sunday 22nd around 09.00am 
and at Rechner Place on Monday 6 June at 9am,
and continuing a walk and weed approach protecting the higher quality areas from the main culprits:

• ·       Fleabane,
• ·       check for privet seedlings under every tree,
• ·       Briar rose dug out/rose hips removed,
• ·       St John’s Wort,
• ·       isolated ALG tussocks (+ rarer Serrated Tussock if found),
•       Cotoneaster,

and photographing any fungi species found to put on Canberra Nature Map (https://canberra.naturemapr.org/).   

In some places gentle levering out of the new Fleabane plants is successful and will save us doing this later on especially in the good-quality vegetation places. 

Yesterday I took out Fleabane near the best grassland at Umbagong, Latham. The dead plants are worth pulling out, even though the seeds have dispersed, because the roots are still alive and new sprouting buds are present on some. The soil was damp enough for this pulling not to be too onerous. and the area doesn’t look as derelict now. 

 Bring secateurs and the little diggers if you have them, though I have several here. 

I hope you have been able to search out the amazing diversity of toadstools, mushrooms and other colourful species. The wet weather has encouraged the spores to germinate. The above ground fungi are the fruiting bodies of the very extensive hyphae networks below the ground, through the soil and that link plants to each other. 

If you’d like to find out which species have been found around our region go to Canberra Nature Map where people, citizen scientists and naturalists have uploaded their sightings. 

Please keep eyes open to see if Scarlet Robins have returned to Mt Rogers for the cooler months.

Thank you,

Rosemary

Working bees on 27th March and 4th April

 Mt Rogers scheduled working bees are on Sunday 27th March and Monday 4th April. Each starting at 09.00am.

For Sunday please park in the eastern arm of Schwarz Place, Flynn. We have gaiters and some gloves but it would help if you bring your secateurs. 

Today (22 March) I had a walk mostly across country and felt further despondency at the contrast between the wooded sections and the more open spaces in terms of the principal weed species  that have thrived on the La Nina weather systems’ rain events. 

Most numerous are the Fleabanes (left x2), then Prickly Lettuce (right x2) both members of the ‘daisy’ family and with seeds that ‘parachute’ away on the slightest breeze now that they are ripe. 

Slightly less obvious and species volunteers have also worked on managing are the recognisable purple Thistle and the yellow-flowered spike of the Verbascum or Mullein. 

The rehydrated soils have stimulated mass germination of these and other less obvious introduced species. Some species’ seeds can remain viable in the soil for decades. Trillions have grown around the ACT, the region and beyond. This season’s seeds will top-up the seed bank awaiting conducive conditions in the future. 

I waded through the tall grasses along the tracks kangaroos have made when traversing the reserve over the decades eventually heading towards an ancient eucalypt that was surrounded by a huge spread of Honeysuckle until we overcame it. 

I noticed someone had tied a nest box to another gum tree. It had a large 7-8cm circular opening facing north east. I was musing “Which species is the installer trying to attract”, when there were some almost cockatoo-like shrieks of annoyance. 

I looked up to see two agitated Galahs flapping wings and shrieking. Simultaneously a slumber-disturbed Sugar Glider exited the nest box and ran away around the trunk. I realised the glider had disappeared as the Galahs calmed down, resuming their eleven o’clock routine on the tree’s huge branches. 

When we worked on the Honeysuckle there was a pair of Galahs present. Presumably today’s Galahs were that same pair.

I made my way across towards the summit with renewed hope after that, lighter steps through the rank grasses being impossible.

Near Snow Gum Corner in the reserve’s south east there were many small birds in the canopy of a huge Apple Box eucalypt. They were feeding and calling, each species with its own musical phrases of contact calls for keeping in touch. 

As some of the birds flew close to Schwarz Place’s trees I noticed two diving down to the shorter native grasses. Scarlet Robins back to Mt Rogers for the cooler months…when Tuesday (23 March) is to be 29 degrees!

Thank you, 

Rosemary

P.S. At our last session near the Tree of Heaven site, we found that a wooden bench  seat  had been installed to take in the magnificent views. The seat had been taken from near the Benchmark tree 150m away where everyone could enjoy a shaded rest. Now people would need  serious, weed-repellent gear to reach the seat. 

Next working bee, and what we've done recently

The next scheduled Mt Rogers working bee is on Monday 7th March. We’ll meet at Wickens Place, Fraser by 09.00am and return to the task of tackling weed species that will be dispersing their ripening seeds within the next few weeks. 

If able to volunteer then please bring secateurs and water to drink. 

As you can see from the photo (immediately below) of Roger, Colette, Jennifer, Phil and hidden Ted at work on Sunday 27th, it’s a search and destroy mission for the target species shown in the next photo below:

 

in order, left - right: Fleabane, Verbascum (Mullein), Thistle and
Prickly Lettuce. 

We’ll have gloves, gaiters and other tools. 

The photo just above shows the value of gaiters. Each of these Paspalum seeds has enough hooks to cling to the threads of the fabric. This seed  dispersal method was the inspiration for Velcro many decades ago. 

Here’s the pile of St John’s Wort (photo below) that was pulled out of the grassland north of Jacob Place, Flynn a few weeks ago. Xtine is now putting the remains in their rubbish bin bit by bit... A really helpful contribution as this noxious weed needs to be deeply buried rather than go to a Green Waste recycling site. 

Jennifer is aiming to put up some mini-posters showing what the target species look like. The suburbs are as full of these weed species as the reserves are. They, and hundreds of annual weeds have thrived in the damp conditions from La Nina. 

Here are some methodologies for managing the current target species:

Pull St John’s Wort whilst the soil’s still damp and leave in dense piles on top of Phalaris, Paspalum grasses or other undesirable plants in full sun if possible. Some volunteers pile weeds up on the ‘bare' ground under eucalypts where the seeds are less likely to germinate.

Verbascum or Mullein: cut heads off and bag if there’s enough bags and the capacity to carry their weight out of the infestation area. Pile up untransportable heads in one exposed place. Pull plant out if the soil’s damp enough to allow this without causing hernias or back damage. Pile up stems in one or more places also on top of undesirable species. Rosettes of younger plants are daubed with herbicide. 

Thistles: cut off any flowerheads that are coloured-up/about to open for pollinators and bag these. Also cut and bag brown heads. Cut the rest of the flowering area of the plant into short lengths. Leave on the ground to 'cook' and then rot down.

Lop the plant close to the soil.

Prickly Lettuce: There’s so much of it that bagging the flowerheads is unrealistic. But cutting flowerheads off and then covering them with the weight and mass of the rest of the plant should prevent any seeds from blowing away. 

I also wondered abut getting some  sturdy black plastic bags and filling them with Prickly lettuce heads. Then leaving each bag on a patch of ferals to see if the PL rots and then dies by enclosed cooking. Need to retrieve the black plastic bags at some stage. 

Fleabane: Green and young plants are pullable at present and leave where they are. If flowering or seeding, cut and bag heads if possible. If not cut flower and seeding heads off, pile them in one place and pile the remains of the plants on top. Pulling up is best but unlike SJW they bring a clod of soil with them which brings light to other seeds in the disturbed soil. Holding down the soil with one foot whilst pulling helps leave half the soil clod in situ, Steve’s found. I’ve felt guilty for some recently when they have moss growing round them. Mosses and lichens are so essential for preventing soil washing or blowing away.   Cutting the Fleabane off at ground level will set the plant back but it’s likely to resprout. 

Mustard: Pull up the plants if soil’s damp enough and make dense piles of them on top of feral vegetation. TCCS staff did take six woolbags of Mustard away for us in 2020 and piles of SJW from Hall in 2022 but their ability to do this depends on other commitments. 

I hope your gardens are free of these invasive species.

Keep a lookout for clusters of privet and ivy seedlings growing under trees, shrubs and along fencelines.  They’re easy to pull out when young. The seedlings come from berries that birds feast on in others’ gardens  and poo into the reserves when they fly over or perch on trees. 

There’s no such thing as low maintenance gardening is there?

Thank you for all your diverse contributions to Landcare,

Rosemary

Mt Rogers news in mid-February 2022….mostly about Landcare activities

With the determined efforts of dozens of volunteers over the past 25 years Mount Rogers is relatively free of woody weeds such as privet, cotoneaster, firethorn, honeysuckle and hawthorn. Woody weeds come into the 65 hectare reserve as berries that birds have feasted on while in suburban gardens or the ACT’s green spaces on public land. Several infestations of Blackberry are constantly monitored. They and Chilean Needlegrass, Serrated Tussock and African Lovegrass attract assistance from TCCS* rangers and employed contractors.

Landcare volunteers at Mount Rogers are dispirited by the extent of weed growth due to the rains and the fact that the seeds of many species have germinated and grown after years of dormancy in the soil’s seedbanks. We are planning to continue the Bradley method of weeding where we work from the centre of each biodiverse section of the reserve cutting or  treating any species that are a threat to the biodiversity of the native plants and animals. https://www.aabr.org.au/learn/what-i-bush-regeneration/general-principles/the-bradley-method/  We also weed by concentrating on specific places, track sides and learning identifications by focusing on one weed species at a time.

Where the soil is damp most of these species pull out quite readily with steady but gentle effort with some species and especially Verbascum (also called Mullein) needing attention now. We cut the flowering heads off and bag them leaving the pulled, green stems and leaves to dry and then rot down and fertilise the soil. Later in the season we will dig out many rosettes of Verbascum leaves. The grey-green leaves are quite attractive and soft to touch.

The biodiversity in some sections of the reserve is an extraordinary contrast to the rest of the reserve even though the native wildflowers are often hidden by annual weeds and introduced grasses thriving on the rain events of the last nine months.

Grass species from other countries were brought to Australia in the days when few landholders or even “agriculture departments” understood the land and Australian soils and plants in the way Indigenous peoples did. They expected to succeed by transferring European farming methods to the very different landscapes of the ancient continent. The species were often introduced to fix specific problems such as erosion but without the insects and grazing animals that controlled plant numbers in their original regions, the new arrivals thrived to became invasive species that threatened the survival of native grasses and wildflowers.

The mowing operators have recently reached Mount Rogers again. They have an enormous job trying to keep up with the growth of African Lovegrass resulting from the regular rain events coming through the ACT. I expect it’s possible to find out from the ACT Government’s website how many hectares need mowing in the ACT but it’s many, many thousands. As you’ll have noticed, several different types of mowing machines are required.  I doubt if any are manufactured in Australia.

All through Sprummer individual Landcare volunteers have continued their observations, reporting and weeding efforts. St John’s Wort is a prime target because each plant can produce thousands of seeds and the plants also spread with sucker-like roots through the soil.

Ideally SJW, this very invasive species, needs to go to the tip to be deeply buried.

We have chosen to work on SJW now because, with the ground being still damp, the plants pull out with a determined, steady pull. Normally pulling causes the suckering roots to break off, a signal to the plant to respond by growing new plants from the broken root pieces.

The plants are more mature than those in photos with numerous capsules containing seeds maturing but not yet ready to be dispersed. There are several articles about SJW on ’the web’ one of which stated that one plant could produce 33,000 seeds. 

The seeds remain viable in the soil for 12 years which is why Mt Rogers has seen a rash of SJW patches through the reserve this sprummer in spite of the Landcare Group’s consistent action against the invasive species over a decade or two. 

Why work on only one weed? There are so many invasive species that have gone berserk with all the rain. We are concentrating on weeding near and outwards from Mt Rogers' best vegetation areas or on specific species that spread thousands of seeds. (Currently Thistles, Euphorbia, Fleabane, Verbascum, Mustard.) Ann has posted some photos in the new 'page' (right hand column of the screen) called
'2022 summer weeds gallery', on the blog site, mtrogerslandcare.blogspot.com 

Here is mustard, close up, 

and below is a view of the effects of mustard's yellow blooms on the Ginninderra Creek landscape beyond West Macgregor in 2020.

During a working bee on Monday 7^th February Phil and I pulled up hundreds of St John’s Wort plants whilst Steve D returned to Bridget’s to repeat spot-spray an infestation of African Lovegrass there as we worked north of Jacob Place. The Sunday 23^rd session saw three of us working on isolated plants north of the main carpark in Fraser. Ted walks daily with a wand to daub specific invasives as he comes across them. Each of our regular landcarers carries a pair of gloves whilst focussing on weed species they know as they walk on ’the hill’.

 The Mt Rogers Landcare Group has scheduled morning landcaring sessions twice a month:

1^st Monday and the 4^th Sunday. The meeting places vary according to the tasks that are prioritised each time.

As mentioned above our community members contribute numerous landcaring acts each time they are in the reserve. Observing nature, recording wildlife and plant species, welcoming newcomers, collecting rubbish when found, monitoring erosion run-offs, sharing enthusiasm for the reserve and its habitats.

Our group is one of over 25 energised communities determined to make a difference for wildlife, waterways and habitats in the Ngunawal land catchment area of Ginninderra Creek. The creek rises in Mulligans Flat making its way through its floodplain until water reaches the spectacular 40m waterfall in NSW at Parkwood, and the Murrumbidgee River beyond Macgregor. If you’d like a map of Ginninderra Catchment a new one was published in 2021.

The catchment’s Landcare and Parkcare groups come under the ‘umbrella’ of Ginninderra Catchment Group (GCG) based at Kippax. GCG provides ecological and land management advice and networking. We also have considerable operational and liaison support with other government agencies from *TCCS (Transport Canberra & City Services) volunteer co-ordinating staff.

There are other ways to contribute to nature’s health with volunteering opportunities through Frogwatch, Turtlewatch and Waterwatch. Their co-ordinators are also based at Kippax.

Contact the office by leaving a message on 6278 3309 or by emailing landcare@ginninderralandcare.org.au

 

Rosemary  10.02.22.

Convenor, Mt Rogers Landcare Group.

 6258 4724
or via the catchment group (as above: 6278 3309
or by emailing landcare@ginninderralandcare.org.au)

Mt Rogers working bees January and early February 2022

 Greetings to Mt Rogers’ carers’ community as, in theory, a new year of twice-monthly Landcare activities begins.

We meet on the fourth Sunday and first Monday of each month with some variations caused by public holidays.

Therefore Sunday 23rd January and Monday 7th February are the dates.

We’ll meet at the Wickens Place, Fraser carpark on Sunday 23rd for a physically distanced chat and then have a walk and weed. 

The seven day forecast suggests 27 degrees for next Sunday so if it’s like today a 9am start will be feasible rather than 08.30. 

We’ll be targeting specific herbaceous weeds in the quality grassy woodland area north of the carpark. We’ll be able to give identification clues on the day. There are some to pull up and most of them will  need their flower-heads cut off and bagged to prevent their thousands of seeds maturing and dispersing. We’ll be able to give identification clues on the day so no prior knowledge is needed….we’ve all learned on the job. 

The Landcare group has tools, bags, gaiters and some gloves but if you’d like to bring your own (preferably water-proof) gloves, that’s fine. 

You won’t be surprised to read that the weeds and grasses are tall and there’s plenty of pollen and dust around. 

If you don’t feel comfortable joining in at this stage that’s understandable and “no worries”.

If you find or feel that your life has “moved on” and you no longer want to be on the email list please let me know. 

There still seem to be plenty of people taking walks or cycling around the main path. 

Today I did come across one big kangaroo but he elected to unconcernedly hop off giving me a wide berth but there were also many bird calls and numerous butterflies. 

In recent weeks a contractor has sprayed St John’s Wort (shown in flower in the photo) for us. He has sprayed huge numbers of the weed near Ginninderra Creek at Latham. It’s the most obvious invasive species around at the moment. Seeds of SJW can lie dormant in the soil for decades.

If you park at “Wickens” the most obvious invasive there is African Love Grass. It’ll be our turn to have this mown again soon no doubt. 

Thank you,

Rosemary

6258 4724