Mystery plants – Dick's Creek Bush Regeneration

This is certainly the time of year for Bush regeneration. Good temperatures and soft soil make pulling out invasive weeds so much easier.

My intention was to get to the Bracken fern mound, close to the Sandpaper fig tree I cleared around last week. To do so though, I had to go through Site A and I really could not walk past it while it was in the state it was in.

While fishbone fern dominates this area, it is the privet that concerned me. Fishbone fern is easy to deal with while privet can develop deep roots which can result in a lot more work to remove them and they are well able to push out most other vegetation, especially when combined with lantana.

This is site A. It was once thick with lantana and then it was host to many bleeding heart trees. At present it has more fishbone fern than anything else.

This next photo shows site A after removing most of the privet and lantana along the back bank of site A. It is hard to see any improvement as there is still a wall of privet at the back of the area.

I did free some dianella of fishbone fern, seen here on the right, but for the most part, the fishbone fern has to wait for another day

I cleared site A of lantana and privet and then continued to do the same thing along the bank, past site A. The photo below is me looking back towards site A after finishing up for the day.

I was very happy to see this Poison peach tree (center of image) at the end of the day. I had seen this tree as a young sappling not long after doing some bush regen in the area. I would say it is now fully grown, standing around 5m tall. It joins my list of things to do as I see the lantana has started to encroach on it.

I was happy to find this poison peach tree at the end of the day.

There were a few mystery plants I came across during the day. One vine was identified by a facebook group. Mystery plant – Clematis aristata

Same thing next week, weather permitting.

Perfect weather to do some bush regeneration yesterday.
No rain but the ground has had a good soaking so the weeds couldn’t put up much of a fight when being pulled out.
From my last few visits, I knew a lot more work was required to recover from the neglect of the last few years.

First step: An action plan. I moved around the reserve and tried to list the sections that required attention.

This stand of ginger lilly and palm grass continues to grow. It needs to be controlled while a native such as native ginger is allowed planted and encouraged.

These Sydney golden wattles were planted only four or five years ago but currently appear to be struggling or dead.
Though it is hard to see in this photo, there around about eight Cheese trees which were planted a few years ago.
They appear healthy but are clearly failing to make progress against the heavy clay soil.
I still hold hope that some of them will find a way to expand their roots to allow more growth.
The grass needs to be removed or thinned to allow new growth to have a chance.

Cheese trees and Sydney golden wattle are struggling

First falls is going well. A tree fern and some sandpaper figs are now growing out of the cliff face.

Dick’s creek first fall. Showing the tree fern and sandpaper fig growing out of the cliff face.

On the south bank, besides first fall, there is some clean up to be done. Fishbone fern is starting to appear, croften weed is still popping up and the privet tree has bounced back.
Still, it is mostly in good nick. An hour or so of work should have this area back in good order.

South bank besides the bottom of first fall.

On the south bank, just before the Fern wall, a section of bank is soil rather than the usual rock.
Palm grass has taken hold and needs to be addressed. This is true for the entire creek. I imagine an entire day will need to be
devoted to removing palm grass.

South bank besides First and Second falls

As a whole though, the section of creek between first and second falls is not all bad.
A lot of endemic ferns are going well, the Gahnia on the north bank is more established than ever and most of the visible trees
are meant to be there. The issues are the palm grass, the swedish ivy and the fishbone fern. Each of these will take quite some time to address

Creek course between First and Second falls

South bank between first and second falls. Fern wall to the left of the image.

North bank between First and second falls

Fern wall, on the south bank between the first and second falls looks good but some bird nest ferns have gone ‘missing’.
We have had people steal bird nest ferns in the past and I suspect it has happened again. I can’t be sure until I locate previous images.
The ferns that are still there are going spectactular. The tree fern has shot up, as have other tree ferns at other locations.
Conditions must of been just right for this species.

Fern wall on south bank between first and second falls

Besides Fern wall though is the swedish ivy that is yet to be removed. Areas that have been done are still clear though so that is a good
sign that it can be fully removed.

South bank between first and second falls. Besides Fern wall

At the top of Second fall, things look mostly ok. There is still privot, palm grass and fishbone fern to address but
it is good to see the weeds have not jumped back quickly into this area.

Fishbone fern is once again dominating the ledge on the north side of Second fall.
Luckily, the natives have a longer reach than the fishbone fern so are still able to catch the light they need.

Cabbage tree palm is looking good after some shading trees were removed from a nearby property.

Site A is still clear of lantana but is now covered in fishbone fern. Disappointingly,
something laid waste to the stand of bleeding hearts which were growing here. There is still a few but most are now dead.

This bank has always been dominated by fishbone fern but it has currently taken it up a notch
now that it is getting so much more light with the removal of some large trees at the top of the bank.

Simlarly for the bank behind 16 Green Valley Rd.

Hill above site A upto 16 Green Valley Rd

This photo shows some of the bleeding hearts that have been pushed over. Hopefully more will grow
when the fishbone fern is removed.

From site A, looking towards the creek at the rear of the reserve, it appears as if privet has taken over. Hopefully it is
not as bad as it looks…

From site A, looking down to the rear of Dick’s creek reserve

There is a stretch of poisoned lantana at 16 Green Valley Rd. I am not sure what the purpose is.

Lantana behind the properties on Green valley Rd

This area is kept clear by the property owners above.

Hill leading up to properties on Green Valley Road

Fern trees along the back of the reserve look to be doing well. However, the lower storey is once again dominated by undesireables such as lantana and ginger lilly.

Fern trees along the read of Dick’s creek reserve

Lots of privet in this area towards the creek as well.

Cleared strip of land to the creek near rear of reserve

A stretch of land is kept clear down to the creek by the property owner above. The land to the side of this ‘alley’ is
infested with privet and lantana.

Lantana towards rear of reserve. Creek can be seen towards the bottom

I had previously cleared around a large sandpaper fig at this location. Lantana was once
again encroaching heavily on this tree and the area in general. I needed to clear the lantana just to get to the tree so I could start
clearing around it.

Lantana and privet encroaching on sandpaper fig that was previously freed

Around three or four years ago, the sandpaper fig tree had fallen over. It was disappointing at
the time but since then, the tree has continued to thrive and is still bearing fruit. This photo shows the roots have grown to accomodate
its new position.

Roots of fallen sandpaper fig have grown to accomodate its new position

At this point I had finally reached the base of the tree. My intention was to clear the area
around the tree so I could walk freely around it, but that ended up being too ambitious as some of the privet and tobacco trees were
too big to pull out by hand.

Fallen sandpaper fig with encroaching lantana and other invasives

This photo shows new shoots rising vertically while the main trunk is now more horizontal. It looks
like this tree will be around for many years to come yet.

Fallen sandpaper fig with encroaching lantana and other invasives. Despite falling about three years ago, it remains strong and is still producing fruit

One positive discovery was finding this poison peach tree. There were also some young sapling nearby.
I was able to free them from the lantana which was starting to get on top of it. It is about three metres tall.

This poison peach tree and some younger saplings was covered in lantana. It is about three metres in height

Wile it is not clear, this photo shows the sandpaper fig tree. I was able to walk around it
(rather than climb) by the time I had finished. Some large privets had to be left for another time. I was happy with the result.

This was the sandpaper fig tree after clearing around it. It still looks chaotic but by the end it was free of lantana and privet

This shows the ‘dent’ in the wall of privet. I am mindful that any clearing like this invites foot
traffic from the kids in the neighbourhood. It will pay to start at the center of the sea of lantana near here and work towards the edges for this reason.

The area I cleared to get to the sandpaper fig tree.

Near the creek at the end of the reserve has become infested with privet but there are still
some natives doing well. For example, this cabbage tree palm…

Looking towards rear of the reserve towards the creek. Mostly privet but still some natives struggle on

A wall of privet…

On the side of the cleared strip, privet dominates.

But amongst it…

Unidentifed vine next to cleared strip. Pretty sure it is native but need it identified

Unidentifed tree – pretty sure it is native but need confirmation

Unidentifed tree – pretty sure it is native but need confirmation (ignoring the lantana and privet)

Unidentifed tree – pretty sure it is native but need confirmation – at sane location but different species I believe

Unidentifed tree – pretty sure it is native but need confirmation – same species as shown previously but was previously taller

Another unidentified species with dark shading along the veins of the leaf

Tree fern next to creek at rear of reserve is growing very quickly

After this point I went along my usual route along the creek back to the track that leads to site A but it was so infested with lantana and the privet it was a battle to move and taking any photos was not really an option. It is going to take a lot of time to get it back to the state I had it at a few years back.

Category: Mystery plants

Working Bee – 17.08.2024

Mystery plant – Clematis aristata

Working Bee and inspection – 10.08.2024

Mystery plant No.5?