Tag: ginger lilly

Working Bee – 24.08.2024

I had come to believe the weather was going to prevent any progress in bush regeneration on the weekend but it came good Saturday afternoon so I was able to make small bits of progress here and there.

I ended up staying at the top level and addressed a few things I often notice but always put to the bottom of the priority list. First I removed the bits of mist flower that popped up. It is good to tackle the mist flower at this time of year as it’s white flowers make it easy to spot. Unfortunately, for that reason, I know there is much more on the south bank between first and second falls.

I hacked away at the stands of palm grass and ginger lilly that just keep getting bigger. I dare not remove it in whole as the site would be vulnerable to erosion if deluge hit us. What would be better is to attempt to replace the stands with something native like native ginger or the like.

I also chopped out a lot of Monstera on the north bank. There is still a lot there but I removed it off the trees it was climbing up and started to clear it, starting from the underneath the canopy. I found what could be a decent track to access the creek from the upper level. It has always been covered by the monstera.

Finally, I spent time removing sections of the vine (name escapes me) which has been moving up the tree on the north bank, just besides the properties on Green Valley Rd. It can be seen in the photo below from a few weeks back. I have seen it climbing the tree slowly, killing young tree branches as it moves up. I did not poison the vine but instead, I manually removed sections of the vine from the bark. It was wrapped around the trunk quick thickly. I am hoping it will not take too long to die.

The vine climbing the tree in the background has been making it’s way up the trunk for many years.

Hopefully the weather will be more accommodating for bush regeneration next weekend.

Working Bee and inspection – 10.08.2024

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.


Stand of ginger lilly and palm grass
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


Creek course from top of second fall
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

South bank besides second falls
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.


Lower level from the top of second fall
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.
North side ledge at Second falls
Cabbage tree palm is looking good after some shading trees were removed from a nearby property.
Cabbage tree palm near site A
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.
Site A, behind 14 Green Valley Rd
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.
Hill above Site A
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.
What was bleeding heart forest
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
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 – at sane location but different species I believe
Unidentifed tree – pretty sure it is native but need confirmation
Unidentifed tree – pretty sure it is native but need confirmation – same species as shown previously but was previously taller
Blue berry ash I believe
Blue berry ash I believe
Mystery plant
Another unidentified species with dark shading along the veins of the leaf
Another unidentified species with dark shading along the veins of the leaf
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
Tree fern next to creek at rear of reserve is growing very quickly
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.

Working Bee – 10.03.2021

It was a productive day. After working on a small amount of palm grass before first fall, I decided to finally help out the gardia growing between the first and second falls. Gahnia(?) has been growing well but it is still having to compete with a lot of fishbone fern and some ginger lilly.

Here it is before trying to thin out the fishbone fern…

You can see in the image that the gahnia (the tall grass seen in the center of the image), is getting above the fishbone fern but it is not very numerous. As I started weeding the fishbone fern I found a lot more gahnia that was just too small to get to the light and hence were not looking very healthy.

After spending half an hour or so removing fishbone fern, the gahnia now has a lot more space to expand and young shoots should now be able to grow above the fern. The image below shows the spot after weeding. I tried to use some judgement as to how much I should remove. I would not want to allow erosion to take place. Fast flowing water can cover the area if there is heavy rain.

A hairy clarodendrum I walk past when going to site A is being attached by these guys…

It was a straight forward lantana and privet removal after this point. No photos to show because I was too tired afterwards. I starting an area requiring maintenance but then expanded on that to clear a good section under ‘Site A’.

One concern is a lot of plants showing a brown discolouration. I am hoping it has to do with the extra light coming through after a large gum was removed in a nearby residence but that does not seem to match. I noticed it on some bleeding hearts and most notably, on the giant tree fern along the creek after second falls. Hopefully it is not a big deal but it is a concern at present. Might need to ask the experts at lakemac landcare.