Weather forecast was for a warm one so an earlier start to usual was the smart move. Apart from the heat, it was a perfect day to get some bush regeneration done.
I was strolling to the planned location when I walked past this section I had cleared previously at the big ol’ sandpaper fig.
What clearing right? Latana was already diving for that empty space. Natives were still doing well but it was clear they would be in battle soon. So slight detour, maintenance was in order.
I pushed back against the upper wall of lantana and cleared more privet at the entrance. There are small birds that use the lantana for nesting near this location so I could not push too far.
There was multiple poison peach and sandpaper saplings at this location so I feel it has been worth the effort so far.
After this short detour, I kept onto with the original plan of extending the clearing of invasives at the recent planting site.
As far as how the new plants are going… just great. I think it is 100% survival rate at present.
The only concern is the amount of invasive plants that have also popped up. Hence the benefits of surrounding the plantings with mulch but at this location, trying to get mulch into place would be a mammoth job.
I spent another few hours at this location and made good progress. I had brought the weed puller down to handle the larger privet that could still be pulled out. It really paid off. I think this photo shows the idea. There was also Cassia, Lantana, Ochna, Camphor laurel which had to come out.
I was happy with the results. There is about half a dozen poison peach trees of varying maturity in this section. Apart from the other usual suspects, I also noticed some white cedar here. It seems to be all paying off. Just need to put a stop to that regrowth around the new plants.
I expect next week to be more of the same…
