Working Bee – 23.11.2024

Today’s working bee was all about preparation for the new plants we will be picking up in the coming week (plant list).

At the top level, the grass stops most other plants from spreading or getting going. So that appears to be the best location for the smaller plants such as grasses and ground cover. I pulled out grass from various spots to make way:

Should be suitable for lomandra and/or some of the ground covers

I had planned on planting some of the trees at the rear section of the reserve so I headed there to find suitable spots. On my way to the desired spot, I walked down my old route which was informative. I had cleared this area previously and various trees took the opportunity to grow but lantana was once again reclaiming the area.

I remember saving a Clerodendrum tree in this area. At the time it was bent right over due to the weight of the lantana. Now it is prospering:

Clerodendrum I saved years ago and one of the first poison peach trees I discovered in the reserve

In front of it is also a poison peach tree which started growing not long after I cleared the area.

I took some film at this location as well…

After this spot, it got much worse. I was shocked by the condition of the bush. Lantana is back in a big way. I struggled to make my way through so I forgot about taking some photos. Along the creek, palm grass has also taken off.

There were some positives. Lots of sandpaper figs and other desirable plants but it is all under threat by lantana at present.

I will not be able to plant the trees in that location next weekend. I will have to keep some of the new trees in their pots until I can improve the condition of the area. It is going to take some time…

 

Site Inspection – 2022.11.13

Rain combined with family commitments has left Dick’s Creek bush regeneration on the back burner over the last few months. To prepare for a renewed effort, I did a quick site inspection on the 13th of November, 2022. Really just a quick walk around to see if any areas were pressing. It was a mixed bag…

At the top level, near Green Valley Rd, It was good to see Lomandra popping up in new places:

And the cheese trees planted towards the front all look healthy, even if they are growing soo slowly:

Sandpaper figs appear to be able to grow in the most unlikely of places. Here from the cliff at first falls (underneath the false bracken fern):

Also an example here, growing in the smallest patch of dirt that lies in the middle of the creek:

Still, the bank on the north side is dominated by invasive weeds. Apart from the obvious Ginger lilly seen in the image below, palm grass and mist flower have never given up trying to own this location.

At the bottom of First falls, on the south side, the bleeding hearts are going well. There is also a red cedar (I think) as can be seen in the middle of the image below. There are also other natives taking hold but unfortunately they are accompanied by wandering willy, crofton weed and many of the other weeds that are common throughout the reserve. Maintenance is definitely needed.

Here is the video of the same spot, saying the same stuff but showing off my lacking video editing skills:

Between the first and second falls, the Swedish Ivy has been loving the extra rain. I have tackled it previously and I find it is easy to remove but with so much of it, I am going to need to dedicate a day to get the bulk of it done:

It is not all bad though… Various natives are still hanging on as can be seen in this clip:

One sad finding was the loss of some sandpaper fig saplings that I had planted at a spot near the top of Second falls:

I had previously planted them at this location when there was a lot more soil on the bank. Ironically, the intention was to reduce erosion. Considering sandpaper fig’s ability to grow in the most unlikely of spots, I was thinking they would make it here. However, we had some big rain events since then and clearly this spot was not protected enough to stop them from being swept away. Who knows, maybe they found a spot further down stream…

After moving past the top of second falls, I had great difficulty moving through the bush. Tracks that were previously clear and easy to follow, no longer existed. It was the same picture however. A big mix of good and bad. My next working bees will be a mix of tackling the swedish Ivy on the west bank and the lantana that is still strong at the rear of the reserve.

 

Site Inspection – 2021.10.04

Not really a working bee on this day but I did remove some privet on the west side at the top 2nd fall and removed some fishbone fern on the East side.

This video shows the East side of the creek at the top of 2nd falls. It has a small native olive tree clinging to life by growing mostly horizontally from the cliff edge. It has always been forced out by the fishbone ferns growing from the edge.

Fishbone fern has an impressive ability to create its own root structure. It can end up in the most unlikely of places.
I partly removed the fishbone fern to hopefully encourage some other native flora and to hopefully aid the growth of the native olive tree.

Between ‘Site A’ and the creek, I often referred to as ‘Site A extension’. It has been around a year since I did that work and this video shows the progress at that location. There is a large pile of dead lantana which I want to remove somehow and there is some weeds that have popped back up but largely, it is pretty good. In particular, I liked seeing the hairy clerodendrum budding. I have never seen it flower before.

After taking that video I inspected the west bank of the creek. Under No.2’s property. I don’t normally go over the west bank as I decided quite a while ago to focus on the East side first. The west bank was a mixture of good and bad.  There are many natives so we can be confident that the seed bank is in good health. It will be a matter of removing the weeds. In particular, privet along the creek is dominating.

One interesting find was this staghorn fern:

Staghorn on a rock near ground level

It is the first one I had noticed on the reserve. There was also a large birdnest fern nearby which was good to see.

In summary, the west side is in mostly good condition but the privet will need to be treated. That won’t be as easy as it sounds because getting around was very difficult. Lots of barbwire vine and sizeable cliff edge along the bank makes traversing the area quite difficult.