weeding – Dick's Creek Bush Regeneration

Working Bee – 17.11.2024

I was in the mood to tackle some lantana today but as always, priorities changed. As I walked past ‘site A’ I was disturbed by the density of privet. Lantana contributes but it is the privet that has taken hold at this location. I had previously cleared this area and for this reason, there is numerous young natives popping up. Sandpaper fig, bleeding heart, pittosporum and others are there but their life is hard when they are amongst this:

So I started removing the privet with the weed puller which I had luckily brought with me. While the privet is a big problem, I found it easier to deal with than in the past because most of it was still young and had not fully established itself. Another twelve months and it will be notably harder, I believe.

This is the first patch I cleared:

After lunch I moved along the track and tackled any privet I noticed. I finally got to the bank on the south side of Second fall… it was mostly just small privet.

Most of the privet gone but there is still a large privet tree which requires some climbing to get to

Past ‘Site A’, I found some natives amongst the fishbone fern so it was worth while to deal with that directly.

Young elderberry panax and pittosporum now free from fishbone fern

I decided it would be more efficient to move downhill and clear the privet from underneath. However, I found the ol’ fallen sandpaper fig to still be being harassed by privet and lantana so I spent the rest of the day at that spot. There is three or four poison peach trees in that location as well so I did my best to help those out.

After clearing privet and lantana from the sandpaper fig and the peach trees.

One of the poison peach trees is a good five meters tall now.

There is still more to do for the ol’ fallen sandpaper tree. I think I will start here next week.

Working Bee – 03.11.2024

Another productive working bee today. It’s been great to do bush regeneration lately. The ground gets regular soakings which makes removing plants like fishbone fern far easier and more effective as more of the roots are pulled up with the plant.

My focus is still on getting the tracks in better shape.

Monstera spreading along the boundary and climbing nearby trees

I started once again with the start of the track where the monstera has dominated for decades. I typically ignore this location but monstera is undeniably spreading and so needed some attention.

I have been clearing a bit of monstera and other exotics from this area each week. I don’t clear it completely as there are water dragons and land mullets that live in this area and I would not be surprised if they use the monstera as cover.

Monstera is relatively easy to control so it is still a low priority for now.

This guy loves to wait until I am right beside it before it takes off in a rush. Gets me almost every time! It was worst today as he was on a rock at eye level as I was moving past.

My daughter and I wanted to explore the ground under a nearby currawong nest as I had seen a Channel billed cuckoo near the nest and I was wondering if the currawong’s egg had been evicted. Unfortunately, the area under the nest was just too messy and boggy to search. On the way there and back though, I noticed more Gahnia and young pittosporums struggling against the fishbone fern. Hence, that turned into the next spot to work on. The image below shows my efforts.

After clearing the fishbone fern the pittosporum, Gahnia and false bracken can now be seen

This ‘track’ down the hill leads to the Gahnia. I want to avoid this situation as it is not obvious how people would walk through that Gahnia without causing too much damage.

So, to avoid this issue, I cleared the fishbone fern from between trees before the Gahnia. Now people will be able to walk onto the rocks at that level and will be able to cross the creek easily.

Doing this lead me to discover a new instance of a native grass (name?) I have seen near Second fall. I cleared around that, around the swamp lilly I found last week and around the native olive tree at the same location.

I was then able to use my newly created track to find my way down to Second fall and up the track towards Site A where I found more natives that needed freeing from fishbone fern. This is the track at present:

I was out of gas at this point but there is quite a bit to do at this location.This image shows (not clearly) many small sandpaper figs and a Clerodendrum that are struggling against the fishbone fern. This will be a priority for upcoming working bees.

A number of sandpaper figs starting growing after this area was previously cleared but since then, it is struggling against the fishbone fern.

Site A is also in a bad way. Not much can grow here until the fishbone fern makes way…

So much to do!

Working Bee – 13.10.2024

Another late afternoon working bee done and dusted.

Privet has been goading me for a few weeks now. There have been many privet trees that I can spot from the front of the reserve.

In the past I had been relying on manual removal or cutting trees to their base and then removing any regrowth that appeared over time. This, of course, relies on me being on site regularly to ‘tend’ to the regrowth. However, after seeing the amount of regrowth after a quite substantial leave of absence, I have begun to be more willing to use poison. I have been convinced there is no long term impacts from glyphosate and it either kills the plant or greatly hinders their growth.

This was my approach on Saturday. I cut the trees to their base and then applied glyphosate. I will be interested to see the results over the next few weeks or months.

There is still a lot more to do of the same type of work. I was able to get to most privet trees in the upper two levels but there are many more at the lower level. I will be trying to get to them this weekend as they are currently so easy to spot while they are flowering.

A few wins I noticed…

This young pittosporum was hiding behind a small but mature privet tree. I suspect it will take off now that it will be getting more sun. I have noticed that self seeded plants tend to do better than anything I plant. Case in point, the cheese trees in the background that I planted many years ago are still only a few metres tall.

Young pittosporum at the front of the reserve

This stand of soft water ferns on the cliff behind fern wall is going strong…

On the path between 2nd fall and site A, I found these Dianella sp. going strong. These were much taller than I had seen previously. Between 1 and 2 meters tall.

Dianella sp. standing their ground against a sea of fishbone fern

In this area there was also a lot of young Sandpaper figs, some Clerodendrums and various other natives. Still, they are in the minority…

On the downside, site A, which I was beginning to call ‘bleeding heart forest’ is back to being called ‘site A’ now that the bleeding hearts have all disappeared. I have no idea what happened…

In conclusion, a productive working bee with some pleasant discoveries.

Landcare – Working Bee – 21.09.2024

Between first and second falls, across from fern wall is a section covered in saw sedge (Gahnia sp. ).

Stand of saw sedge on north bank between first and second falls

I have been very happy with this section as I had previously thinned out the fishbone fern in the past and the sedge has gone strong since. Still, even from a distance I noticed the fishbone fern making a comeback and on closer inspection it was worse than I thought. The mature sedge is doing well but the fishbone fern was clearly dense enough to hinder new growth.

Fishbone fern is easy to remove but in this case I had to move relatively slowly as to not damage the sedge in the process. It ended up taking a few hours but I feel the result was worth it.

I was also able to maneuver the weed puller between the sedge to allow removal of a small privet tree which was growing from a stump.

Same area minus a bunch of fishbone fern

It is going to be interesting to watch this area over the next few months. Hopefully the sedge will beat the fishbone fern into those spots that are now free.

Working Bee – 14.09.2024

South side creek bank at the bottom of first fall

Another working bee completed last Saturday. I had mist flower going strong on the South bank after first falls. It is very easy to spot when it is flowering and unfortunately, it has been prolific.

Disappointingly, by the time I got to the area, I could see a lot of the flowers had gone to seed. Basically it means I will be faced with the same issue next year. Because mist flower tends to break off easily, it can be difficult to get enough of the plant to ensure it won’t grow back. I believe I got most of it at ground level but I have the problem of accessibility with the plants at the top of the cliff. The edge of the cliff is sloped at the top so it becomes risky trying to reach it from the top but the cliff is a bit too high to easily reach from the bottom. I have left the plants on the cliff for a time when I have some equipment to help reach that section.
In the same area I also removed the croften weed, fishbone fern, palm grass and any other unwanted species in the area. I also tried to poison the privet tree that is growing strong at that spot. I am writing this a week after the working bee and I don’t see any effects on the tree so I am beginning to think I went to easy on it.

It was disappointing to leave so much mist flower behind but it won’t be forgotten. It’s time is limited.

As a whole, this area is not doing too badly. Most of the ground is covered in native ferns and a number of trees have sprung up naturally and are going strong. There Bleeding hearts, sandpaper figs, and a red cedar all going strong.

Another positive note, the plants growing on the cliff face to the side of first falls is currently looking great.

There are a few sandpaper figs growing from the cliff face as well as a tree fern on an abundance of maiden hair fern. It all looks quite healthy at present.

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.

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.

Working Bee – 23.01.2022

Was able to get another 3 or so hours in this afternoon. I took the weedpuller down with me to help with some privet but in the end, I didn’t get to the section I intended to work on (nothing new there…).

Palm grass has been getting ignored for the last six months or so and it was showing. Multiple spots where it was getting far too healthy. So I tried the weedpuller out on the palm grass and surprisingly, it made easy work of it. I expect it depends on how soft the ground is but as it was, it made easy work of most of it (easier than a mattock at least). I dared not clear all of it in case it was holding the bank together but I did enough to keep the shade off the nearby cheese tree sapling.

I was disturbed to find the tree fern near first fall was in dire straights. I hope it makes it. It seems that removing the camphor laurel has just allowed too much light to reach it. Fingers crossed that it adjusts to having more light for a while.

Once again, I decided to help out the Gahnia by picking on the fishbone fern. Not removing all of the fishbone fern but rather, just thinning it out and breaking off any large fronds. It is a slow process but it seems to be working. I hope the area along the creek between first and second falls will end up being mostly Gahnia.

Another inspection at the top of 2nd falls shows the Swedish Ivy really taking off.

On the positive side, the area has a variety of desired species doing well

Including a first for Dick’s Creek, a Blueberry Ash.

I do need to address the Swedish Ivy issue but today I only got to the a couple of privet trees and some camphor laurels. A productive day though.

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:

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.

Working Bee – 12.09.2021

A quick session today. Actually classified as exercise rather than bush regeneration 🙂

Once again, just pushing back on lantana. I came across a large sandpaper fig tree that I had previously freed up from lantana. It had since then, fallen over but it continues to thrive. It had once again started to provide structure for the surrounding lantana. I removed the offending lantana and also bits of privet.

Sandpaper fig after I had cleared off the lantana.

I will need to come back to this spot as there is various promising saplings which need defending.

Here is a summary video I did of the site after clearing the fig.

Working Bee – 18.04.2021

It was a late start for Sunday’s working bee but it still turned out to be a productive day.

Mist flower is popping up again in numbers. Grrrr. I am not sure if that one will ever completely disappear. It seems fairly well established in the seedbank. Some of the plants grow in very difficult to access locations so they do not get removed as quickly as I would prefer.

One win I noticed on the weekend is the false bracken fern on the East bank after first fall. I had noticed a few struggling bracken ferns amongst the fishbone fern about twelve months ago. I cleared around those and they expanded and I cleared around that and it has expanded again. It appears the false bracken fern is very capable at taking on the fishbone fern. when it gets a chance.

Another win was a dead camphor laurel tree which the green team had dealt with in their last visit. A bunch of privet was also killed via glyphosate. I typically avoid using herbicides but then, I tend to end up with situations as seen at ‘Glen’s alley’ which has a troubling number of privet saplings and trees springing up.

Many privet saplings can be seen in the foreground

Cabbage tree palm and poison peach seen here will be crowded out by next year if privet is not held in check

In the adjacent areas, not yet cleared, privet and lantana dominate.

My original intention was to start on the area in the photo above but instead, I learned a large, dead, rotting tree had finally fallen. I had noticed it a long time ago and was amazed it was still standing given the amount of rot at the base. Finally it has come down.

Looking at the base of the tree, it boggles the mind how it was standing at all.

There was a lot of burnt pieces lying around. Hopefully from a fire long ago and not from someone doing anything silly.

It was once a very large tree. A substantial portion of it landed on the other side of the creek. Very lucky that it did not take out anything notable.

Rather than let the lantana close in on the vacated space, I thought I would open up the area for the nearby sandpaper fig trees which are sure to appreciate the extra light.

The privet tree holding my bag was previously scaffolding for lantana. I will still need to remove more from that tree.

Sandpaper fig on the left should now get much more light. I will be surprised if I don’t see some natives popping up here within the next 12 months.

This lantana pile looks larger than it is. I use the sea of lantana to keep the cleared lantana off the ground.

I have a long list of areas that need attention so I will need to get to work a bit earlier next week. That privet beckons me…