Nearly one month on and I have been hard at work. As expected,
weeds have been a serious issue, and a lot of my job involves weed control. Mulch
had been used in the past to help suppress the germination of weeds, but it’s
been found that when the Yarra floods, the mulch gets washed away and is
scattered over the back paddock and into the bushland behind it. The new course
of action is mass planting! Once an area is looking reasonable, and I have
removed most of the weeds, I have been planting heavily in amongst the native
vegetation that is already there, in order to try and achieve a high coverage
of the soil in native plants: a sort of ‘living mulch’. Over the last few weeks
I have planted several hundred tube stock. A majority have been local grasses: Microlaena stipoides and Poa labilliardieri, as well a box of Lomandra longifolia, some semi aquatic
plants: Juncus usitatus and Persicaria decipiens, some herbaceous Lycopus australis, and some small to
medium shrubs with Gynatrix pulchella and
Melicytus dentatus. These have all
been purchased from V.I.N.C. (Victorian Indigenous Nursery Co-op), who source
them from growers in the local area: Fairfield, Kew, Ivanhoe, Merri Creek, etc. I highly recommend this nursery. they have good knowledge of local plants, and are happy to help with things like weed ID.
It has been a good time for planting, and we have been fortune with the
weather. The warm season seems to be hanging on, with a good amount of rain to
help the plants along. With a bit of luck, this extra vegetation will take hold
and reduce the need for future intensive intervening.
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| Victorian Indigenous Nursery Co-op, Yarra Bend Rd |
References
Gray, M, Knight, J 1993, Flora
of Melbourne, 2nd edn, Hyland House Publishing, South Melbourne.
Wigney, R 1994, Plants of
the Merri Merri, 2nd edn, Merri Creek Management Committee,
Northcote.
What an amazing garden so close to the city! It does raise a few questions though, due to the proximity to the water what is the soil like? Also is your client interested in having the re-veg area aesthetically pleasing with occasional floral displays, or happier creating an environment that replicates one that would of mos likely been there before human civilization?
ReplyDeleteThe soil is pretty heavy clay in a lot of areas, but there's some pretty good areas too. The main aim is to get the wetlands and bush areas pretty close to indigenous vegetation, but there's quite a large garden up near the house that has plenty of interesting native and exotic plants, with a lot of colour all year round.
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