FoMM Newsletter August 2013 (Newsletter_August 2013 pdf)
Working bee on August 18th, 2013
Tree walk on August 25th, 2013
Chilean Needle grass (CNG) ID Field trip
Report on National Tree Day 2013
Thank you to everyone who contributed to making National Tree Day 2013 a terrific success. You can see pictures of the event by clicking here. Around 200 volunteers arrived behind The Fair to help with this year’s plantings. For the second year in a row were we lucky to have Shane Rattenbury, Minister for TAMS to help Waltraud with her “how to plant” demonstration. Bec Palmer-Brodie, the Coordinator – Bush on the Boundary for the Conservation Council did a wonderful job managing the planning for the event and arranging publicity. One innovation this year was the chance for planting families to ‘adopt a tree’. After the seedling was planted they were given an adoption certificate and were encouraged to personalise the plant guard for their particular plant. You can see a certificate here an adopted plant guard here. We hope this will encourage people to come back to the site and provide “their” plant with some personal TLC! Once again the Majura Mountain Scouts did their usual, efficient job of providing a delicious BBQ for all the volunteers.
Reporters and camera-people from both the Canberra Times and local ABC spent a lot of time at the event and the result was great coverage on the local news on Sunday evening and a good spread in the Canberra Times on Monday.
I could not possibly list everyone who contributed to this event individually but I would like to mention the following organisations that gavesupport and help: the ACT Parks and Conservation Service, the Conservation Council ACT Region, Greening Australia, the Majura Mountain Scouts, the North Canberra Community Council, the Hackett Community Association, and Village Building Company.
August working bee, Sunday August 8th 2013: weed control at the NTD site
Join the Friends of Mount Majura working party at the National Tree Day planting area behind The Fair in North Watson. Activities will include the control of Paterson’s Curse and other herbaceous weeds around the young plants, direct seeding of native grass and maintenance of tree guards.
When: Sunday 18 August 2013, from 9am to 12.30 pm; come for an hour or the whole time.
Where: access nature park entrance intersection Tay Street and Ian Nicol Street, The Fair, North Watson, or Antill Street roughly opposite Carotel for a 5 minutes’ walk to the planting area; view this map.
Bring: Sun protection, sturdy shoes, long sleeve and pants and garden gloves if you have them.
Enquiries: click here Promote the working party – download this poster
Tree Walk on Mount Majura
Enjoy a gentle and informative walk on the slopes of Mount Majura with local plant ecologist Michael Doherty. Learn how to identify the key features of the main eucalypts, including scribbly gum, brittle gum, Blakely’s red gum, yellow box and apple box. Find out how the trees are distributed on the mountain and how they cope with fire and drought. Learn more about Eucalypts and Wattles
When: Sunday, 25 August 2013, 10.30am – 12.30pm
Where: meet at the nature park entrance Mackenzie and Grayson Sts, Hackett; click on this map
Bring: Sun protection and sturdy shoes
Pocket guides are available for a gold coin donation.
Enquiries phone 6248 8955 or email admin@majura.org or click here
Promote the walk – poster
Chilean Needle grass (CNG) ID Field trip
Steve Taylor, the Senior Weed Management Officer with Parks and Conservation, will be running a Chilean Needlegrass Identification Field Trip for Rangers and is happy for interested ParkCarers to join in too. Steve will run two sessions; the details are as follows:
When: Wednesday 7th August 2013, first session: 10.30am – 11.30am; second session: 1.00pm – 2.00pm
Where: meet close to the Scouts Branch Office, Kitchener St, Hughes; click on Google map
Enquiries: Jasmine Foxlee Email Jasmine.Foxlee@act.gov.au Phone 62057384
Chilean Needlegrass is a highly invasive grass that smothers native grasslands and pasture. It can be effectively controlled in winter with herbicide. In this photo it has smothered a native speargrass understorey. Chilean Needlegrass is a Weed of National Significance.
It is Chilean Needlegrass and Serrated Tussock spraying season. Both of these invasive grasses are declared Weeds of National Significance and occur on Mount Majura. They can be hard to identify without their seed heads. This field trip is to show you how to recognise the leaves in winter. It would be great if some FoMM volunteers could attend a session and improve their weed IDing skills.
Louisa
