When: Sunday 21 November, 9am to 1pm
Where: Meet at the Hackett reservoir off Rivett and French Streets (click this map)
Bring: Sun protection, sturdy shoes, long sleeve and pants, and garden gloves.
We provide the tools and morning tea.
Enquiries: 6247 7515 or admin@majura.org
We will continue to hand remove weeds around the young eucalypts and mid-storey shrubs planted on National Tree Day and build wire netting guards to protect the vulnerable plants from damage by grazing. Enjoy a stroll and see how native plants reclaim sites that are cleared of weeds. Give a helping hand and as little or much time as you want – you can make a difference.
Paterson's Curse (Echium plantagineum)
Curse Bash
When: whenever it suits you before end of November by when the plants have lost their highly visible petals and start to seed.
Where: in and around the Majura paddock adjacent to the water reservoir off Rivett/French Streets; click this map to view the target sites. Bags are located at the parkCare notice board adjacent to the reservoir.
Paterson’s Curse is now flourishing and producing seeds. I call on volunteers to help hand pull and bag Curse at target sites within and around the Majura paddock adjacent to the water reservoir. Work in your own time whenever it suits you. We have started at the south-eastern part of the Majura paddock and work our way to the north. Use a bag located at the notice board and leave your bag filled with weeds close to a trail for pick-up. Please BYO gloves and wear good shoes.
Solid proof – Volunteers make a difference
Majura paddock 7 October 2007
Prior to 2002 the once native paddock was over-stocked with horses. Weeds were introduced with daily supplementary food. The weeds spread through the paddock and invaded adjacent nature reserve. Continuous grazing pressure from rabbits and kangaroos prevented natural regeneration of local plants after stock was removed.
Majura paddock 18 October 2010
The local ParkCare group Friends of Mt Majura sprang into action. From 2004 onwards they removed woody weeds. Starting in 2006 at the southern drainage line volunteers planted local mid-storey shrubs and trees. From 2007 onwards they tackled herbaceous weeds particularly horehound growing under the large eucalypts as well as Paterson’s Curse and Indian Hedge Mustard that covered the open area. In the past 2 years volunteers assisted Parks and Conservation to conduct a rabbit control program. In addition they collected and broadcasted local grass seeds. Over 200 people and the students, parents and teachers of the Hackett Blue Gum Community School volunteered to plant native trees and shrubs at the National Tree Days 2009 and 2010.
The restoration of the grassy woodland in this degraded paddock will take a long time however the hard work by volunteers made already a remarkable and visible difference.
Adopt a paddock tree
The old box and gum trees of the Majura paddock behind the water reservoir are magnificent. Even the dead trees provide shelter and protection for hollow breeding birds such as the Gang-Gang cockatoo. As a fallen log they support a wide range of insects such as beetles and provide foraging sites for many different animals.
In the past years volunteers of the Friends of Mount Majura removed large amounts of horehound under the tree canopy and around the big logs. We now observe some native ground cover plants such as Glycine, Geranium, Einadia, Bulbine Lily, and Sweet Hound’s Tongue reclaiming some of the sites. The weedy past however has left a legacy of seeds in the soil and we expect regrowth for the years to come.
Give the environment a helping hand and adopt a tree – living or dead, standing or fallen down. Keep the weeds at bay in the perimeter of the tree, care for the seedlings planted there and plant or direct seed local species. Work in your own time, get together as a family or a group of friends, have a picnic and watch how the surrounds of your tree is changing over time and attracting more wildlife.
Interested? Please contact the Friends of Mt Majura ParkCare coordinator at 62477515 or admin@majura.org to arrange an adoption.
Old hollow bearing trees at the Majura paddock such as this Brittle gum provide habitat for nesting birds and for mammals.
