Scouts spread mulch on top of dead Chilean Needle Grass in the reserve east of Rivett St.
Join the Friends of Mt Majura at this working party and help improve the grassy woodland along the drainage line close to the Hackett water tank.
We will place mulch on top of dead Chilean Needle Grass that has been previously treated with herbicide and tackle some garden escapes such as privets and other woody weeds.
Enjoy the friendly company of work mates, and see how the native shrubs and herbs grow that volunteers planted over the past years.
When: Sunday, 16th November from 9am to noon; give as much time as you can spare.
Where: Meet close to the water tank off Rivett / French Streets intersection, Hackett; view this map.
Young privets at the bottom of the gully. Each year volunteers remove hundreds of privets west of the Hackett water tank.
Bring and wear: Sun protection, long sleeves and pants, sturdy shoes and gloves if you have them.
We provide tools, equipment, some gloves, an introduction and a delicious cake for morning tea.
Inquiries: secretary@majura.org
You need no experience to attend this event.
Photos on this page by W.Pix.
Why the mulch?
Image of the same area shown in above photograph with the CNG mono-culture before treatment.
Chilean Needle Grass (CNG), Nassella neesiana is a Weed of National Significance, a declared pest plant and environmental weed with a risk rating “very high” in the ACT and NSW. It occurs in the grassy ecosystems where it out-competes indigenous species and can transform grassy woodlands into Chilean Needle Grass mono-cultures. It occurs mainly in areas with deep soil and a relative high availability of moisture at the lower mountain slopes particularly around nature reserve entry points, along tracks and behind backyards.
CNG is hard to manage. When it forms a mono-culture such as in parts of the reserve around the water tank and behind the Rivett Street backyards, herbicide treatment must be followed-up by other measures to suppress the germination from a vast seed bank stored in the soil. Initially FoMM worked on a small patch. After two rounds of herbicide treatment, the Friends including the Majura Mountain Scouts placed layers of mulch and planted and direct seeded local native ground cover to reduce the germination rate of CNG.
As we deemed the small trial to suppress new CNG growth successful we now extend our work along both sides of the drainage line.
Learn more about FoMM’s experiment to control Chilean Needle Grass: click here.
For further information of the drainage line project, visit https://majura.org/working-party-23-10-2022/
Images by Waltraud Pix
