Native bush care

bushcare-group

Surrounding our raised beds is an area of bushland. Members are welcome to help out with the care of this area at any time by weeding.
We also need help planting native plants from time to time.

If you prefer to work with others and need help identifying weeds, the Saturday working bees are the time to come and learn.

You are also welcome to join the Bushcare group for Mort Bay Park run by Inner West Council. The group is supervised by the council’s biodiversity officer and meets on Thursdays at 9 am at the corner of Cameron and Church Streets.


Weeding

Weeding is an ongoing (=neverending) project and any help is appreciated – even the occasional 20 minutes. The most common weeds in the garden are: ehrharta, biden, fleabane, briza, cyperus eragrostis, kikuyu, pennisetum setaceum,  paspalum, ‘pigeon grass’, ‘oat grass’, ‘summer grass’, ‘couch’, ‘fishbone fern’, ‘whiskey grass’, ‘asthma weed’.

Weeds with no flower heads or seeds:

Remove the weeds and place them on the ground with roots free of soil and in the air. They can also be hung in trees, or placed on rocks or bushes. This may go against the grain for some tidy gardeners but they (the plants, not the gardeners) will soon die and help to build up the soil, suppress new weeds and keep in moisture.

Flowering and seeding weeds:

Collect these separately (there are reusable bags available for this purpose in the large shed). Then push the weeds well under the black plastic sheets at the far northern end of the garden (by the paling fence) so they have no chance of reproducing.


Planting native plants

Occasionally, planting of native shrubs and grasses is needed to fill up some degraded areas. These are provided by the Inner West Council nursery and are chosen, collected and planted out by garden members. All the plants propagated by the nursery are indigenous to the local area so need minimal care once established.

 

For more information or to join the Bushcare group contact us using the email form on the right