Australian Bush Life

Seaside Daisy - Erigeron karvinskianus. Pink and white flowers.

Seaside Daisy - Erigeron karvinskianus is a classic garden plant introduced from the America’s due to it’s pretty appearance. Seaside Daisy is actually becoming quite weedy as it can readily take up residence in native bushland areas where it can outcompete our indigenous plants.

Even though it is a weed it is still commonly sold at nurseries, markets, garage sales etc. Many of our environmental weeds, the ones that don’t get legally classified as “noxious” are increasingly becoming a problem for our local biodiversity as they can still be sold and traded.

So what can we do about this environmental problem? It is all in the hand of the buyer. If you don’t know about the plant – be aware, learn about the plant and choose carefully. It is safest to buy plants from local nurseries with knowledgeable staff (preferably local indigenous plant  nurseries) and to steer clear from buying plants from sources such as markets, garage sales or any large plant distributor like hardware chains that sell plants on the side.

If you have any Seaside Daisy - Erigeron karvinskianus planted in your garden or know anyone that has please consider to replace with a local native plant. This will help our local biodiversity prosper.

There is a really similar indigenous daisy that can easily replace the weedy one. So pull out Seaside Daisy and Plant in Cut-leaf Daisy – Brachyscome multifida. Just as beautiful and non-invasive to native bushland.

Quaking Grass - Briza maxima . Flowers.

This weedy grass, Quaking Grass – Briza maxima is really troublesome. It appears so pretty with it’s dangly little flowers and seeds. As with many weeds it would have been introduced as an ornamental grass due to it’s pretty features, but has the real ability to completely overtake an area and suppress competition particularly in the form of indigenous wildflowers and other indigenous grasses.

When we first arrived on our bush block almost 4 years ago Quaking Grass was one of our top weedy grasses and seriously threatening our indigenous plants and the overall quality of our bush block. As this grass is an annual, at first we didn’t notice it. But during the late winter we started to see many seedlings emerge and it wasn’t until spring when the flowers began to form that we were easily able to recognise it and decide on a plan to manage it.

Quaking Grass is actually a really easy plant to identify and also to remove by hand as it pulls out really easily. The main issue is that there can be quite large amounts of it which can seem daunting. So using the “Bradley” method for weed control we decided to weed from the good areas of indigenous bush with few weeds and then make our way out to the more weed infested areas.

This technique works well in a few ways as it gives you an inital good feeling because you can clear out the easier bits first and see the difference it makes to your good quality bush. Also by removing weeds from the good bush it allows it to recover and regenerate further increasing the ability of your bush to recover to it’s former healthy state. Once you get hooked on seeing the benefits then moving outwards to tackle the harder more weed infested areas does not seem as daunting.

Quaking Grass - Briza maxima. Outcompeting the "native bush" on a roadside.

One driving factor for us when we got really stuck into weeding out Quaking Grass was that by hand pulling you really get the chance to get down low and know you bush and it’s indigenous plants in minute detail. For instance on my first day of weeding out these grasses I started to open out the area and expose beautiful and delicate indigenous orchids and sundews. I felt great joy at giving them some space and light back and ensure their survival from the oppressing weed.

As with all weedy grasses it is best to get them when they are in flower as this makes them very easy to identify. Also it is best to remove the weed before it sets seed to get the best results. Quaking Grass is in full flower during spring but once the weather really warms up into summer the seeds form and set.

Being an annual, Quaking Grass suffered badly after the bushfire in 2009 (how sad!). The seeds in the ground were seriously affected and the following winter after the bushfire we had a greatly reduced amount of this grass returning. With this in mind we made a serious effort in this first year to avoid seeding and hence have pretty much been able to eliminate this weed and all of it’s seed bank from our bush block now.

As with all our weeds Quaking Grass is composted and re-used in our vegetable garden. Again to help reduce our weed load in our vegetable garden we try really hard to get weeds before they seed so that we don’t have too many popping up in the vegetable garden, but it is impossible to always achieve this. We do believe strongly in managing our weeds on-site to avoid spreading the weed problem elsewhere.

Spanish Heath - Erica lusitanica. Weed.

Spanish Heath – Erica lusitanica is a common weed in the area we live. Growing to bushes about a metre high it is often seen in bushland, peoples gardens and commonly on roadsides. We hadn’t seen this weed before on our bushblock but after the bushfire we noticed the first one so we quickly got to removing it.

Having it seen it around we were always on the lookout for it. The weed must have had seeds come onto our land most likely from birds as the nearest plants are at lease 500 – 1000 metres away. We made sure we quickly removed it before it finished flowering and set seeds. It is easily pulled out by hand when small, but can be cut or sawn off when a bit larger. removing this weed is the best way to avoid having to remove even more weeds from their offspring in the coming years.

Spanish Heath - Erica lusitanica. Flowers.

Prompt vigilance for weeds on our bush block is the best way we can ensure that we continue to have a healthy bushland environment filled with indigenous plants and supporting our local wildlife.

If you live in S-E Australia and you have this weed why not work on replacing it with our local heath the Common Heath – Epacris impressa.  The Common Heath is an indigenous plant and the state floral emblem of Victoria and a beautiful flowering plant for any garden or bush block.

Cape Weed. Juvenile rosette formation prior to flowering.

Cape Weed is a highly successful weed after a bushfire event – it returned in overwhelming levels with the rosettes that formed in the first recovery year being a metre across. It is comonly found in grazed paddocks particularly those which have had horses. Pigs are quite fond of it a local pig farmer has no Cape Weed on her block yet all her neighbours with horses have large amounts of this weed.

We are working with our neighbours (uphill) who have quite a bit of Cape Weed – Arctotheca calendula. This year we have noticed a few Cape Weed rosettes starting to grow on our bush block since May and at this stage have been able to hand pull these out. Hand pulling is the best technique amongst all the indigenous plants on our block and manageable. But we know that as a long term plan unless we can manage the weed levels next door Cape Weed will just re-infest our block paticularly as we are down hill as seeds can then travel by wind, water or by insects or other animals onto our block.

My neighbours have actually tried chemicals and mowing techniques but this is one tough weed that has a winning strategy for most eradication techniques. Mowing tends to cause the weed to flower really low to the ground below the mowers blade allowing it to flower and seed as usual. Chemical control can help to reduce the amount of flowering (and seeding) of Cape Weed, but unless other controls are used it is a struggle to completely eradicate it this way. The area infected by Cape Weed needs to be replaced by another species or other ground cover to really reduce the ability of this weed to take hold through competition – as Cape Weed loves bare ground.

Cape Weed reduction using carpets to cover the weed.

Some techniques used in permaculture have helped us, such as cover weeds with weeds and let them compete against each other. From this technique we have been most succesful using a covering technique. Simply covering weedy areas with old carpets we have found free on the hard waste or simply covering with black plastic, tin or anything else that will block out light (and water as best as possible). The earlier the covering rotation is started the better, from about May onwards. Once they flower around August it is all to late to have really successful reduction as they will seed.

No plants can survive without light, but we have found that our indigenous grassy plants such as Weeping Grass, Wallaby Grass, Flax Lillies (Dianella’s), Saw Sedge (Gahnia’s) and Mat Rushes (Lomandra) actually have the ability to bounce back if not covered for too long. Covering for about 3 weeks is enough to completely eliminate Cape Weed, but the indigenous plants although they may have turned yellow have tough roots and mostly have the ability to recover from this treatment.

Once the Cape Weed has died off it is important to replace the now bare soil as otherwise Cape Weed will just return. For instance our neighours would like to retain a grassy paddock for grazing but don’t want more weedy pasture grasses which are infesting their natural bush so have seeded bare areas (where Cape Weed was removed) with indigenous wallaby grasses and Weeping Grass. The seed collected from these indigenous grasses on their block whilst they seeded over the late summer months. They can mow and maintain these indigeous grasses as a lawn or for pasture for stock or fowl.

We also know that we won’t eliminate Cape Weed this year, but we now have a plan that is working and each year we hope to reduce the amount of infested area. We also know that we can’t give up as this will just give the Cape Weed the chance it needs to return to a thriving state.

Pre-bushfire. Weedy grasses in background.

Weeds after bushfire will bounce back with a vengenance. It is most important in the 6 months after a bushfire to allow yourself plenty of time to remove as many as you can before they come into seed again. It may seem like the last thing you want to do when you have other pressing issues like rebuilding sheds, fencing or homes but as they say “1 weeds seed saves 7 years weeds”. Yep it is true all the weed seeds have either burnt or germinated so what an opportunity!

Prior to the bushfire we had areas that were covered completely in weedy grasses. Mostly Panic Veldgrass – Erharta erecta and Sweet Vernal Grass – Anthoxanthum odoratum. We were hand weeding and covering them with

Post-bushfire. Sheds burnt but bush regenerated. 10 months after bushfire.

 old carpets or black plastic to kill them – we only cover weeds where no indigenous plants are present as this technique kills everything. Since the bushfire passed the bushland has regenerated in abundance – right image shows the same location as left image – believe it or not. We have had to work hard to remove the weedy grasses competing with the store of indigenous seed that have sprung back to life after the bushfire. Now 1 year on there is little chance of weedy grasses getting a hold on life.

To be able to do this successfully you will need to have a base understanding of which plants are weeds and which are indigenous plants (or natives you want to keep) prior to a bushfire event. In particular knowing what they look like growing up from seed as you will have huge numbers of seedlings to have to feel familiar with. So start to learn your plants and feel comfortable with knowing what is what – it can actually become quite addictive. After bushfire you will be thrown a curve ball as you will see all the plants you are familiar with plus loads of new indigenous plants and new weeds that have been hiding as seed.

Tips to weeding and undertaking this huge task:

• Try to get as many as possible before they set seed.
• Set a strategy weed out areas that have least weed so you can remove weeds quickly first.
• Only remove what you know is a weed. If you can’t ID it leave it and work on what you know.
• Make sure you have a good disposal technique particularly after they start seeding.
• Put in your council green waste bin or compost onsite.
• Only use your compost in areas where you can keep weeding easily (i.e. the vegie patch)
• Don’t give up – every bit you do will make a difference so celebrate what you have achieved.