Australian Bush Life

Calystegia marginata - Forest Bindweed with flower.

Forest Bindweed – Calystegia marginata is an indigenous plant that forms climbing vines. It can also make a great groundcover plant as it will vigorously grow over the ground or climb up any plants if they are available. We had never seen this plant on our bush block prior to the bushfire. But there must have been a large seed bank in the soil that survived the bushfire as we now have a large area completely covered in Forest Bindweed.

Calystegia marginata - Forest Bindweed as ground cover plant.

This has been a very useful indigenous ground cover plant for us covering bare soil areas and helping us to reduce weed infestations. It has taken over an area on a steep bank that used to be full of weedy grasses. We hand pulled as many of these weedy grasses out as we could, but not much else would grow on this steep slope. The Forest Bindweed has climbed over the whole slope and thickly covered the area. It can also be easily trimmed back from areas where it becomes too vigorous.

Forest Bindweed – Calystegia marginata has beautiful little white flowers which are present for many months over spring and summer. It also makes great habitat cover for wildlife particularly small birds and reptiles and attracts insects to it’s pretty flowers.

Bush Rat - Rattus fuscipes. Volunteering trap and release program.

We spent the last weekend doing some volunteer work around Lake Mountain near Marysville. The area was severely burnt during the February 2009 bushfires and we joined up with some local Parks Victoria staff to set and bait “Elliot” traps amongst new growth of ground cover plants. The aim was to trap and release to see if we could find some of the rarer small mammals that were previously recorded in these mountain areas and see what had survived the devastating bushfire. We were particularly looking for a threatened species the Broad-toothed Rat - Masacomys fuscus.

Unfortunately on the day we helped out we didn’t find any Broad-toothed Rats but that doesn’t mean they aren’t out there! We did find lots of our native rat more commonly known as the Bush Rat – Rattus fuscipes. This Bush Rat is pretty cute, more softer looking than the introduced Brown and Black rats and have quite a different diet of native vegetation, fungi and insects - whereas the introduced ones eat pretty much anything and everything which can be devastating on the environment.

The native Bush Rat can be easily identified from a Brown or Black rat by the length of their tail, which is shorter than their body length. Brown and Black rats have tails longer than their body length.

We chose to volunteer our time to understand more about the local indigenous plants and wildlife in our local forest. Trapping animals gives us the chance to see animals that we may otherwise never see, as they are generally shy and nocturnal. The Bush Rat habitat relies on having good ground cover vegetation, habitat logs and leaf litter to provide food and shelter. Maybe this is why we also don’t see them on our bush block as many of our neighbours have cleared away their ground cover vegetation, habitat logs and leaf litter reducing the quality of their bush habitat.

Bush Rat in Elliot trap - ready for release.

As we live quite close to this mountain area and being a National Park (state government land) we believe that the land, forest and all it’s animals are the responsibility of all Victorians. It is really up to us to get involved, to find out what is out there and learn how we can continue to look after what we find.

Austrodanthonia pilosa - Velvet Wallaby-grass bush track edging.

Velvet Wallaby-grass - Austrodanthonia pilosa is the most common indigenous wallaby grass species found on our bush block. Wallaby grasses have a tufting base and distinctive fluffy seed heads. They are a very common grass with a number of species found across Australia. They respond well and are found in abundance after a bushfire.

Austrodanthonia pilosa - Velvet Wallaby-grass seed head.

We love the soft and flowing nature of our indigenous grasses and find that they make beautiful edging to the bush tracks that meader through our bush block. The wildlife love to graze on the indigenous grasses and many of the local parrots and ants eat the seeds that they produce. Wallaby grasses also work well as a biodiverse lawn alternative mixed in alongside another common indigenous grass, Weeping Grass – Microlaena stipoides. They can be left as a long flowing lawn or mowed. Mowing is best after seed has ripened and is ready to drop to ensure it continues to regenerate and form a good thick ground cover and avoid weed contamination.

Weeping Grass lawn. Microlaena stipoides.

We have a lawn area on our bush block that is using an indigenous grass called Weeping Grass – Microlaena stipoides. It is an extremely beautiful and soft grass that is lovely to sit on. We don’t mow it, but I have seen some neighbours who do and it can make quite a nice clipped lawn. We prefer to leave it long and let it be eaten down by the local wildlife like the Black Wallabies and Common Wombats.

All you have to do to get a thick ground covering of Weeping Grass – Microlaena stipoides is to either spread some local seed or if you already have some of this grass species then weed out any weedy competitors and it will thicken up naturally as it seeds prolifically. If you want to mow it just ensure that some of the seed matures (browns and starts falling off) before mowing to ensure that it reproduces. People often mow and cut all the unripened seed which is not sustainable for the species and will allow weeds to get back in. It also works well (and improves biodiversity) mixed in with other indigenous grasses particularly the wallaby grass species.

Microlaena stipoides - Weeping Grass seed heads with beautiful weeping appearance.

Probably not best for really high traffic lawn areas, but Weeping Grass – Microlaena stipoides is pretty tough and a much more sustainable lawn alternative. If used in it’s natural environment it won’t leave you with any of the weedy grass issues. Issues including completely taking over every bit of your garden! Non-native grasses that are commonly used for lawns such as Kikuyu are dreadful to remove if you change your mind (and you will likely change your mind), as the underground runners are almost impossible to eradicate.

We also had weedy grass problems with Quaking Grass – Briza maxima, Panic Veldgrass – Erharta erecta, Winter Grass – Poa annua and Sweet Vernal Grass – Anthoxanthum odoratum. But have almost eradicated these now through hand weeding and covering (suppression) and just enjoy our local indigenous and very beautiful grasses which have all returned in abundance since the bushfire.

Lawn free entertaining area with leaf litter ground cover.

We like a little grassy area to sit on around our home but have decided that having large areas of lawn is unsustainable.

Firstly maintaining a lawn is energy intensive, it uses lots of water and many people use a lot of fertilisers and other products to keep them soft and green. Lawns are typically a monoculture, 1 grass species and this is not a biodiverse habitat.  Then there is all the other energy needed to maintain it such as mowing, what a waste of time and energy mowing is! We have better things to do like growing vegetables than run around with some noisy machine which chews through fuel annoying us and that doesn’t even account for the impact of fuel on climate change.

Weed free bush track with indigenous grasses.

To avoid lawns we ensure that we have maintained the quality of indigenous bush plants on our bush block. Once the weeds are gone and the indigenous ground cover plants in place the bush looks after itself, minimal further energy required and the local wildlife love it. We maintain small trails through the bush purely by walking on them, the trampling effect maintains the trails. Leaf litter also helps cover the ground and keep the weeds away. We have set areas aside amongst our bush for human enjoyment, growing our vegetables and then we have partially paved areas and a small area of lawn (about 10m2) just next to our home.

We spend weekends through spring and summer watching and unfortunately listening to the noise of our neighbours mowing and whipper snippering away to keep their lawns beautiful while we are busy planting and harvesting our vegetables. We feel we get a much better value for our time and energy as we prepare our meals with organic vegetables from our own garden.

On our bush block we use indigenous grasses for lawns to minimise weed impacts on the indigenous bush plants and maintain paved areas around our home to minimise bushfire risk…

Bidgee-widgee. Acaena novae-zelandiae. With burr - seed head.

Bidgee-widgee – Acaena novae-zelandiae is a ground cover that many people would recognise due to the burr seed heads it produces after the pretty white flowers. Yep the ones that stick in your socks! Bidgee-widgee is an extremely good ground cover plant, spreading across the ground and covering bare soil areas and reducing potential weed invasion. It also readily returns after bushfire. We have even seen it being eaten by local wildlife particularly Black Wallabies – Wallabia bicolor, with the burrs sticking around their mouths while they eat them.

Bidgee-widgee. Acaena novae-zelandiae. Flower.

An important indigenous plant in bushland that can also be planted in garden beds, it will even trail down over the edge of beds forming pretty hanging trails. Also good in garden areas that aren’t readily walked over to avoid the burrs.

Roots of Bushtucker plant Foothill Yam-daisy. Microseris lanceolata. Murnong (Wurundjeri).

In addition to experimenting with eating Murnong or the Foothill Yam Daisy – Microseris lanceolata on the BBQ this summer we tried roasting it. This round we harvested in early March there is still the odd flower on the plant but it has really slowed down and this is supposed to be a good time to harvest it. The last harvest for the BBQ was a month ago.

Roast Murnong (Wurundjeri) - Foothill Yam-daisy. Microseris lanceolata.

We pulled out the largest Murnong we had and this was worthwhile as the root system was much bigger than the last round we tried, maybe an extra month in the ground had also allowed the Murnong to store more in its roots prior to winter coming. We simply cleaned the roots with water and then added them to our roast meal just like all the other vegetables. The texture great and taste again was quite delicious as it was roasted alongside sprigs of rosemary and onions.

Indigenous Ground Cover. Ivy-leaf Violets - Viola hederacea. A bush tucker plant.

For all the same reasons and similar to the indigenous ground cover plant Kidney-weed – Dichondra repens, Ivy-leaf Violet – Viola hederacea is a also great indigenous ground cover plant. Ivy-leaf Violet – Viola hederacea is drought tolerant and holds a lovely form, green foliage all year around. Pretty little mauve and white flowers are abundant and continue flowering for months over the spring and summer. Another great lawn alternative, for low foot traffic areas and a fantastic weed suppressor as it has 100% ground coverage aving no bare ground for weeds to take hold.

Viola hederacea. Ivy-leaf Violet flowers can be eaten raw as bushtucker.

The flowers are also edible bushtucker food, eaten raw can add color and interest to any salad. Harvest only some of the flowers to ensure the plant reproduces and to leave some for the wildlife too!

Ground Cover 1 year after bushfire. Kidney Weed - Dichondra repens.

Ground cover plants are so important for the health of our soil protecting it from excessive sunlight and erosion. Ground cover plants are particularly important in keeping bush blocks healthy with quality indigenous vegetation and stopping inundation by weeds. Weeds are opportunistic and love open soil spaces. Ground cover plants are also critical to the micro-habitat (food and shelter) for all the small wildlife species that are often the base of any food chain; the insects and other small reptiles, amphibians and birds.

Kidney-weed – Dichondra repens is particulary good indigenous ground cover plant that is drought tolerant and has a good cover and holds a nice form and lush green color. After the bushfire we had mass regeneration of Kidney-weed – Dichondra repens and successfully transplanted Kidney-weed – Dichondra repens into pots and also just moved it from one place to another in our garden area as we have had to manage building works on areas that were fire affected (mostly our retaining walls).

It grows quickly and takes up space protecting the soil, especially good after a disturbance like a bushfire or just when you are doing major garden works and need to cover bare soil quickly. It is a great alternative to lawns as it needs no mowing maintenance. Although it won’t take too much foot traffic, but is okay to be walked on sometimes.

Another similar and very beautiful indigenous ground cover plant is Ivy-leaf Violet – Viola hederacea.

Burchardia umbellata - Milkmaids after bushfire

More beautiful indigenous plants Milkmaids -  Burchardia umbellata and Early Nancies – Wurmbea dioica, that returned in huge numbers the spring after the bushfire event. All the indigenous plants, the lillies on our bush block are also

Wurmbea dioica - Early Nancies after bushfire

bushtucker plants. The underground tubers can be dug up after the flowering and fruiting season and eaten. Currently we don’t eat the lillies out of our indigenous bush as we are leaving them as habitat for wildlife, but in the future we may try to grow lillies in our bushtucker garden for eating purposes.