Australian Bush Life

Cut-leaf Daisy – Brachyscome multifida. Flowers.

The Cut-leaf Daisy “ Brachyscome multifida is a great garden feature plant. It has loads of pretty mauve-pink colored flowers which are present for a long time throughout spring and summer. This plant forms a dense mat and covers the ground thickly. It is perfect for use under trees, in rockeries (it can trail/overhang raised areas),  along path or step edgings and binds and holds well on embankments.

Being a local indigenous plant it is a fantastic ground cover plant that can support local biodiversity too. It’s abundant flowers provide nectar for a variety of insects and the plant itself is a great hiding place for small frogs and reptiles like garden skinks.

If you are interested in buying it for your garden try to source a local variety from a nursery that specialises in local indigenous and/or native plants.  This is a commonly sold garden plant and there are many nurseries that sell modifed versions of this plant. It is also the perfect plant to replace the weedy Seaside Daisy - Erigeron karvinskianus which is often found in many gardens.

Cut-leaf Daisy “ Brachyscome multifida. Ground cover plant.

Nurseries have readily cultivated the Cut-leaf Daisy using techniques such as hybridisation to select for features such as flower abundance, duration etc that will sell well. These modifed specimens particularly if planted near local bushland can reproduce and mix with the local varieties and potentially alter the local/indigenous varieties ability to survive in the local area. The local features are really best suited to the area as they have evolved over many years to cope with the local environment.

An example of a Fire Prevention Notice.

On Christmas Eve past our surprise present was a Bush Fire Prevention Notice in the mailbox. This is a strongly worded legal letter which outlines fuel reduction works that you must undertake on your property. It can be a little overwhelming as works must be completed within the specified time frame or they can be undertaken on your behalf and you can be left with the bill.

The Bush Fire Prevention notice really rattled us as we recieved the letter during the holiday period (Christmas Eve) and the works were required to be completed before January 2nd. What if we had been away and come home to our bush block slashed to less that 100mm? We would have been devastated – our indigenous plants are just recovering after the bushfire! Let alone been left with the bill to pay for the devastation.

While we understand the need to manage fuel loads to reduce the risk of bushfire for community safety, we did not move to our bushblock to turn it into a parkland. We can see the need to slash and maintain areas of weedy/pasture grasses or thickets of weeds such as blackberries as they do contain a high fuel load. But we only have indigenous bushland, maintain a cleared area and well watered vegetable gardens around our home, have a home with low risk of flammability and do not have any vegetation touching our home. Our home has actually just lived through the bushfire in 2009.

Some information that we have found out about Fire Prevention Notices since being served with one. As it is a legal document it is imperative that you act immediately before the deadline for completion of works specified in your letter.

• You have the right to oppose the Fire Prevention Notice if you have bushland that you want to protect
• Write an initial opposition letter in writing asking to work together with the fire prevention officer to come to an agreed management strategy, ask for more time if you need it and send it by certified mail
• Clearly outline how you already manage your property and bush to minimise the fire and fuel load risk
• Arm yourself with knowledge about your land such as knowing your local plants, animals and habitat that you want to protect
• Work with your local fire prevention officer to develop a mangement plan for your property if required
• You have the right to ask how and why the notice has been served to you
• You have the right to seek clarity on what specifically the letter requires you to do as we were very unsure with the ambiguous wording regarding what vegetation exactly was required for removal
• Try to contact someone in your local council who works in “environment” or with “indigenous vegetation” to gain advice as they may have a different angle to the fire prevention officer
• Contact your local Councillor or environment groups to ask for advice/support as required

By asking questions it appeared our notice was served on us without a fire prevention officer visiting our property and was purely on the request of a neighbour, which is allowed under the CFA Act 1958 – section 41. Our neighbour is looking to build and is hoping to build a home to a low Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) rating, which is cheaper.

This is obviously easier if we clear all the vegetation from our block as the fire threat is reduced to their block, but in no way are we stopping their building altogether. In fact we believe that if you live in a fire prone area then you need to build a house to a high BAL using quality materials and design so that the home has a higher level of surviving the bushfire event. Asking a neighbour to clear and maintain their vegetation is not a long term sustainable solution for building to a lower BAL rating and is really just a disaster waiting to happen.

An example of the legal wording in a Fire Prevention Notice.

We felt particularly that this letter did not take into account the fact that all our indigenous plants are currently recovering from a recent bushfire and that currently all plants are between 1 – 2 metres tall (whether grasses, shrubs or trees). Also the coucil have just recently installed a roadside conservation sign protecting indigenous vegetation right near where we were being asked to clear/reduce fuel to. Here is some of the ambiguous wording that we sought clarity over – in fact we still don’t really understand what these words mean and what exactly we were required to do.

• Cut all “grasses” to less than 100mm. We only have indigenous grasses and they are mixed in amongst all other types of native vegetation (forming a habitat) so difficult to single each grass out and cut them.
• Cut all “blackberries” and “weeds” to less than 100mm. We don’t have any weeds including blackberries.
• Cut all “undergrowth” to less than 100mm. We still do not understand what this means. This is a classic case of an ambiguous word and can be taken in so many different ways. All of which tend to lean to cut everything. Apparently undergrowth does not mean trees or shrubs, in which case we weren’t sure how we could single out indigenous grasses from the regenerating trees and shrubs that have sprung up since the bushfire.

Anyway in the long term our fire prevention notice was anulled, without even so much as a site visit – all sorted out over the phone. But the process was stressful so we hope that we have made this journey easier for others out there hoping to protect their indigenous bushland from being cut to extreme levels. We believe that the strong and legally worded letter scares many people into clearing their bushland unneccessarily and in an undesired manner. If you feel like us then this would be very upsetting clearing away your wildlife homes too.

Here are some councils who have online statements indicating that native grasses and low indigenous vegetation are not the fuel load and major bushfire threat they have been demonised to be. Weeds are far more risky!

www.goldenplains.vic.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/Fire_Prevention_Notice_FAQs.pdf

Why don’t you make the greenie with all the native grasses cut their block?
Native grasses generate about 1/10th the fuel load of introduced pasture grasses such as Phalaris and Wild Oats. This is why we encourage the retention and regeneration of native grasses. This can only be achieved if we allow them time to re-seed. Not doing so encourages introduced grasses which create a much greater fire risk.

www.melton.vic.gov.au/Page/Page.asp?Page_Id=170&h=1

Sparse low growing native vegetation is less of a fire hazard than dense, tall growing pasture grass and weeds.

Roadside Conservation Sign - No Mowing.

Since the bushfire in February 2009 we have worked with our local council to get a street roadside conservation sign installed. This sign says “Roadside Conservation Area. No Disturbance. No mowing.”

The sign is placed on council owned land on roadsides. This strip of land is contentious as neighbouring private land owners often tend to look after them by “tidying up”. In our area this usually means mowing with little regard for the quality of indigenous vegetation remaining on these strips of land. Tidying up of habitat logs and leaf litter is also very common.

Mowing tends to occur through the bushfire preparation season - spring and into summer. It amazes us to see mowing on these areas often all that is mowed are ground cover plants such as indigenous grasses and wildflowers. Which at this time of year are actually astonishingly beautiful whilst flowering and their low fuel load is a minimal fire risk. We just don’t understand this behaviour which additionally stops the wildflowers from seeding and setting up the next generation.

Roadside reserves are some of the best quality remaining vegetation which hosts a great number of different indigenous plant species – local biodiversity. These exact roadside reserves are often used by Landcare and other volunteer type groups who undertake revegetation works. As they can use them to collect seed to bring back the diversity lost in nearby areas where indigenous vegetation is lacking or completely lost.

Roadside Conservation Sign on Street.

We have tended our roadside reserve for over 4 years. Mostly all that is required is a couple of days a year hand weeding to keep it healthy. It is an important route for local wildlife. Mainly echidnas hike up this protected stretch as often it is difficult for them to access or cross nearby properties as they would have to negotiate fences and pets particularly dogs.

Since the bushfires these roadside reserves were put under increasingly threatening levels of activity. From many levels of government there was a massive clean up process of removing dead trees, habitat logs, slashing  etc. Many local landowners also took the liberty to clear these areas after such a major disaster as who was going to question their clearing behaviour when they had just lived through the bushfire.

In addition there are many new people moving onto blocks that were sold by residents who lost housing and often these new residents are unaware of local indigenous plants and wildlife. So hopefully our new Roadside Conservation street sign will help this little strip of nature hold it’s ground for at least a few more years, actually we hope that with a little weeding maintenance it might now be there for those who come after us to appreciate it’s natural beauty.

Do you live in an area where there is quality indigenous vegetation on a road reserve that is not protected? Why not call your local council and see if you can get a sign installed on your street?

Hardenbergia violacia or Purple Coral-pea. Natural wildlife food.

We have never seen so much Purple Coral-pea – Hardenbergia violacea as has been abounding on our bush block in the last 2 years with excessive re-growth triggered by the bushfire in 2009. This is one fire loving indigenous plant.

During spring we had masses of purple flowers trailing along the ground and creeping up small trees and shrubs. Since December these flowers have produced numerous pea pods which have been bursting with ripe seed to provide a bounty of food for local wildlife.

Hardenbergia violacia - Crimson Rosella eating seeds.

Although there are many smaller animals like ants which undoubtably harvest the seeds from the ground we most commonly see parrots feeding on the seed pods. Our most common parrots, King Parrots and Crimson Rosellas will come right down onto the ground to spend time opening the pods gorging on the hardy seeds within.

Hardenbergia violacea seeds eaten by King Parrots.

Any excess seeds that are not harvested for food by our local wildlife will remain hidden amongst the leaf litter and soil on our bush block. The tough seed coat protecting this seed bank until the next round of germination. This plant is a hardy native survivor, the tough seeds can even be protected through droughts or bushfire.

More natural wildlife foods…

More information and pictures of Purple Coral-pea – Hardenbergia violacea…

Painted Button-quail - Turnix varia. Recovering from shock in a quiet and dark place.

We recently had a Painted Button-quail, Turnix varia, crash into our windows. The bird hit hard and as it is quite a small bird this caused it to go into shock.

Whilst in this state of shock the quail was very vulnerable to any form of attack by a predator. Additionally the exposure to the cooler weather of the morning may increase the chance of death when in this state. As we have had another small bird - a Striated Pardalote crash into our windows before and die, we decided to pick the animal up and put it in a quiet space to let it recover from the shock. Click here for more information and tips on how to avoid birds striking your windows…

We placed the Painted Button-quail in a cardboard box on some clean rags for warmth, comfort and somewhere to hide. Closed the lid and just peeped in every 10 minutes to check it was going okay. After about half and hour the animal had perked back up. We could tell as it had become fully alert and was trying to get out of the box. This fiesty spirit is what it would need to survive in the bush. We were also able to give it a small drink of water and it drank another sign it was feeling a lot better. We released the bird in the exact location where we had found it and it immediately flew off to our relief.

Painted Button-quail - Turnix varia. Flew away immediately on release.

Like all quails the Painted Button-quail is a ground dwelling bird. It predominantly eats seeds and really enjoys the seeds of our indigenous grasses such as the Wallaby Grass, Kangaroo Grass and Weeping Grass. The indigenous grasses are also all tufting grasses and left un-mowed provide excellent habitat for birds like quails to hide amongst. We have noticed more quails than ever before after the recent bushfire as all our indigenous grasses have successfully regenerated in larger numbers than were originally found on our bushblock (pre-bushfire). The higher rainfall over the last year has also helped provide a bumper source of seed for the birds.

Another important habitat feature for ground dwelling birds such as quails to survive is to maintain a good ground cover of leaf litter, twigs and logs. This provides additional protection from predators particularly as quails build their nests on the ground. Without this ground cover and a good scattering of indigenous grasses it would be very difficult for quails to survive and breed and they would most likely become locally extinct in areas where these features are removed.

Feral predators particularly foxes and cats are also be a major threat to the Painted Button-quail. Additionally human activites can threaten quail survival such as straying pets (cats & dogs), and ”tidying up”; fuel reduction such as mowing & clearing up the leaf litter, twigs and logs. The “tidying up” of our bush particularly occurs and is promoted as a bushfire prevention method and is particularly disastrous to ground dwelling species that rely on these exact habitat features for their existence.

We choose to refrain from “tidying up”; mowing & clearing away the leaf litter, twigs and logs as we love to see these ground dwelling creatures survive. They are the reason we live on our bushblock and we refuse to turn our piece of paradise into a parkland with low biodiversity values just for the sake of a bushfire event that may or may not happen in the short or long term. This would be giving up on the wildlife that we get to live amongst every day for a single day that might not even be for another 30 years or more into the future (it was 48 years between the last 2 bushfires!). It would defeat all reason for living here in the bush amongst the wildlife.

What are your thoughts on “tidying up” as a bushfire prevention technique that can remove the exact habitat that the Painted Button-quail needs?

Kangaroo Grass as a garden feature plant

Kangaroo Grass - Themeda triandra seed in head.

Ever been looking for a beautiful tufting, non-invasive native grass with unique flower/seed heads to stand out in your garden. Well you can’t go past Kangaroo Grass as a great ground cover plant. This is one of our favorites it has a great tufting form and from spring to autumn georgeous flower/seed heads develop and tower above the grass gently swaying in the breeze.

This stunning grass is reasonably common and easy to identify once in flower/seed. We are encouraging it to grow where ever we can it works well in rock gardens and also along pathways. It can take a bit of foot traffic but we generally encourage it to grow along the sides of our walking tracks, fence lines or lawn area where it doesn’t get too much wear and tear.

Kangaroo Grass a Bush Tucker Plant

Kangaroo Grass - Themeda triandra flower/seed heads

Kangaroo Grass is also a bush tucker plant with the large grass seeds being edible. They can be ground to make a flour and were commonly mixed with water to make a damper cooked on the fire by Indigenous Australians. We haven’t tried this as it would require quite considerable effort to harvest and grind to get enough flour to make a damper of a size worth eating – but it is on our list to try in the future!

Why plant non-native and often weedy feature grasses in gardens when such stunning local grass species are readily available from nurseries?

Kangaroo Grass a wildlife food

Kangaroo Grass - Themeda triandra grassland

Like all indigenous plants the Kangaroo Grass provides food and habitat for wildlife. The large grass seeds are generally eaten once they hit the ground by insects like ants and also larger wildlife particularly seed eating birds like pigeons and quails. The indigenous grasses generally all have a tufting format which provides the perfect hiding spots for many of our native ground dwelling birds such as the Common Bronzewing pigeon and Painted Button-quail.

Kangaroo Grass after bushfire

Currently we are busy trying to build up numbers of this indigenous grass which recovered in greater numbers on our bush block after the bushfire in 2009. So instead of harvesting seeds for eating we are currently harvesting the seed and working on good techniques to grow the grass from seed for planting out. This process is a little tricky but we have had some success this year and have found out that Kangaroo Grass seed has an after ripening time. Which means that after the seed is picked (dropped) then it still needs to ripen over another 6 months or so. We ensured that we packaged the seed away over last winter and this spring – summer we have managed to sprout some Kangaroo Grass germinants.

Using GardenWatchCam we have captured video footage on a spring afternoon of our mudbrick home in the sunlight. The native bushland is full of indigenous plants regenerating about 18 months old after the February 2009 bushfires.

Click on the links for a product review of GardenWatchCam or to view the GardenWatchCam video footage of us planting out our “Nut Grove” in the afternoon.

Weeping Grass - Microlaena stipoides as hay or mulch.

We recently raked through our Weeping Grass – Microlaena stipoides lawn. The long dried out pieces were really loose and came free and in the end we had a great big pile of dried grass. We haven’t done this before but can immediately see the benefits.

We are going to use this as a hay around our fruit trees. It will help to retain water by acting as a mulch. It will also help to suppress any weeds and the beauty is that being an indigenous plant it won’t add to our weedy grass problem.

The use of hay or mulch that is  bought and brought onto a property may actually house new weeds and spread them to this new site. This was a big issue after the bushfire as many people had to import hay or mulch type products to feed animals or manage erosion. It is a very risky process for importing and spreading weeds as you can’t always be sure what extra surprises you might get. So we are looking at opportunities to have have weed free hay and mulch that we can use without the weedy worry.

Generally our grasses get eaten by our local wildlife. But since the bushfire we have had such excessive growth of all of our plants and with a reduction in wildlife since the event the plants have not recieved much browsing pressure. We have really cut back our plants hard this spring to couteract this and simulate browsing by wildlife.

Tall Sundew - Drosera peltata in bushland garden.

The sundews are such a beautiful and delicate little wildflower that we regularly see on our bush block. These indigenous plants grow to a maximum of 80cm they are generally visible through winter, spring and into summer and mostly disappear through the autumn as part of their annual lifecycle. They really thrived and were found in abundance after the bushfire, flowering the first spring, less than 6 months after the fire event.

They are so interesting as the sundews are carnivorous plants. They can catch small insects using their sticky leaves. The leaves are known as “lamina” due their different appearance looking like sticky tentacles which secrete a tempting sweet, but adhesive nectar to attract the insects. Once the lamina catch an insect the struggle triggers the lamina to wrap up and secrete enzymes to digest the prey.

Tall Sundew lamina. LHS trapping insect. RHS digesting insect.

When we first arrived on our bushblock and had some really threatening weeds particularly the weedy grasses these sundews were in the process of being squashed out of existence. Our heavy weed removal allowed these plants some clear space to return to their natural glory by removing the competition for light and space from the weedy grasses. They have sinced thrived and provide us with much joy when they return each year.

Tall Sundew - Drosera peltata flower.

The sundews are quite delicate and the beautiful flowers and shining lamina are really tempting for macro photography. But these plants can’t take heavy trampling so need to have some free undisturbed space to allow them to thrive. We generally only walk on set tracks through our bushland area only walking out to clear weeds, take photographs or look for new and exciting plant species that we haven’t found before.

Lemon Tree before the bushfire.

Having a lemon tree in the backyard is a really valuable tree for any sustainable garden. Lemons are such a useful fruit. There are a myriad of uses for lemons:

• Food recipes particularly Asian, South American / Mexican, Indian etc
• Drink recipes, cut slices in mixed drinks or added to water. Or made into lemonade or cordial.
• Cleaning, lemon being acidic can sterilise or be used as a bleach.
• Cleaning with lemons also is a great air freshener!

Lemon trees are an easy tree to grow and don’t require much water. Most trees will have fruit most of the year around so there really isn’t much need for preserving lemons for later use. But if keen any excess fruit can be frozen into lemon ice blocks and stored in the freezer. They are also a great give-away item to friends and neighbours if you have too many.

Lemon tree resprouting after bushfire.

Our lemon tree was burnt in the bushfire in February 2009. It had little epicormic shoots coming out from one side (where it was facing the house not the bush) where the bark didn’t get quite as burnt. The epicormic shoots regularly sprouted from about May to December during 2009, the first year after the bushfire. The epicormic shoots would grow for a few weeks and then once they reached about 10cm they just died off.

We weren’t sure our lemon tree would survive as there wasn’t much bark alive allowing the epicormic shoots to grow properly. But now 18 months on our lemon tree has rebounded from a single epicormic growth and has formed a 1 metre shrub with a hard stem. Although it hasn’t developed any flower buds yet we feel hopeful that this will happen within the next year.

A great recipe for lemons is a home made lemon butter.