Success Stories

 

South Morang – before and after

Dianella amoena Receptor Site 3

As it is commonly known, the Matted Flax Lily was growing along the new railway extension to South Morang, a developing suburb on Melbourne’s northern fringe. Being an endangered species listed under the EPBC Act, it was important that these protected plants be protected in a managed area.

The site had a cover of about 90% weeds. The rest consisted of two fenced areas containing Themeda triandra, and this is where most of the Matted Flax Lily has been planted. There were also some planted Poa Labillardieri (Common Tussock Grass). All native grasses were retained, the rest sprayed and cultivated for two years before being sown with a variety of native grass.

As can be seen the site was transformed from a weedy mess to a respectable grassy woodland, a fitting place for an endangered species. The site will need to be managed carefully in future to prevent the weeds from taking hold again.

 

 

Hume Batters 

Hume Batters

In 2005 Flora Victoria sowed the first of many bridge batters for Hume City Council. The objective was to find a relatively cheap low maintenance cover that looked acceptable to the public. Luckily the batters had been sprayed frequently enough to prevent the accumulation of weed seed, and long enough to almost exhaust the weed seed bank in the soil. This proved to be good site preparation for sowing native grass seed.

Native grass has been very successful on the batters, and we hope to incorporate indigenous wildflowers into future batters. We have sown over 20 batters for Hume City Council and they have become a feature along Pascoe Vale Rd.

 

 

Gordon O’Keeffe – before and after

Gordon O’Keeffe Reserve

In 2013 we were asked to sow 4.5 hectares of new parkland at Gordon O’Keeffe Reserve in Wyndham. The aim was to create a cover of perennial grass to prevent the turf areas becoming a dust bowl in summer in this low rainfall area.

A mix of our locally sourced Wallaby Grass seed was used. Unlike many other projects, mainly broadleaf weeds and one or two nasty grassy weeds were targeted making the goal of this project so much easier to reach.

Years later there is still a good cover of Wallaby Grass, and even though it browns off in the hot dry summers, it still covers and protects the soil, and it greens up and looks great for most of the year with no irrigation.