In our older age we decided to upsize and subsequently we moved from St Kilda West to 10 acres at Merricks North, with a resolve to rehabilitate the areas of bush that had been overrun by invasive species. The property has two dams, one in the front and one at the rear. Our first project: the front dam was covered with non-native African water lilies. We chose to remove the lilies by hand, as a dam scrape would destroy the habitat of the frogs, tortoises and echidnas. The lily rhizomes are long, woody and gnarly and are anchored to the dam floor by fibrous roots. There was also a huge quantity of accumulated decaying debris on the dam floor which spontaneously erupted into a black mass on the surface, pushed up by gases, as we hauled out the rhizomes. It’s a never-ending job but less each year.
A second project was to identify the native grasses in the paddocks and to decrease the amount of horse grazing area to develop corridors for the kangaroos and eventually, maybe koalas. This is a work in progress and will be so for years! To develop a seed bank, we mowed an area about 20 metres square, covered it with weighted down black plastic (which will be reused each year). Once the grass/weeds have died and the area is weed free we intend to plant native grasses and add seed. If successful we will use this method to plant larger areas!
The native shrubs and trees, now about four years old, have enormously increased the tiny bird life. The blue fairy wren is a favourite. We chose not to have a dog or a cat but foxes and feral cats are pests. To try and accommodate our visiting kangaroos we chose to retain the 4-strand wire fencing that was originally here. Much of it needed replacing. Kangaroos can easily move through it, but the newer horse fencing is too high and rigid for example, to allow pregnant roos or small wallabies access or egress.
The lush peninsula grass is an annual danger, especially for our 11.2hh Welsh mare, Belvalo Dainty Lace. She is susceptible to laminitis and it’s ironic to see her and her Galloway mate, the chestnut Roy, in the stable yard during the day, just gazing wistfully at the grass in the next paddock. It is fun to ride through a mowed strip which runs through several paddocks, with the unmowed grass either side of us, almost up to Roy’s shoulder.
There is so much to learn and so much work to do but we are fortunate to live in such a beautiful area. One weed that is trying to establish itself locally is the prolific ragwort. It produces hundreds of seeds and is now visible along some peninsula roadsides. At a previous Landcare talk the speaker advised, when you see it, pull it out, wrap it up and put it in the bin. You will recognise its yellow flower head. It is establishing on the road verges, so its up to us to keep it from spreading. It’s our collective vigilance that will help retain some of our remnant bush flora and fauna
