Thanks for the comment Hyperbird, some good ideas in there for me to ponder on. I have thought of a pond and would love a ground level one, but here in Brisbane it would fill with cain toads in no time. Actualy that is all part of the build, how to keep the dam things out as much a s possible, but encourage lizards to come and go. My metal fence should keep the cats away, and I'll put a 500mm wide strip of tin along the top half of the 6ft wooden fence in hope the cats can't get traction to climb over. But ground level gaps are tricky.
Ants, ants, ants, I have actually had to get rid of about 15 green ant nests, and one nest of those big oranged bidies with black bottoms about 2cm long. Bull ants I think. My boy has an allergy to biting things like ants. But I do have some Golden Tailed Spiny ants which are plentiful. They look aggresive but don't seem to be capable of biting, well in my dealings anyway.
There should (may?) be a plant list up on the SGAP website (http://www.sgapqld.org.au/) soon I would think.
We usually try and get a list up in the week befoer the sale. First thing (9am) Saturday morning is always the best time for the most interesting stuff.
As far as your list of plants, I have listed YES/NO/MAYBE below
jason wrote:
Do you think at the sale I will find
Shrubs 3-4m
Myoporum montanum - Boobialla MAYBE
Jacksonia scoria - Dogwood MAYBE
Acacia falcata - Falcate Wattle YES
Ground Cover
Chrysocephalum apiculatum - Yellow Buttons YES
Eremophila debilis - Winter Apple MAYBE
Lomandra filiformis - Wattle Mat Rush NO/MAYBE
Themeda triandra - Kangaroo Grass MAYBE
Vines
Eustrephus latifolius - Wombat Berry YES
Hardenbergia violacea - Purple Coral Pea YES
Parsonia straminea - Twining Silkpod NO/MAYBE
I think according to the info I have regarding open forests and woodlands for my area, this is what I’ll start working with.
Wow, I'm feeling extremely privaleged here in the northern suburbs of Melbourne having access to 3 x excellent indigenous plant nurseries within a few minutes drive. Each of the nurseries also publish exhaustive plant lists and there is the brilliant reference book entitled "Flora of Melbourne" which provides detailed information and pictures on each of the indigenous plants!!
I applaud your tenacity Jason in trying to find out just what plants are indigenous to your area in the absence of all of the information I have access to and with your drive to plant indigenous plants over exotics. I must say that I used to be very one-eyed about that but have mellowed and now happily mix non-invasive natives with my indigenous plants. In many instances the local birds prefer the native alternative as it may provide more nectar, provide better cover or attract more insects for example than the local alternative and that's fine in the home garden. There is no need to turn every home garden into the local bush. However, when I revegetate areas of the local creek it definitely has to be 100% indigenous!! No compromise there!!!
I bought my house 4 years ago now and when I moved in it was fence to fence Kikuyu. Over that 4 years I've planted a fantastic selection of native and indigenous plants and have had the pleasure to watch the birdlife change from nearly 100% exotic species (Indian Mynahs, Collared doves and starlings) to now predominantly locals. The butcherbird follows me around the garden diving down onto the insects I disturb for a feast. A flock of crested pigeons fly in twice daily to bathe in my frog pond. The noisy miners, aggressive as they are, are comical hanging upside down in my dwarf Eucalypts as they clean the leaves of lerp. I could go on for hours, there is always action a'plenty in my garden now and all thanks to the layered planting of indigenous and non-invasive native plants. Oh it's worth mentioning that the local Sparrowhawk has now included my garden on his rounds too and regularly sends the collared doves scarpering as he looks for his next meal - what a delight!! My shrubs are still relatively small so the hope is that when they grow and the %ge of cover increases I'll start to get some more of the smaller birds visiting more regularly e.g. Eastern Spinebills, New Holland Honeyeaters, Thornbills, silvereyes, White plumed Honeyeaters... I can't wait!!!!!
That's a nice little story spiney. Good to read positive things like that. Pity there aren't more spineys. Imagine the northern suburbs of Melbourne if all residents were like you.
Yep Spiney I'm gald you are well seviced, and happy to hear it has worked out well for you. I too look forward to similar results. There will be nurseries around, and there will be lists, just it takes time to work it all out. This is an old interest for me, with a new hands on appraoch so it will take a bit to learn the detail. I'm just excited Spring is on the way. It does feel a bit like the race is on though to get my front yard and the creek planting started soon. Meeting tomorrow with the council.
Ithink it's been like the longest shed build ever, but I may just have my yard back in a couple of weeks. That will be an exciting weekend. A trailer load of plants looking for a new home, wish they were in now.
Nice work, spiney. I love your emphasis on indigenous plants.
Can I take a little issue with you on "no need to turn every home garden into the local bush"? Because we humans, in our infinite wisdom, have decided to decimate Australia's indigenous vegetation & replace much of it with exotics (not to mention houses, footpaths etc) surely there's a need for home gardens to be one place in which restoration of indigenous vegetation can occur. I'm of the view that every little bit counts.
Yes spring is on its way Jason and the birds here in Melbourne are starting to cast a cheeky eye over the straw mulch on my veggie patch!! Every year they make off with a haul at my expense for their nest building - cheeky little blighters. I don't mind one bit though, I'm just glad I can give them a helping hand.
A couple of weeks until you get your yard back and a trailer load of new plants definitely sounds like something to get excited about. I bet the local birds are also waiting with anticipation to see what fantastic plants you bring home for them to feed on, nest in and use to escape those neighbouring cats of yours!!
Woko, I thought you'd take issue with my comment, you do make me chuckle as you remind me of myself. I have to agree with your comments that we have caused such significant destruction to the indigenous flora throughout our urban areas (97% of our grassland has been destroyed here in Melbourne) and therefore the use of indigeneous plants in the home garden is a fantastic way of redressing even a small part of that imbalance. I suppose I was trying to take the guilt out of people choosing to use some non-invasive natives too in the home garden. So much work has been done in the past few years to select and breed incredible forms of Australian Plants that I challenge anyone to say that they can not have as much impact, if not more impact in the garden than some of those big blousy exotics that are generally useless to our wonderful fauna.
In my home garden I'm trialling the folowing natives: Grevillea 'Ruby Jewel', Correa 'Marians Marvel', Correa 'Pink Mist', Elaeocarpus 'Pink form', Eucalyptus 'Tucker Time Honey Pots' (to 6m), Eucalyptus gregsoniana (to 4m), Eucalyptus 'Euky dwarf' (to 7m), Grevillea 'Jelly baby', Callistemon 'Pink Champagne', Calistemon 'Sugar Candy', Anigozanthus 'Bush Fury', Anigozanthus 'Frosty Red' and a whole host of plants chosen for butterflies that also attract the insect eating small birds. My garden is awash with colour and activity year round and as I said before the number of different local bird species visiting is exploding as the garden matures.
It goes without saying that also about half of my garden is planted with indigenous plants which are especially important for the butterflies who only lay their eggs on a specific species or genus. I'd better leave it there for now - I could go on for ages!!!!!!
Love your passion, spiney. I fear that passion is something that's being bred out of us as we increasingly bury our noses in our antiseptic, stultifying, dehumanising smart phones.
Yes, if we must have non-indigenous species in our gardens then let them be non-invasive so that we can protect what little is left of our natural places. And we do get excitement from the beautiful flowers & foliage of the hybrid native plants that are being grown for commercial traffic. Few Australians, however, get the same or even greater level of excitement from developing an indigenous garden with all its attendant wildlife that has evolved in conjunction with the plants. This evolution is in itself something to be admired & wondered at. Perhaps one day we'll wake up when it's all gone.
Of course, we'll never replace exactly what we have vandalised, wrecked & destroyed but striving to replicate as closely as possible what once existed goes some way to recompense nature for what we have done. Not many of us yet see that as a responsibility we should bear as a result of our destructive ways.
hmmm got myself a little problem. Can't find any obviouse physical marks, but the fur seems a little saliva clumped around both sholders. Not sure if juvenile ring tails just drop dead, but time to bring out the ol trap me thinks. game on.
Thanks Woko. No results thus far. I have noticed however two other deciced ring tails in my travels reciently. All juveniles, all complete, just dead. I wonder if there is another cause.
I feel like I have failed on many fronts recently, didn't make it to the plant show unfortunately. Other things came up so lucky for me there is another show on Sept 5. No cats in the trap, and council are not playing ball with planting in the park. I do have a shed however so that allows me to clear the yard and tidy up. All in the fullness of time I guess.
Took myself off to the Rosewood show on the weekend to pick up some plants which was a bit of a failure. But came accross this beauty. Probably not Camira spec but within easy bird flight possibilities. Just could not go past a rare plant that needs a hand, so grabbed the last two.
That's exciting, Jason, being able to buy 2 rare plants, especially when they're local to Ipswich. Make sure you don't plant them within reach of a coal mine's dumpings.
There always seems to be so much to do & it can be frustrating not to achieve what you'd hoped to achieve. But protecting yourself so that you can achieve things another day is also important- as is not giving yourself a hard time when you don't get everything done at once!
Tim I am my own worst enemy, I should open my yap more but I was having one of those days I just didn't feel social. I even spotted my local Ipi Habbitate Garden reprsentive but didn't chat to her about what is going on with the creek saga.
I arrived with my list of local plants, and I don't know what I was expecting, but to find tables with loads of mixed plants bunched togther with little discription stumped me.
I guess small labels, little discription, mostly botantical named had a hack like me struggling. I also often found different types of odd bod plants behind the same named front rowers made it an arduous way of looking for a plant. I am a difficult customer as well. I was looking for locals only of a certain height and type, as I dont want a garden over 4m height, and is in flowers for most of the year in its various species. I have done my homework, well I think I have, but few seem to sell what the council says is local. And like I said if I opened my yap more it probably would have been a success for me. That is how I found the two I did, I feel very luck and happy to have found them.
Alphabetical would be good, but with so many growers there that is hard to make reality, as one should stand behind the plants they grow. I guess in short, I was expecting better discriptions of size, colours, fruit or flower, soil type etc; a bit like what a public commercial nursery does. It doesn't have to be per plant, but if they are grouped together than a sign with info would be great. Some of the sellers had done a good job of this so it's happening. I should learn my plants better too if I am going to be fussy. Or maybe find a broader list of local plants than what I have worked with, and I should get into propergartion as well.
But it's spring and I want an instant garden now. Whacking in trees makes me happy and what I like doing, all the abov is a slow growing secondry interest. I have some email address of Ipi growes so will send them an enquirie to see if they can help.
Getting to know plant names, especially scientific names, is a gradual process, jason. At least in my experience. No need to hurry. It'll happen, particularly when you mix with others who are clued up. Listen, learn from them & never give yourself a hard time if you make a mistake. You're in there swinging & that's by far the main thing.
I agree with that Woko for sure!! It's taken me 7 years or so to learn the scientific names of Melbourne's indigenous flora but with a passion, some persistence and some very rewarding voluntary work at my local indigenous nursery I can now recognise and name nearly all of the more common species. It is so incredible to go for bush walks now knowing what each of the plants are called. I also love to understand what roles each of the plants play in the ecological web so I've learn't which ones the birds rely on for food and shelter, which ones are host plants for our local beautiful butterflies, which ones provide shelter and food for Lizards and Amphibians. There's so much to learn it's addictive Jason so well done on starting on the journey and all I can say is keep going!! The pursuit of knowledge is an incredible thing and it brings so much joy!!
Thanks guys I will keep plodding, just have the western disease of wanting everything here and now. It's a science degree disguised as a hobby in reality. Working out how it fits together, what complements what, what doesn't and so on just like you say spiney. Woko always has me stretching my mind on how it works, or possible ways of working. Then there are the birds, the sounds, feather patterns, shapes.....I'm glad there are some pretty clued up people on here willing to share.
Plant guards are useful if there are rabbits or other herbivores around. They can also mark where a small plant is so that the council slasher doesn't give your plants a short back & sides. Of course, vandals delight in stealing or wrecking them so there's a market for a plant guard with a small electric pulse.
That is so sad, jason. That's the type of tree vandalism that happens here, regardless of whether there is a tree guard around it or not, and it always occurs on footpaths. I think teenagers are to blame for it here, or drunken angry people. The only thing I would suggest is to relocate it to a new position, somewhere where it is difficult to get to amongst other trees/plants. Even somewhere that you have trouble getting to it. Don't take the chance of leaving it there as it will surely die, or maybe it might die from having it's trunk snapped off at the base. This is a special tree, a tree determined to live but don't give up on it.
No, Woko, human vandals will do what they have done here as what jason has photographed.
I'm at Tenterfield, NSW. (Formerly known as "Hyperbirds".)
yes sad on many fronts. A little bit of love died inside today, and was replaced with the cold steely grey anger against humanity. I learned a lesson here, don't waste your time on public land. The council don't care, the occupants that live around me don't care, so why should I. The place will see me out. I will keep plodding on my garden behind the big fence, and the council slashers can take the fig back to ground zero as they mulch the litter.
I was just starting to think more about the idea of a mystery planter given the council wanted me to start in the pic below, but the yobs on foot, on motor bikes, on push bikes are just to thick around here to warrent it. Maybe in a few years when the ones interested in drugs, durries, alcohol and welfare are pushed out. Till then I'll use my time elsewhere.
Jason, I feel your pain and anger. I'm like that for most of the time with the people here. But if you give up now then you will be giving up on hope itself. With all the struggles I've been through my best advice to give you is, go dig up the Fig tree and take it home and put it in a pot and give it time to recover You obrained it, so it's YOUR plant. F*** everyone else. Take back what's yours. Take in what has happened and instead of getting angry (I know its hard not to get angry, believe me!) and just focus inward on yourself to try and figure out where the tree can grow where it won't be disturbed, vandalised or damaged in any way, shape or form by humans. Think, jason, think. Where can you put this tree so it can grow to be the beautiful and magnificent specimen that it should be? If not for yourself, do it for the tree.
I'm at Tenterfield, NSW. (Formerly known as "Hyperbirds".)
Well somedays I would not be surprised if I had Bi-pola. I don't think so but have been riding the wave up from feeling disillusioned with the world. Thanks for the words Hb.
My Fig is sprounting from the break at ground level. I have stood it up twice, and a stanger once, but Jonny dickhead keeps knocking the stick out. Seems I have a tree hater or a no progress lover in the hood. The break has sealed itself anyway, but its still getting what it needs through the last little bit of bark fibers left attaching the trunk to the roots, as it's still as green healthy looking as ever. The roots must be well established cause it's happy pushing on. Think I'll request a prison to go around it from the council though.
Have taken Woko's advice and started a stelph (well except for on here telling to the world) programme of random trees popping up on the fring of the land poisened by the council. I extend the existing poisoned line out a little, then plant in the old poisoned area, adding mulch to match existing to the new reclaimed land.
Also have a fence YAH!, well 85% of it. And have sourced several excellent hollow logs upto 3.5m long. Hopefully will get them into the garden in the next week or so then mulch it, finish the fence, and plant plant plant. Still need to do better with local plants though. I picked up some from the council but a few of them seem to be a hybrid of sorts, so might chuck them and keep searching.
Will get some pics up when the logs come. It's still a dog breakfast and not much to inspire at the moment.
Let's know how the phantom plantings progress, Jason. Mine are doing well along the roadside near our place. Interestingly, the competition they provide weeds has reduced significantly council's need to spray.
Another strategy I use is to collect seeds & broadcast them into degraded areas near species the same as the seeds but further out from the natural regeneration area. With a bit of luck my neighbour will have Golden Wattle Acacia pycnantha & Drooping She-oak Allocasuarina verticillata coming up on their degraded land. They'll compensate for those they destroyed on their roadside so that they could plant some tropical plants which are now dying.
Yeh will do Woko, I like that other approach. Didn't Mary Poppins once say you can never tell which way the wind blows.....
Putting forward the notion you can save council money in my case didn't seem to have them asking for more. Still I'm told they have gone back into a huddle to work out what their wholistic approach is on bushcare, who, and how it is going to happen. Maybe next spring will be different.
I mentioned in another thread I noticed Pale headed Rosellas in the hood when I first mover here. Well I thought it's about time I did something about trying to see more, a make some next boxes.
Quick scout on the forum for plans, and grab an old sheet of 19mm marine grade ply I had floating about.
Lop up some bits into the right size, and hey presto a couple of boxes, all within one beer. Well proabaly should have been 2 but I was in a bit of a hurry as the sun was going down. Quick caot of paint tomorrow and mount in position. That will be he fun part.
Nice ones, Jason. After you've positioned them check occasionally to ensure they haven't been invaded by ferals such as European Honey Bees, Starlings, House Sparrows or Indian Mynahs.
Thanks Woko. I think I am lucky here with no sign of those ferals you have mentioned, but will keep an eye out.
On the advice of a mate who works for Land for Wildlife I repositioned the mesh to the inside, so the chicks can use it to climb out when ready. Also down sized the hole from 90mm to 65. Figure possums are doing Ok, will give something else a chance for a bit. I also made from the same sheet a Kookaburra box today and cut three Microbat / Feathertail glider boxes. I have two more sheets so I'm pretty excited about the possibilities. Especially when I spied an owl the other night, just could not get a torch on it before it took flight. (EDIT: discovered it's a BooBook)
All not much good without more food source however.
I'm a little excited, found this little fela in the yard tonight. He was in the pool, but I popped him in the frog pond to become aware it's there. Can only hope. The plants around the pond are comming along but still don't think much will happen to next season.
Well I'm looking forward to next weekend. I picked these up today potentially saving them from being burnt for tiding up purposes. Think I will turn the big one on the right into a native bee hive. The rest will go to just lying around the garden for whatever finds a purpose for it. Do you think it's best to clean out the dirt the termites have made in the middle, or leave it. I can't find anymore termites in them so that's welcomed... Also had 10m of dirt deliverd to make some mounds in the front garden. Hope it's not getting to busy in beween these logs, the rock pile, and now some dirt mounds. Might squeeze in a pond too if it feels right. Bobcat arrives 7AM next Saturday, cant wait.
Leave the termite trash would be my recommendation, jason. The more natural the better. Besides, I'm confident you have more productive things to do with your time.
You could make many native bee hives out of those logs jason. If you need advice on construction, siting or tending of hives there is a good native bee forum on .
Thanks NP, just had a go at signing up but looks like I need a yahoo mail account. I already have enough emails, passwords, google this, and I could not be rats with Yahoo that.
If I cut that bigger log into 3rds that will give me 3 sections 400mm long. I will tin up or ply up the top and bottom and make some anchor points. The log has a fine split down it so that may be good for an entry point, but have seen an elbo off a garden sprinkler system do an adequate job. I have a three mates with native bees, and one of them has split a nest already so will chat to them whats the go. Good old google will no doubt help as well. I'll hang one in the park, one in the front, and one in the back yard or give it away.
Yes good luck jason. There is a lot to learn and you can find "how to" books as well as learn a lot from googling.
They really are amazing insects. I don't have any myself yet (its very expensive to buy a hive) but I have a box ready if I do manage to find some that need a home.
NP I'll keep you in mind. This mate who has european bees has sucessfuly split a native hive. He mentioned splitting it again just a couple weeks ago because the box he uses fills up rather quickly. I put my hand up for some which he didn't have a problem with. The other mate has similar boxes so it may be overflowing as well. The third mate has a trunk of a tree that was felled for a house site, that is where my idea came from.
Yes they do fill up quickly because they are so efficient at building their hive structures but as far as I know they don't "overflow". They just start over again, a continual renovation process that goes on, I believe, for decades. You will find a lot about these amazing insects with a bit of research and you will likely know more than your mates in a short time.
gee I'm excited, this dam work gig just keeps getting inthe way. Those 3 mates are getting a call today. Figue I'm going to cut that log into 4 giving me new log boxes 300mm high. Better rattle my dags as it would be good to get organised for this summer.
I remebered at my old house, there is a dead tree downthe back which I hoped a Scally Breasted Lorikeet would breed in, also had a termite nest I was hoping a Sacred Kingfisher would move into as there was one over the road. Nothing ever did unfortunately. But it also has a bee hive at head height. If your keen NP we can do a transfer into your box using the linked method above. The proprty is being bought and I'd say the new owner has no interest in the tree, and will be felled in the next 18 months. But he owes me some grace so will chuck that into the conditions that it stays untill then and I get the nest it when it comes down.
That sounds great jason. Very kind of you. I have read about the eduction method.
Perhaps I could drop the box off with you sometime. It is made to sit on a steel Y fence post (star picket) so I could leave a post and a conduit pipe as well.
I am on the Sunshine Coast but I am spending this weekend at Sufferers' Paradise, so I could drop it off sometime over the weekend, maybe Sunday pm. But at your convenience, whenever suits you. Perhaps you could PM me your address and I could leave the box out front somewhere?
It would be a tragedy if that dead tree came down, Jason. Is there some way of making the new owner aware of the high value of the tree so that he/ she is motivated to keep the tree?
Woko, this is where it all becomes very sad. We moved there 4 or so years ago. Almost imediately the neighbour cut down 31 mature Ironbarks using dare I say unregistered tree loppers before the Developement Application was lodged in the hope of making a fortune from future development.
Then Boral over the road sold out to a superannuation company who clreard a very large tract of land for a new industrial park. And the poor kingfisher's home went amongst others. So did a fairly rare tree, a large leafed spotted gum I think it was. This tree seeds every second year, and access was denied by Boral to some local seed collectors when it was in seed the year before. So down it came before it seeded again to my discust. I and my neighbour had a go at trying to save it, or have it relocated, but it was to hard to move the industrail park's offramp driveway 2 meters, and 3 to 400K was out of the question to relocate it. Funny how 2 dozen earth moving machines can be on site for 18 months and 400K is too much.
Anyway with the proposed upgrade of the Ipswich motorway, the earth moving tucks, dust, noise, and reality of never ending trucks my wife and I could no longer hang in there so we moved. It has played on my mind this bit of land. I have been thinking of, and we spoke last night about the possibilities for our lives if we kept the block. We would enter a bit of struggle street, well as much as it is in Aus without the sale, or we set up ourselves and children for an easier life with the sale. Kind of sucks being a tree hugger when your own fate and fortune is involved. But I'm in the sucker, hang onto it and we will make do camp. I can plant lots more trees, eventually fence it and perhaps have a little oasis in the middle of hell for what it's worth. Just need to convince the wife more.
It's hard to say, but what I can gather I would not hold much hope for the tree. No harm in trying though.
Now NP, I will send you a PM, but that sound good. I am going around next week to remove some ply from the kids play structure to make more nest boxes.
Ah, jason, conflicts & compromises are all part of the deal, as you're well aware. And there's only so much we can do as individuals unless we get together & staff the barricades.
One approach to the huge destruction wrought by developers & large extractive companies like Boral is to collect mature fruit from trees & shrubs before the plants are destroyed then gather the seed that comes from the fruit. Planting the seed in tubes at the appropriate time of year may well yield quite a number of plants which can then be put in the ground by phantom revegetators or even by revegetators who have the approval of relevant authorities to do so.
yes, conflicts and compromises. I dare say OH&S would have been the reason a bunch of seed collectors were not allowed on the premises. Beautiful looking big heathy specimen it was. Just sad no one could get to it. Even sader when 80 years is felled and turned into woodchip in less than 10 minutes. Actually the whole hood is under threat really. The little pocket of bush just North is almost gone making way for McSardine housing. Just up the road to the West, the old army barrocks went from forrest to woodchip in a couple weeks. That has to be a kilometer square. I have concernes for my new hood with housing commision, defence, and power companies all have ownership of the remaining bush.
zosterops, its easier to just get another beer. Go checkout your own patch and forget about it. With the tree over the road progress was stopped for maybe 4hrs. The local politician seemed powerless, and only seems to ever get involved in the 11th hour anyway. The development company produced its environment studies, and the overseeing ecologist botanist or whatever his title understood our concernes, but much money had been spent and we can't deviate now was basically the blurb. Also stating the tree was not that rare, as there were quite a few in northern NSW. Our point was well thats not SEQ or Brisbane. Like I said, easier to get another beer. This thing is in the tens of millions, up the road to the Nth will be similar, also land owned by Boral or was. The army barracks is big enough to be a State Gov bragg on jobs jobs jobs. Not sure whats going there, but its very sad to see dead straight lines newly drawn in the earth. One side dust and woodchip; the other a living eco system.
When Earth wreckers are in the ascendancy it does seem easier to get a beer & kick back. That's precisley what the Earth wreckers want us to do so that they can be left to their own nefarious devices. Why do you think there's so much dumbed down TV & other mindless pursuits to keep us non-occupied.
Concentrating on one's own patch is certainly one strategy for dealing with the dismay, disappointment & disillusionment that goes with the wholesale environmental vandalism that pervades our society. It enables us to focus on something we can get our teeth into & on which we can use our time productively. Advertising what we do in our own patches can also be a part of that strategy so that people can see what can be achieved &, perhaps, be inspired to go forth & do likewise.
Jason, is there nobody else in your "hood" who sees the world in a similar way to you? Or are all the hood's residents in a dopey fugue, commercialised & seduced by the pap crap offered in the media & modelled over their back fences? Is there nobody with whom you can join forces & try to make at least a dent in the ongoing slaughter of our precious natural environment? What about a local Landcare, bushcare or nature group who might be willing to take up the caring cudgels or have you decided that's not for you? It seems an horrific pity if you're the only one who gives a rat's armpit about the environment. However, I appreciate that there is such a thing as the loneliness of the long distance environmentalist. Finding like-minded people can be a challenge in itself.
Thanks for the comment Hyperbird, some good ideas in there for me to ponder on. I have thought of a pond and would love a ground level one, but here in Brisbane it would fill with cain toads in no time. Actualy that is all part of the build, how to keep the dam things out as much a s possible, but encourage lizards to come and go. My metal fence should keep the cats away, and I'll put a 500mm wide strip of tin along the top half of the 6ft wooden fence in hope the cats can't get traction to climb over. But ground level gaps are tricky.
Ants, ants, ants, I have actually had to get rid of about 15 green ant nests, and one nest of those big oranged bidies with black bottoms about 2cm long. Bull ants I think. My boy has an allergy to biting things like ants. But I do have some Golden Tailed Spiny ants which are plentiful. They look aggresive but don't seem to be capable of biting, well in my dealings anyway.
Ipswich Shire Eastern flanks
Hi Jason,
There should (may?) be a plant list up on the SGAP website (http://www.sgapqld.org.au/) soon I would think.
We usually try and get a list up in the week befoer the sale. First thing (9am) Saturday morning is always the best time for the most interesting stuff.
As far as your list of plants, I have listed YES/NO/MAYBE below
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
Good work Tim, thank you. Do you mind revealing what stall you are, or Pm me, or if you prefer to keep it as is than that is ok as well.
Ipswich Shire Eastern flanks
No worries, Jason.
My name is Tim McMaster. You can ask for me by name or my grower number is 38.
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
Wow, I'm feeling extremely privaleged here in the northern suburbs of Melbourne having access to 3 x excellent indigenous plant nurseries within a few minutes drive. Each of the nurseries also publish exhaustive plant lists and there is the brilliant reference book entitled "Flora of Melbourne" which provides detailed information and pictures on each of the indigenous plants!!
I applaud your tenacity Jason in trying to find out just what plants are indigenous to your area in the absence of all of the information I have access to and with your drive to plant indigenous plants over exotics. I must say that I used to be very one-eyed about that but have mellowed and now happily mix non-invasive natives with my indigenous plants. In many instances the local birds prefer the native alternative as it may provide more nectar, provide better cover or attract more insects for example than the local alternative and that's fine in the home garden. There is no need to turn every home garden into the local bush. However, when I revegetate areas of the local creek it definitely has to be 100% indigenous!! No compromise there!!!
I bought my house 4 years ago now and when I moved in it was fence to fence Kikuyu. Over that 4 years I've planted a fantastic selection of native and indigenous plants and have had the pleasure to watch the birdlife change from nearly 100% exotic species (Indian Mynahs, Collared doves and starlings) to now predominantly locals. The butcherbird follows me around the garden diving down onto the insects I disturb for a feast. A flock of crested pigeons fly in twice daily to bathe in my frog pond. The noisy miners, aggressive as they are, are comical hanging upside down in my dwarf Eucalypts as they clean the leaves of lerp. I could go on for hours, there is always action a'plenty in my garden now and all thanks to the layered planting of indigenous and non-invasive native plants. Oh it's worth mentioning that the local Sparrowhawk has now included my garden on his rounds too and regularly sends the collared doves scarpering as he looks for his next meal - what a delight!! My shrubs are still relatively small so the hope is that when they grow and the %ge of cover increases I'll start to get some more of the smaller birds visiting more regularly e.g. Eastern Spinebills, New Holland Honeyeaters, Thornbills, silvereyes, White plumed Honeyeaters... I can't wait!!!!!
That's a nice little story spiney. Good to read positive things like that. Pity there aren't more spineys. Imagine the northern suburbs of Melbourne if all residents were like you.
Yep Spiney I'm gald you are well seviced, and happy to hear it has worked out well for you. I too look forward to similar results. There will be nurseries around, and there will be lists, just it takes time to work it all out. This is an old interest for me, with a new hands on appraoch so it will take a bit to learn the detail. I'm just excited Spring is on the way. It does feel a bit like the race is on though to get my front yard and the creek planting started soon. Meeting tomorrow with the council.
Ithink it's been like the longest shed build ever, but I may just have my yard back in a couple of weeks. That will be an exciting weekend. A trailer load of plants looking for a new home, wish they were in now.
Ipswich Shire Eastern flanks
Nice work, spiney. I love your emphasis on indigenous plants.
Can I take a little issue with you on "no need to turn every home garden into the local bush"? Because we humans, in our infinite wisdom, have decided to decimate Australia's indigenous vegetation & replace much of it with exotics (not to mention houses, footpaths etc) surely there's a need for home gardens to be one place in which restoration of indigenous vegetation can occur. I'm of the view that every little bit counts.
Yes spring is on its way Jason and the birds here in Melbourne are starting to cast a cheeky eye over the straw mulch on my veggie patch!! Every year they make off with a haul at my expense for their nest building - cheeky little blighters. I don't mind one bit though, I'm just glad I can give them a helping hand.
A couple of weeks until you get your yard back and a trailer load of new plants definitely sounds like something to get excited about. I bet the local birds are also waiting with anticipation to see what fantastic plants you bring home for them to feed on, nest in and use to escape those neighbouring cats of yours!!
Woko, I thought you'd take issue with my comment, you do make me chuckle as you remind me of myself. I have to agree with your comments that we have caused such significant destruction to the indigenous flora throughout our urban areas (97% of our grassland has been destroyed here in Melbourne) and therefore the use of indigeneous plants in the home garden is a fantastic way of redressing even a small part of that imbalance. I suppose I was trying to take the guilt out of people choosing to use some non-invasive natives too in the home garden. So much work has been done in the past few years to select and breed incredible forms of Australian Plants that I challenge anyone to say that they can not have as much impact, if not more impact in the garden than some of those big blousy exotics that are generally useless to our wonderful fauna.
In my home garden I'm trialling the folowing natives: Grevillea 'Ruby Jewel', Correa 'Marians Marvel', Correa 'Pink Mist', Elaeocarpus 'Pink form', Eucalyptus 'Tucker Time Honey Pots' (to 6m), Eucalyptus gregsoniana (to 4m), Eucalyptus 'Euky dwarf' (to 7m), Grevillea 'Jelly baby', Callistemon 'Pink Champagne', Calistemon 'Sugar Candy', Anigozanthus 'Bush Fury', Anigozanthus 'Frosty Red' and a whole host of plants chosen for butterflies that also attract the insect eating small birds. My garden is awash with colour and activity year round and as I said before the number of different local bird species visiting is exploding as the garden matures.
It goes without saying that also about half of my garden is planted with indigenous plants which are especially important for the butterflies who only lay their eggs on a specific species or genus. I'd better leave it there for now - I could go on for ages!!!!!!
Love your passion, spiney. I fear that passion is something that's being bred out of us as we increasingly bury our noses in our antiseptic, stultifying, dehumanising smart phones.
Yes, if we must have non-indigenous species in our gardens then let them be non-invasive so that we can protect what little is left of our natural places. And we do get excitement from the beautiful flowers & foliage of the hybrid native plants that are being grown for commercial traffic. Few Australians, however, get the same or even greater level of excitement from developing an indigenous garden with all its attendant wildlife that has evolved in conjunction with the plants. This evolution is in itself something to be admired & wondered at. Perhaps one day we'll wake up when it's all gone.
Of course, we'll never replace exactly what we have vandalised, wrecked & destroyed but striving to replicate as closely as possible what once existed goes some way to recompense nature for what we have done. Not many of us yet see that as a responsibility we should bear as a result of our destructive ways.
hmmm got myself a little problem. Can't find any obviouse physical marks, but the fur seems a little saliva clumped around both sholders. Not sure if juvenile ring tails just drop dead, but time to bring out the ol trap me thinks. game on.
Ipswich Shire Eastern flanks
May you win, jason.
Thanks Woko. No results thus far. I have noticed however two other deciced ring tails in my travels reciently. All juveniles, all complete, just dead. I wonder if there is another cause.
I feel like I have failed on many fronts recently, didn't make it to the plant show unfortunately. Other things came up so lucky for me there is another show on Sept 5. No cats in the trap, and council are not playing ball with planting in the park. I do have a shed however so that allows me to clear the yard and tidy up. All in the fullness of time I guess.
Ipswich Shire Eastern flanks
Took myself off to the Rosewood show on the weekend to pick up some plants which was a bit of a failure. But came accross this beauty. Probably not Camira spec but within easy bird flight possibilities. Just could not go past a rare plant that needs a hand, so grabbed the last two.
Lloyds Native Olive. http://www.sgapqld.org.au/articles/article20.html
Ipswich Shire Eastern flanks
That's exciting, Jason, being able to buy 2 rare plants, especially when they're local to Ipswich. Make sure you don't plant them within reach of a coal mine's dumpings.
There always seems to be so much to do & it can be frustrating not to achieve what you'd hoped to achieve. But protecting yourself so that you can achieve things another day is also important- as is not giving yourself a hard time when you don't get everything done at once!
Sorry I missed catching up with you there, Jason - though it could have been during that hour or so I spent asleep on my chair in the corner :)
And sorry to hear that it was a bit of a failure.
What didn't work for you? Was it the range/type of plants? Detail about what is local to the area?
In particular, is there anything we (as SGAP/NPQ) could do better?
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
Tim I am my own worst enemy, I should open my yap more but I was having one of those days I just didn't feel social. I even spotted my local Ipi Habbitate Garden reprsentive but didn't chat to her about what is going on with the creek saga.
I arrived with my list of local plants, and I don't know what I was expecting, but to find tables with loads of mixed plants bunched togther with little discription stumped me.
I guess small labels, little discription, mostly botantical named had a hack like me struggling. I also often found different types of odd bod plants behind the same named front rowers made it an arduous way of looking for a plant. I am a difficult customer as well. I was looking for locals only of a certain height and type, as I dont want a garden over 4m height, and is in flowers for most of the year in its various species. I have done my homework, well I think I have, but few seem to sell what the council says is local. And like I said if I opened my yap more it probably would have been a success for me. That is how I found the two I did, I feel very luck and happy to have found them.
Alphabetical would be good, but with so many growers there that is hard to make reality, as one should stand behind the plants they grow. I guess in short, I was expecting better discriptions of size, colours, fruit or flower, soil type etc; a bit like what a public commercial nursery does. It doesn't have to be per plant, but if they are grouped together than a sign with info would be great. Some of the sellers had done a good job of this so it's happening. I should learn my plants better too if I am going to be fussy. Or maybe find a broader list of local plants than what I have worked with, and I should get into propergartion as well.
But it's spring and I want an instant garden now. Whacking in trees makes me happy and what I like doing, all the abov is a slow growing secondry interest. I have some email address of Ipi growes so will send them an enquirie to see if they can help.
Ipswich Shire Eastern flanks
Getting to know plant names, especially scientific names, is a gradual process, jason. At least in my experience. No need to hurry. It'll happen, particularly when you mix with others who are clued up. Listen, learn from them & never give yourself a hard time if you make a mistake. You're in there swinging & that's by far the main thing.
I agree with that Woko for sure!! It's taken me 7 years or so to learn the scientific names of Melbourne's indigenous flora but with a passion, some persistence and some very rewarding voluntary work at my local indigenous nursery I can now recognise and name nearly all of the more common species. It is so incredible to go for bush walks now knowing what each of the plants are called. I also love to understand what roles each of the plants play in the ecological web so I've learn't which ones the birds rely on for food and shelter, which ones are host plants for our local beautiful butterflies, which ones provide shelter and food for Lizards and Amphibians. There's so much to learn it's addictive Jason so well done on starting on the journey and all I can say is keep going!! The pursuit of knowledge is an incredible thing and it brings so much joy!!
Thanks guys I will keep plodding, just have the western disease of wanting everything here and now. It's a science degree disguised as a hobby in reality. Working out how it fits together, what complements what, what doesn't and so on just like you say spiney. Woko always has me stretching my mind on how it works, or possible ways of working. Then there are the birds, the sounds, feather patterns, shapes.....I'm glad there are some pretty clued up people on here willing to share.
Ipswich Shire Eastern flanks
Just love that passion for learning!!
Woko, I am learning.......that the world is a vanpire
I guess I should have put a prison around it like the councillor suggested.
Ipswich Shire Eastern flanks
Plant guards are useful if there are rabbits or other herbivores around. They can also mark where a small plant is so that the council slasher doesn't give your plants a short back & sides. Of course, vandals delight in stealing or wrecking them so there's a market for a plant guard with a small electric pulse.
That is so sad, jason. That's the type of tree vandalism that happens here, regardless of whether there is a tree guard around it or not, and it always occurs on footpaths. I think teenagers are to blame for it here, or drunken angry people. The only thing I would suggest is to relocate it to a new position, somewhere where it is difficult to get to amongst other trees/plants. Even somewhere that you have trouble getting to it. Don't take the chance of leaving it there as it will surely die, or maybe it might die from having it's trunk snapped off at the base. This is a special tree, a tree determined to live but don't give up on it.
No, Woko, human vandals will do what they have done here as what jason has photographed.
I'm at Tenterfield, NSW. (Formerly known as "Hyperbirds".)
yes sad on many fronts. A little bit of love died inside today, and was replaced with the cold steely grey anger against humanity. I learned a lesson here, don't waste your time on public land. The council don't care, the occupants that live around me don't care, so why should I. The place will see me out. I will keep plodding on my garden behind the big fence, and the council slashers can take the fig back to ground zero as they mulch the litter.
I was just starting to think more about the idea of a mystery planter given the council wanted me to start in the pic below, but the yobs on foot, on motor bikes, on push bikes are just to thick around here to warrent it. Maybe in a few years when the ones interested in drugs, durries, alcohol and welfare are pushed out. Till then I'll use my time elsewhere.
Ipswich Shire Eastern flanks
Jason, I feel your pain and anger. I'm like that for most of the time with the people here. But if you give up now then you will be giving up on hope itself. With all the struggles I've been through my best advice to give you is, go dig up the Fig tree and take it home and put it in a pot and give it time to recover You obrained it, so it's YOUR plant. F*** everyone else. Take back what's yours. Take in what has happened and instead of getting angry (I know its hard not to get angry, believe me!) and just focus inward on yourself to try and figure out where the tree can grow where it won't be disturbed, vandalised or damaged in any way, shape or form by humans. Think, jason, think. Where can you put this tree so it can grow to be the beautiful and magnificent specimen that it should be? If not for yourself, do it for the tree.
I'm at Tenterfield, NSW. (Formerly known as "Hyperbirds".)
Well somedays I would not be surprised if I had Bi-pola. I don't think so but have been riding the wave up from feeling disillusioned with the world. Thanks for the words Hb.
My Fig is sprounting from the break at ground level. I have stood it up twice, and a stanger once, but Jonny dickhead keeps knocking the stick out. Seems I have a tree hater or a no progress lover in the hood. The break has sealed itself anyway, but its still getting what it needs through the last little bit of bark fibers left attaching the trunk to the roots, as it's still as green healthy looking as ever. The roots must be well established cause it's happy pushing on. Think I'll request a prison to go around it from the council though.
Have taken Woko's advice and started a stelph (well except for on here telling to the world) programme of random trees popping up on the fring of the land poisened by the council. I extend the existing poisoned line out a little, then plant in the old poisoned area, adding mulch to match existing to the new reclaimed land.
Also have a fence YAH!, well 85% of it. And have sourced several excellent hollow logs upto 3.5m long. Hopefully will get them into the garden in the next week or so then mulch it, finish the fence, and plant plant plant. Still need to do better with local plants though. I picked up some from the council but a few of them seem to be a hybrid of sorts, so might chuck them and keep searching.
Will get some pics up when the logs come. It's still a dog breakfast and not much to inspire at the moment.
Ipswich Shire Eastern flanks
Let's know how the phantom plantings progress, Jason. Mine are doing well along the roadside near our place. Interestingly, the competition they provide weeds has reduced significantly council's need to spray.
Another strategy I use is to collect seeds & broadcast them into degraded areas near species the same as the seeds but further out from the natural regeneration area. With a bit of luck my neighbour will have Golden Wattle Acacia pycnantha & Drooping She-oak Allocasuarina verticillata coming up on their degraded land. They'll compensate for those they destroyed on their roadside so that they could plant some tropical plants which are now dying.
Yeh will do Woko, I like that other approach. Didn't Mary Poppins once say you can never tell which way the wind blows.....
Putting forward the notion you can save council money in my case didn't seem to have them asking for more. Still I'm told they have gone back into a huddle to work out what their wholistic approach is on bushcare, who, and how it is going to happen. Maybe next spring will be different.
Ipswich Shire Eastern flanks
At least bushcare is on their agenda.
I mentioned in another thread I noticed Pale headed Rosellas in the hood when I first mover here. Well I thought it's about time I did something about trying to see more, a make some next boxes.
Quick scout on the forum for plans, and grab an old sheet of 19mm marine grade ply I had floating about.
Lop up some bits into the right size, and hey presto a couple of boxes, all within one beer. Well proabaly should have been 2 but I was in a bit of a hurry as the sun was going down. Quick caot of paint tomorrow and mount in position. That will be he fun part.
Ipswich Shire Eastern flanks
Nice ones, Jason. After you've positioned them check occasionally to ensure they haven't been invaded by ferals such as European Honey Bees, Starlings, House Sparrows or Indian Mynahs.
Thanks Woko. I think I am lucky here with no sign of those ferals you have mentioned, but will keep an eye out.
On the advice of a mate who works for Land for Wildlife I repositioned the mesh to the inside, so the chicks can use it to climb out when ready. Also down sized the hole from 90mm to 65. Figure possums are doing Ok, will give something else a chance for a bit. I also made from the same sheet a Kookaburra box today and cut three Microbat / Feathertail glider boxes. I have two more sheets so I'm pretty excited about the possibilities. Especially when I spied an owl the other night, just could not get a torch on it before it took flight. (EDIT: discovered it's a BooBook)
All not much good without more food source however.
Ipswich Shire Eastern flanks
I'm a little excited, found this little fela in the yard tonight. He was in the pool, but I popped him in the frog pond to become aware it's there. Can only hope. The plants around the pond are comming along but still don't think much will happen to next season.
Srtiped Rocket Frog
http://www.qm.qld.gov.au/Find+out+about/Animals+of+Queensland/Frogs/Common+frogs/Striped+Rocket+Frog#.Vii9hLSHs2c
Ipswich Shire Eastern flanks
Well I'm looking forward to next weekend. I picked these up today potentially saving them from being burnt for tiding up purposes. Think I will turn the big one on the right into a native bee hive. The rest will go to just lying around the garden for whatever finds a purpose for it. Do you think it's best to clean out the dirt the termites have made in the middle, or leave it. I can't find anymore termites in them so that's welcomed... Also had 10m of dirt deliverd to make some mounds in the front garden. Hope it's not getting to busy in beween these logs, the rock pile, and now some dirt mounds. Might squeeze in a pond too if it feels right. Bobcat arrives 7AM next Saturday, cant wait.
Ipswich Shire Eastern flanks
Leave the termite trash would be my recommendation, jason. The more natural the better. Besides, I'm confident you have more productive things to do with your time.
You could make many native bee hives out of those logs jason. If you need advice on construction, siting or tending of hives there is a good native bee forum on .
Thanks NP, just had a go at signing up but looks like I need a yahoo mail account. I already have enough emails, passwords, google this, and I could not be rats with Yahoo that.
If I cut that bigger log into 3rds that will give me 3 sections 400mm long. I will tin up or ply up the top and bottom and make some anchor points. The log has a fine split down it so that may be good for an entry point, but have seen an elbo off a garden sprinkler system do an adequate job. I have a three mates with native bees, and one of them has split a nest already so will chat to them whats the go. Good old google will no doubt help as well. I'll hang one in the park, one in the front, and one in the back yard or give it away.
Thanks for the help.
Ipswich Shire Eastern flanks
Yes good luck jason. There is a lot to learn and you can find "how to" books as well as learn a lot from googling.
They really are amazing insects. I don't have any myself yet (its very expensive to buy a hive) but I have a box ready if I do manage to find some that need a home.
NP I'll keep you in mind. This mate who has european bees has sucessfuly split a native hive. He mentioned splitting it again just a couple weeks ago because the box he uses fills up rather quickly. I put my hand up for some which he didn't have a problem with. The other mate has similar boxes so it may be overflowing as well. The third mate has a trunk of a tree that was felled for a house site, that is where my idea came from.
Ipswich Shire Eastern flanks
Yes they do fill up quickly because they are so efficient at building their hive structures but as far as I know they don't "overflow". They just start over again, a continual renovation process that goes on, I believe, for decades. You will find a lot about these amazing insects with a bit of research and you will likely know more than your mates in a short time.
NP check this out,
http://www.aussiebee.com.au/aussiebeeonline003.pdf
gee I'm excited, this dam work gig just keeps getting inthe way. Those 3 mates are getting a call today. Figue I'm going to cut that log into 4 giving me new log boxes 300mm high. Better rattle my dags as it would be good to get organised for this summer.
I remebered at my old house, there is a dead tree downthe back which I hoped a Scally Breasted Lorikeet would breed in, also had a termite nest I was hoping a Sacred Kingfisher would move into as there was one over the road. Nothing ever did unfortunately. But it also has a bee hive at head height. If your keen NP we can do a transfer into your box using the linked method above. The proprty is being bought and I'd say the new owner has no interest in the tree, and will be felled in the next 18 months. But he owes me some grace so will chuck that into the conditions that it stays untill then and I get the nest it when it comes down.
Place it at Oxley.
Ipswich Shire Eastern flanks
That sounds great jason. Very kind of you. I have read about the eduction method.
Perhaps I could drop the box off with you sometime. It is made to sit on a steel Y fence post (star picket) so I could leave a post and a conduit pipe as well.
I am on the Sunshine Coast but I am spending this weekend at Sufferers' Paradise, so I could drop it off sometime over the weekend, maybe Sunday pm. But at your convenience, whenever suits you. Perhaps you could PM me your address and I could leave the box out front somewhere?
It would be a tragedy if that dead tree came down, Jason. Is there some way of making the new owner aware of the high value of the tree so that he/ she is motivated to keep the tree?
Woko, this is where it all becomes very sad. We moved there 4 or so years ago. Almost imediately the neighbour cut down 31 mature Ironbarks using dare I say unregistered tree loppers before the Developement Application was lodged in the hope of making a fortune from future development.
Then Boral over the road sold out to a superannuation company who clreard a very large tract of land for a new industrial park. And the poor kingfisher's home went amongst others. So did a fairly rare tree, a large leafed spotted gum I think it was. This tree seeds every second year, and access was denied by Boral to some local seed collectors when it was in seed the year before. So down it came before it seeded again to my discust. I and my neighbour had a go at trying to save it, or have it relocated, but it was to hard to move the industrail park's offramp driveway 2 meters, and 3 to 400K was out of the question to relocate it. Funny how 2 dozen earth moving machines can be on site for 18 months and 400K is too much.
Anyway with the proposed upgrade of the Ipswich motorway, the earth moving tucks, dust, noise, and reality of never ending trucks my wife and I could no longer hang in there so we moved. It has played on my mind this bit of land. I have been thinking of, and we spoke last night about the possibilities for our lives if we kept the block. We would enter a bit of struggle street, well as much as it is in Aus without the sale, or we set up ourselves and children for an easier life with the sale. Kind of sucks being a tree hugger when your own fate and fortune is involved. But I'm in the sucker, hang onto it and we will make do camp. I can plant lots more trees, eventually fence it and perhaps have a little oasis in the middle of hell for what it's worth. Just need to convince the wife more.
It's hard to say, but what I can gather I would not hold much hope for the tree. No harm in trying though.
Now NP, I will send you a PM, but that sound good. I am going around next week to remove some ply from the kids play structure to make more nest boxes.
Ipswich Shire Eastern flanks
Ah, jason, conflicts & compromises are all part of the deal, as you're well aware. And there's only so much we can do as individuals unless we get together & staff the barricades.
One approach to the huge destruction wrought by developers & large extractive companies like Boral is to collect mature fruit from trees & shrubs before the plants are destroyed then gather the seed that comes from the fruit. Planting the seed in tubes at the appropriate time of year may well yield quite a number of plants which can then be put in the ground by phantom revegetators or even by revegetators who have the approval of relevant authorities to do so.
yes, conflicts and compromises. I dare say OH&S would have been the reason a bunch of seed collectors were not allowed on the premises. Beautiful looking big heathy specimen it was. Just sad no one could get to it. Even sader when 80 years is felled and turned into woodchip in less than 10 minutes. Actually the whole hood is under threat really. The little pocket of bush just North is almost gone making way for McSardine housing. Just up the road to the West, the old army barrocks went from forrest to woodchip in a couple weeks. That has to be a kilometer square. I have concernes for my new hood with housing commision, defence, and power companies all have ownership of the remaining bush.
Ipswich Shire Eastern flanks
ah, 'progress'
have you wrote to your local authorities concerning this environmental vandalism
zosterops, its easier to just get another beer. Go checkout your own patch and forget about it. With the tree over the road progress was stopped for maybe 4hrs. The local politician seemed powerless, and only seems to ever get involved in the 11th hour anyway. The development company produced its environment studies, and the overseeing ecologist botanist or whatever his title understood our concernes, but much money had been spent and we can't deviate now was basically the blurb. Also stating the tree was not that rare, as there were quite a few in northern NSW. Our point was well thats not SEQ or Brisbane. Like I said, easier to get another beer. This thing is in the tens of millions, up the road to the Nth will be similar, also land owned by Boral or was. The army barracks is big enough to be a State Gov bragg on jobs jobs jobs. Not sure whats going there, but its very sad to see dead straight lines newly drawn in the earth. One side dust and woodchip; the other a living eco system.
Ipswich Shire Eastern flanks
When Earth wreckers are in the ascendancy it does seem easier to get a beer & kick back. That's precisley what the Earth wreckers want us to do so that they can be left to their own nefarious devices. Why do you think there's so much dumbed down TV & other mindless pursuits to keep us non-occupied.
Concentrating on one's own patch is certainly one strategy for dealing with the dismay, disappointment & disillusionment that goes with the wholesale environmental vandalism that pervades our society. It enables us to focus on something we can get our teeth into & on which we can use our time productively. Advertising what we do in our own patches can also be a part of that strategy so that people can see what can be achieved &, perhaps, be inspired to go forth & do likewise.
Jason, is there nobody else in your "hood" who sees the world in a similar way to you? Or are all the hood's residents in a dopey fugue, commercialised & seduced by the pap crap offered in the media & modelled over their back fences? Is there nobody with whom you can join forces & try to make at least a dent in the ongoing slaughter of our precious natural environment? What about a local Landcare, bushcare or nature group who might be willing to take up the caring cudgels or have you decided that's not for you? It seems an horrific pity if you're the only one who gives a rat's armpit about the environment. However, I appreciate that there is such a thing as the loneliness of the long distance environmentalist. Finding like-minded people can be a challenge in itself.
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