Planting is an investment that we often undervalue, but when we are investing our time and in plants that are sometimes rare and hard to get hold of, so it really is worth using tree guards to ensure we reap the benefits of our planting projects, be they big or small!
We now stock the green-Pod enviro seedling guard and are distributing and selling these in SE QLD. After trialling many other cardboard guards we’ve been very impressed with them. They are manufactured in Australia from compressed 1.25mm board that is made from 100% recycled paper, with no plastic coating and a life expectancy of 12-18 months. The Large green-Pod that we are currently stocking is 450mm tall x 170mm diameter and can be installed with bamboo stakes (which also keeps the costs down).
A great mulch product that we stock are Palm-Fibre Mulch Mats. They are durable and swell to approximately 1-2cm thick when installed. These in combination with the Pink Coreflute Guards make for a great package to establish tubestock whether that be for revegetation or in your garden.
Forest Heart is your local supplier for green-Pod enviro seedling guards, Fibre Mulch Mats and of course a great range of local native plants for your revegetation and garden.
Did you know that it’s not just in the wild places, but in the towns and even near busy urban streets, that we can find rare and threatened plants and animals. Earlier this month, during a “Find a Frog in February” event presented by Eva Ford from the Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee and hosted by Forest Heart, the twenty or so participants were treated to the amazing discovery of Giant Barred Frogs Mixophyes iteratus, right here on the banks of the Obi in Maleny. Giant Barred Frogs are one of our largest native frogs, with a body length of up to 120mm. Their colour is generally a copper-brown, but with daker patches and or stripes. What’s quite outstanding about them are their eyes. Their iris is golden. Over a dozen Giant Barred Frogs were seen at this event, and this is potentially one of the first sightings in Maleny in Decades.
What a great story this is, on just how important and successful, revegetation can be, in recreating habitat for our endangered fauna. Over 30 years of revegetation works along the Obi in Maleny have shaded the creek, created a deep leaf litter mulch and a diverse canopy, midstorey and understorey of native rainforest vegetation that animals such as the Giant Barred Frog need to survive and thrive.
You might not have a creek in your backyard, but if you let your garden go a little bit wild, with a range of local native trees, vines, shrubs and groundcovers, add some mulch and maybe a water feature or too, then perhaps you too could help create a stepping stone and refuge in your garden for species like this and so many others.
In closing, unfortunately, for Giant Barred Frogs, their size and colouring, confuses some folk and they mistake them with Cane Toads… So, if you’re at all unsure (and perhaps anyway) put away your golf clubs, Dettol or freezer bags and don’t risk killing them!
We’ve always been passionate about our Indigenous (local-native) plants and bringing them back into your gardens. I’d identify Indigenous (for the garden) to those plants’ native / naturally occurring in SEQLD. But Gardeners are a curious bunch, and always want to grow something from just over the horizon, so we also stock a range of cultivar natives and Australian Native’s, that is plants native to / naturally occurring throughout Australia. However, Australia as we know is big, really big and diverse, very diverse and what grows naturally in South West Australia might be stunning in bloom, but has buckley’s chance of surviving in the humid subtropics of SE QLD and what grows naturally in the tropics of NE QLD may in fact become a weed when planted down here. I was reminded of this recently when visiting North Queensland and admiring the beautiful Umbrella Trees – Schefflera actinophylla in their natural habitat. Having killed so many in my career as a bush regenerator in SEQLD (where they are considered an environmental weed) over the last few decades, it was quite novel to see them in their natural habitat. That’s why at Forest Heart we encourage us of Indigenous /local-native plants and cultivar natives to avoid the spread of more ‘native’ weeds.
“But surely If I just plant Indigenous / local-native plants, then that is going to limit me, and I’ll have a boring garden” I hear you say. Well, lucky for you, we live in one of the worlds great Biodiversity Hot spots and we are blessed with thousands of different species of plants / Indigenous plants in our natural area that you can potentially use in your garden. The Sunshine Coast Council area alone is home to over 1500 Indigenous plants and on a slightly wider scale SE Queensland is home to some 3000 Indigenous plants. So, with a palette of between 1500-3000 Indigenous plants gardeners in SE Queensland, gardeners have a plenty to choose from when it comes to making the most of our local flora for their horticultural endeavours!
Realistically, for our gardens, most of us are going to use native plants in the broader sense, but using Indigenous / local-native plants has the added benefit of providing habitat for a whole range of fauna that may have specific needs that these plants meet, and allows them to survive and move throughout the landscape. There’s never been a better time to visit us at Forest Heart ecoNursery so we can help you create a backyard full of biodiversity, using Indigenous plants, that benefit not only you with their beauty, but the wildlife too!
If the extent of your interest in gardening is the perfect lawn and an immaculately pruned hedge (probably Mock Orange), then this article is probably not for you. That said, I aim for inclusiveness in my approach so bear with me and we’ll see if we can’t find some common ground and if not then hopefully some light entertainment.Human beings are beings of nature, we enjoy interaction with the natural world. Although culturally some humans (unfortunately most) draw a line between humans and all the rest of life on earth, the fact remains that biologically and ecologically we are all part of life on earth. We’re inspired and in awe of areas of natural beauty, we enjoy watching other animals, we enjoy growing things, gardening & bushwalking. All these things make us happier, healthier and intrinsically content.
So, my thoughts naturally ramble in the direction of co-operation and sharing when it comes to the other life forms we are blessed to share this earth with. In our gardens, our green dominions, those areas that we can rule over with an iron fist (or at least an assorted blend of steel, alloy and plastic tools) and shape as is our whim into a series of monoculture, monotonous, monospecific, mediocre (and a legion of other words starting with m) manicured lawns and shrubs. These gardens, at best require constant intervention of labour, machine and chemical to maintain this level of morose mediocrity and at worst are functionally green deserts. We can do all this, or, we can get a little bit wild.
Getting a bit Wild in the garden, can take all sorts of forms, but the most crucial element is increasing the range of plants, in both species diversity and form. Ideally you would use as a great range of local native plants that reflect those that naturally occur in your area and provide food and resources for local wildlife. This unfortunately means sticking with local native plants of SE QLD and limits you to a mere 3500 native plant species…. although some could argue that’s a reasonable palette from which to select!
Other valuable elements to getting a little bit wild include: Mulch – use natural leaf litter, living mulches (groundcovers), rockpiles and logs; Question Your Chemical Use – insecticides & rodenticides may be useful short-term solutions to pest damage, but they are poisons that kill other wildlife and could end up in your food! Habitat – nest boxes, rocks, dead trees provide valuable homes.
The wilding of your garden is generous, creative and sharing. It reduces financial and physical inputs over time and the rewards, well they tweet for themselves!
It’s not been the biggest of stories in the media over the last year or so, what with Covid, Scandal and Celebrity, so although you may have missed it, this is a story that has quite significant implications for the Sunshine Coast hinterland. In a few media reports you may have seen or heard about a disease called Bunya dieback afflicting the Bunya trees at the Bunya Mountains National Park (200km west of here and south of Kingaroy). The story goes that over the last few years many ancient Bunya have died and research is being undertaken to confirm the cause and hopefully reduce its impact. You may think, that it’s a shame that Bunyas are dying out west, lucky it’s not happening here, well…
First up let’s get a bit of context. In writing from the
Blackall Range (Sunshine Coast Hinterland), I acknowledge the Bunya Country
traditional owners, the Jinibara people. The Bunya belongs to this place on a
scale of deep time that many of us may find hard to fathom. They have survived
on this country since before the age of dinosaurs and although once widespread
across Australia they are now found in one fragmented population between here
and the Bunya Mountains and an even smaller population at Mt Lewis in North
Queensland. Our human relationship with these trees extends back in time for
tens of thousands of years as they have been revered and provided sustenance to
the Jinibara peoples and their neighbours, especially during the abundance of
the Bunya Gatherings. The spiritual and cultural importance of the Bunya to
First Nations peoples was defended fiercely during the early days of the
British ‘settlement’, so much so that in 1842 the Bunya Proclamation was issued
by the Colony of New South Wales (Queensland was yet to be formed), preventing
felling and settlement by Europeans in Bunya country, one of the few instances
of such a proclamation by colonial authorities to recognise, if not the First
Nations peoples sovereignty on their own land, but recognise a forest on that
land. When Queensland was made a separate colony in 1859, the Bunya
Proclamation was rescinded and well, as they say, the rest is history… Only
fragments of this once great forest have survived clearing, by being tucked
away in inaccessible gullies and slopes. The Bunya then goes on to become an
icon for some European colonists and they have been replanted in paddocks,
gardens and more recently in revegetation, here and around Australia and the
world. Images of Bunya adorn corporate and community logos around the Blackall
Range (inclusive of the towns of Maleny, Montville and Mapleton) making them a
unique symbol for our area both ecologically and culturally. First nations
people have maintained cultural connectivity to the Bunya throughout this time
and shared this culture with the new Australians.
Getting back to where I started and the big story that we
should be interested in on the Blackall Range with regards our iconic Bunyas. The
research undertaken at the Bunya Mountains National Park into the cause of
Bunya dieback is that a type of Phytophthora, a water mould / oomycetes is
responsible. Phytophthora lives in and is transported in soil, and through its
life cycle damages the roots of trees, eventually preventing the tree from
getting any nutrients or water. The initial symptoms of infection are dieback
of the tree crown, followed by death of the whole tree over a few months. The
species of phytophthora thought to be responsible for the bunya dieback is Phytophthora
multivora, which has also caused dieback in the Wollemi pines in New South
Wales, and the ancient Kauri in New Zealand. It appears Bunya dieback was
introduced into the area by movement of soil, on shoes and or vehicles.
Bunya dieback appears to be compounded by a range factors,
including drought, temperature rises … climate change. Long wet seasons may
be ideal for the spread and infection of this disease and damage to occur and
if followed by periods of drought, trees that are damaged may then die.
There are an increasing number of records of Bunyas dying on
the Blackall Range over the last few years, so has Bunya dieback arrived here?
It does appear our Bunya are also under threat … are we too facing
Bunyageddon.
Well without wanting to create a major panic (apart from the
invention of the word Bunyageddon!) how can we who are current stewards of this
country ensure that these magnificent trees whose origin goes 100’s of millions
of years survive into the future.
Here at Brush Turkey Enterprises and Forest Heart ecoNursery
we we’ve been proactive in contacting National Parks at the Bunya Mountains to
find out more about this disease and its implications both there and here and have
supplied Bunya seedlings to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for
their research into the cause of Bunya dieback … I hope they look after
them…
So, what’s the first step in tackling this issue that might be facing us? Well to start off with, we want to raise awareness that Bunya dieback has potentially arrived on the Blackall Range and gather records of Bunya tree deaths, that we can use to help progress the research needed to confirm this. If you have a Bunya death on your property or know of one on public land please email details including your name, contact phone, address, photo and GPS location of tree if available, send emails to spencer.shaw@bruhsturkey.com.au
Through our production nursery we are also helping with preservation of the Bunya by growing 1000’s in tubestock and larger sized plants to help get more young Bunyas back onto this country. Together let us hope that we all as the current stewards of these amazing trees, can help them to last another 100 million years!
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