TABLE OF CONTENTS CALENDAR OF ACTIVITIES

Transcription

1 Friends OF DANDENONG VALLEY PARKLANDS NEWSLETTER MARCH 2019 Vol. 29 No. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Index Calendar of Events and Activities... 1 Calendar Date Changes Biodiversity Restoration Report. 2 Waterwatch [photos page 4]... 3 Guerrilla Group News Melbourne Water Website... 4 Propagation and Nursery...5 Membership Application Form...6 CALENDAR OF ACTIVITIES March am - noon Gardens Open Day, Working Bee at 95 Shepherds Road ** Cancelled - too hot **Sunday 3 Wednesday 13 10am - noon Guerrilla Group weed control in Shepherds Bush Conservation area. Meet at Friends Shed Thursday 14 10am-noon Mid-week propagating group Saturday am- noon Shepherds Bush Biodiversity enhancement. Meet at High Street Road Information Shelter Wednesday pm FDVP Committee Meeting at 19 Trenton Avenue Friday 22 10am Waterwatch meet at Jells Park East Car park April.... Tuesday 2 Deadline for April Newsletter items to be sent to the editor - lynwilson@event-horizons.com.au Thursday 4 10am - noon Mid-week propagating group at 95 Shepherd Road Sunday 7 10am - noon Gardens Open Day, Working Bee at 95 Shepherd Road Wednesday 10 10am - noon Guerrilla Group weed control in Shepherds Bush Conservation area. Meet at Friends Shed Saturday am- noon Shepherds Bush Biodiversity enhancement. Meet at High Street Road Information Shelter Wednesday pm FDVP Committee Meeting at 19 Trenton Avenue Friday 26 10am - noon Waterwatch meet at Jells Park East Car Park Tuesday 30 Deadline for May Newsletter items to be sent to editor - lynwilson@event-horizons.com.au M ay..... Thursday 2 10am - noon Mid-week propagating group 95 Shepherds Road Sunday 5 10am - noon Gardens Open Day, Working Bee at 95 Shepherd Road Wednesday 8 10am - noon Guerrilla Group weed control in Shepherds Bush Conservation area. Meet at Friends Shed Wednesday pm FDVP Committee Meeting at 19 Trenton Avenue Saturday 18 10am - noon Shepherds Bush Biodiversity enhancement. Meet at High Street Road Information Shelter Friday 24 10am - noon Waterwatch - meet at Jells Park East Car park Tuesday 28 Deadline for June Newsletter items to be sent to editor - lynwilson@event-horizons.com.au < O >

2 CALENDAR DATE CHANGES In an attempt to spread Friends activities more evenly over the month, from April onwards some dates have been changed. Propagating will now be on the first Thursday rather than the second Thursday of the month. The Sunday Gardens Working Bee and the Guerrilla group remain unchanged. Shepherds Bush Biodiversity Restoration is normally on the third Saturday of the month and Waterwatch is the last Friday of each month. There are occasional exceptions to ensure that activities are evenly spread, and to avoid public holidays. All our activities are now advertised on Parkconnect, making them visible to a larger audience. Members are encouraged to register with Parkconnect and indicate their attendance at any event on the site. This system will eventually replace the sign-in sheets we use at present. - David Lumb Biodiversity Restoration The Biodiversity working bee concentrated on clearing the thistles that had grown in the area where the Kikuyu grass was sprayed, as well as removing some Kikuyu runners that had penetrated beyond the sprayed area and into our plantings. We dug out a black bag full of young Scotch thistles and their parent plant. The sprayed area is now clean and the dead grass is composting well so we can think of planting directly into it. The team also went into the adjoining area between the billabong and the creek, where we never seem to go. The area is covered with Couch grass and is probably now lost to revegetation given the extreme difficulty of access. - Bryan Loft Co-ordinator A Message REGARDING our President: Please note that our President, Chris Miller, (at right) has been off country this past month, and has therefore been unable to provide an article for our readers in this edition of the Newletter. Look forward to hearing from him next month. Editor. 2

3 WATERWATCH Test Completed - Date: 22/2/2019 Tests completed by: David Lumb, Gus Romero, Bryan Loft, Christine Dix, Jenny MacPherson Test Site Dandenong Creek Bridge (DDN 050) Jells Lake Time 10.15am Ammonium (mg/l) D.O (Dissolved oxygen concentration) Water Temperature Air Temperature ph (Acidity/alkalinity) Electrical Conductivity Reactive Phosphate (Nutrient levels) Turbidity 0 15 Site Descriptions Dandenong Creek Bridge (DDN 050) Jells Lake Weather (Sunny, cloudy, overcast, raining, windy) Rainfall (More than a week ago, during last week, during last 24 hours, raining now) Sunny During last week Sunny During last week Amount of rainfall 2mm 2mm Water flow (Flood, Medium, Low) Water appearance (Clear, muddy, milky, other) Stream depth (0-50cm, 51 99cm, 1 2m, > 2m) Low Clear 0-50cm N/A Clear 51-99cm Stream width (< 2m, 2m 5m, > 5m) >5m N/A Litter and pollutants (Bottles, plastic, packets, waxed cardboard, cans, polystyrene, paper, clothing) Nil Nil Comments: Dandenong Creek: clear water and no litter. Jells Lake: Significant increase in ammonium. Significant decrease in ph. 3

4 Jells Park Waterwatch photos from Christine Dix. See report and February results previous page. Guerrilla group news A small Guerilla Group on 13 Feb included the first person to join in a Friends of DVP activity via ParksConnect**. Since a large crew would be needed just to collect the Jerusalem Cherry berries this year, we went hunting Bridal creeper and Japanese honeysuckle instead. Bridal creeper was not visible anywhere; it seems that the yellow leaves from January had died back and the plants had retreated to the bulb for summer. Honeysuckle was everywhere so we selected a young honeysuckle infestation as the best worksite. It is on Shepherds Bush track, a short distance north of the intersection with Paperbark track. We pulled the honeysuckle off the melaleucas and worked through about three layers of ivy to get to soil level, where we could cut and paint the honeysuckle roots directly. It was hard and slow work but we have established a beachhead of about 3 square metres, so next time we can attack the weeds at ground level and from overhead. ** PS - All are welcome to register NOW at - Bryan Loft for Freya Headlam, Co-ordinator MELBOURNE WATER The following may be a useful link we can discover what they are doing to and around our creek:- 4

5 PROPAGATIon and nursery At our first propagating session for the year, we pricked out around 500 cuttings of correa, goodenia and prostanthera. We had a good strike rate from cuttings taken in November last year. Over January and February seeds were sown from over 25 species, mainly from material collected from Shepherds Bush and the Indigenous Garden. Most of these have now germinated and we have hundreds of seedlings ready to be potted up. These will go into Koomba Park. Last year s National Tree Day plantings were overwhelmed by weeds, but Kelly, our new ranger, spent many hours brush-cutting around the surviving plants. Over five sessions, our Friends group rescued many plants, (thanks to everyone who helped with this), and subsequently contractors sprayed around the plants to help their chances of survival. Despite saving many plants, there were very heavy losses. Later this year, on National Tree Day, we will plant more plants in the site to replace what we lost, and Kelly has organised an ongoing maintenance program so the plants in the site should survive. Our second planting site in Koomba is by the boardwalk and we will commence planting in this area also on National Tree Day at the end of July. A second community planting day will be organised in June 2020 and it may be necessary to supplement this with some extra planting sessions next year. Thanks to our watering crew, all our plants are surviving the hot weather. The shadehouse, after some initial problems with the watering system, is working well and everything seems healthy. Our next propagating session is Thursday 14 th March at 10 am. We have hundreds of seedlings to prick out into tubes so the more the merrier. - David Lumb Co-ordinator STOP PRESS! CANCELLATION OF SUNDAY s GARDENS WORKING BEE once again the forecast for Sunday (37 degrees) means it will be too hot to work = so the Gardens working bee is cancelled. Freya Headlam - Indigenous Garden co-ordinator Members of Committee Chris Miller [President]; Lyn Wilson [Vice President & NL. Editor]; Lynne Sidebottom [Secretary]; Alison James [Treasurer]; Michal Balint; Christine Dix [Waterwatch Coordinator]; Bryan Loft; [Biodiversity Restoration Co-ordinator] David Lumb [Nursery and Propagation Co-ordinator}; Wendy Lumb [Marketing]; Heather Maplesden and Gus Romero [+ Freya Headlam [Co-ordinator of the Indigenous Garden] 5

6 If undeliverable, please return to: Friends of Dandenong Valley Parklands Inc. C/o 95 Shepherd Road, Glen Waverley FRIENDS OF DANDENONG VALLEY PARKLANDS INC. ABN VIC Reg NO A Shepherd Road, Glen Waverley, Victoria 3150 MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION New or Renewal, to 30 June 2019 I wish to join / renew my membership of the Friends of Dandenong Valley Park Inc. and agree to abide by the rules of the Society. My special interests are: First name/s:... Family name:... Home address:.... Postal Address:... Telephone:...(Landline)...(Mobile) address [for receipt of our Newsletter]:... Signed:... Date:... Title: Dr / Mr / Mrs / Ms / Miss (Please circle one) Membership Type and Fees: A. Individual: $18 B. Family: $25 C. Pensioner/Student: $10 D. Organisations: $25 Your subscription of $... (please circle one above) may be paid either by cheque or money order payable to Friends of Dandenong Valley Parklands Inc (along with this signed and completed form), or by direct debit via the Westpac Bank:- BSB Account Number Friends of Dandenong Valley Parklands Inc Reference: Your Name (essential for identification) Whether using cheque, money order or direct debit, please return this form, completed, to Friends of Dandenong Valley at the address below to enable us to ensure that our records are accurate and up to date:- The Treasurer, Friends of Dandenong Valley Parklands Inc, 95 Shepherd Road, Glen Waverley Thank you. We look forward to your participation in our activities. 6