Locals Landcaring

Laudable Landcarers

“What a team! It was amazing to see how much was achieved this morning in such uncomfortable, almost tropical conditions. Bags of Formosa lilies and Asparagus fern were removed from the site. How proud and lucky Coal Point is to have such champions on the job!” – Landcaring Lois

Bonza Bushland Gardening Guide

Living in a bushland suburb where birds, bugs, brushies, bats and bush abound provides a unique insight into the lifestyle of the biodiverse rich and famous few. Along the Coal Point peninsula there are a few threatened species that call our place in space home too. The majestic Powerful Owl, the ever-so-cute Squirrel gliders and the dainty in-hiding Tetratheca juncea are still abundant enough that they have a chance of surviving in the long term if we can retain the bushland that they need for shelter,food and habitat.

We have a mosaic of public-private land within our community which, if considered as a whole, is big enough to support our amazing local wildlife. If it gets fragmented further, it will be death by a thousand blows with the final cut resulting in local extinctions.

Between 2012-2018 a $1million community project, Threatened Species Last Stand on the Coal Point Peninsula, supported locals and landcarers to learn about and protect our bushland assets. A Bonza Bushland Gardening Guide was produced to assist landholders with bushland blocks manage their native vegetation. This guide is available on the CPPA website, with some instructional videos, and as a pdf to download. https://coalpointprogress.blogspot.com/p/bonza-backyard-gardening-guide.html

Another useful resource for all the local bird lovers is the Birdlife Australia’s guide ‘What to feed wild birds’ 

Learning @ Landcare with Pam

Hi, I’m new to Landcare and have been finding that there’s a lot to learn about caring for and conserving our natural environment. Since moving to Lake Macquarie I’ve joined the Coal Point Landcare group where I join in on Thursday mornings when I can, and paddle to Crocodile Point, (Toronto Lion’s park) on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month to join the TASNG landcare group.

Recently, at the Hampton Street link landcare site, next to the Carey Bay shops, I was excited to find some bushes covered in blue berries. They were identified as native Elderberries which had me wondering. Can I eat them? Can I make some Elderberry wine?

A bit more research included asking the experts on a social media group called Australian Indigenous Plant Identification. There were a few wild answers, but we concluded that I had found Polyscias Sambucifolia (Elderberry Panax) which is not related to the Elderberry from the northern hemisphere.

Growing up to 11 metres tall, ours are babies between 300 cm and up to 2 metres. It has a small blue fruit which contains one or two seeds and is described as having a sweet taste with an astringent finish.

I’m happy to leave the fruit for the local wildlife as Currawongs love them and there is also a moth that eats the leaves, and I do wonder what eats the moth in a healthy ecosystem.

Another plant I’ve been noticing a lot and learning about is an invasive called Guinea grass, Megathyrus maximus. It’s easy and quite relaxing to pull or break the stems and put the seed heads in a bag to slow down its spread. (One year’s weeding stops 8 years of seedlings). By removing these exotic grasses we are reducing the competition for water, light and nutrients which gives our native plants a better chance.

There’s a lot to do and a lot to learn at Landcare. Ultimately, when we get involved we are caring for the country we live on and, as a bonus, we get to spend time with other people who care too.

Hope to see you there at landcare - Pam

Want to find out more about the local native plants? Visit the Plants in our Bigger Backyard page.

Landcare calendar 

If you'd like to receive an email each week with details about where we are landcaring and what we'll be doing contact cppalandcare@gmail.com and you'll be added to the email list.