Which Black-eyed Susan?

Why we use scientific names

What’s in a name? There’s a beautiful, vulnerable plant that grows locally on the West Ridge, on the low-nutrient soils of the Awaba Soil Landscape. It’s a clumping shrub, with single or multiple stems that stretch 30–60 cm long. The stems are often leafless, edged with narrow wings that give them an angular look. Along the stems, delicate flowers droop downwards, usually in fours, with petals ranging from white to soft pink through to deep purple.

This plant is commonly known as Black-eyed Susan, but its scientific name is Tetratheca juncea, affectionately called TJ.

BUT there’s also an invasive weed with the very same common name. This Black-eyed Susan (Thunbergia alata) is a vigorous perennial climber, scrambling 3–4 metres high . Its triangular leaves form dense mats, while its orange or yellow flowers with dark throats are eye-catching but destructive. After flowering, hairy seed capsules form, helping it spread. More often though, its escape comes via dumped garden waste. On Coal Point it is a major problem, smothering native plants.

And if that wasn’t confusing enough, Rudbeckia hirta, another “Black-eyed Susan,” also known as Yellow Coneflower, hails from North America. It’s a daisy-like plant growing up to a metre tall, with many cultivated varieties.

So we have three very different plants, all called Black-eyed Susan. This is why Landcare uses scientific names. Botanical names cut through the confusion, and once you start using them, it’s a bit like learning a new language. It’s good for the brain, helps us be precise, and even opens the stories behind the names:

• Tetratheca = “four cells or lobes” for the four-petalled flower
• juncea = “rush-like,” describing its long, slender stems

While Tetratheca juncea isn’t currently available for sale, there are many local native plants that make excellent understorey options for home gardens. You can find tubestock at the Lake Macquarie Landcare Nursery, 80 Toronto Road, Booragul, open Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 8.30am–3pm, or by appointment.

All the details on the very special Tetratheca juncea are here 

Alternatives to plant instead of Thunbergia alata are here 

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.

Chinese Violet creeping in to Toronto

Our local Landcarer Wendy shared: “On Wednesday morning I found a “pretty” flower when walking the dogs along the Greenway. I took it home, and to the Landcare Centre- Umali barai-ku on Wednesday afternoon. While waiting for a meeting to progress I picked up a copy of Weeds of the Hunter Region, and there it was on page 16 - Chinese Violet, Asystasia gangetica subsp. Micrantha… it was an important find. Professional teams have since been out on two occasion to get rid of it.”

This plant is on the National Environmental Alert List and more pictures and information can be found here. Here’s a snapshot of why it’s a worry.

Chinese violet is a fast-growing perennial creeper that forms sprawling mats. It normally grows to 1 m high. However, if climbing over vegetation, it can reach 3 m in height. Vines may die back after releasing their seeds.

If left to run rampant it can:

• smother and outcompete native plants,
• reduce food and shelter for native animals, and
• smother garden plants and lawns.

All infestations are currently subject to destruction programs, as required under the Biosecurity (Chinese Violet) Control Order 2017. Early detection and eradication will prevent Chinese violet from spreading.

It spreads by seeds and plant parts. Small fragments of stems can take root at each node when they come into contact with moist soil. Most infestations have started from dumped garden waste or garden escapees. Plant parts can also be moved by earth-moving machinery, slashers and mowers and vehicles.

Landcaring with the locals

Bindi is Back

Spring is sprung and those pesky bindi weeds/joeys are getting ready to attack your bare feet! Prevention is better than cure. Now is the time to spray or weed your lawn and nature strip before they burst into painful and spreading seed.

Wikipedia tells us that bindi or burweed came from South America – thanks for nothing! It loves coastal NSW, where it grows low in spring with a bright green carrot or parsley-like leaf and a seed crown of thorns in the middle. Over spring the seed crown rises up and expands, pushing out the small thorns and exposing the multitude of small seeds, just waiting to be trodden on. Ouch!

This spring when lawns are fairly lush it can be hard to spot so a bindi spray on the end of a hose may be the best form of attack. If you do spot just a few, slide the tips of your fingers under the leaves and lift it, then bin it. The secret is not to press down and get spiked, though you will be pretty safe for the next couple of weeks. If you are not inclined to be brave, wear gloves.

Doing nothing guarantees it will spread year by year until your lawn or nature strip will be an unwalkable bindi-thick paradise. Do it now!

Protecting our Birdlife

Birdlife Australia is encouraging the community to contact our local council to phase out SGARs in our community! Second-generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides (SGARs) are poisoning and even killing native wildlife like owls, eagles, magpies, and quolls. It’s not just wildlife, beloved family pet cats and dogs are also at risk. Many Australian councils use dangerous SGARs to control rodents in council-managed buildings and spaces, without realising the impacts this has on wildlife and pets in the community.

SGARs are already heavily regulated or banned in Europe and North America, and some proactive Australian councils are already phasing out SGARs because of the risks.

https://www.actforbirds.org/ratpoison

Looking for some social activity?

The Coal Point Landcare group was one of the first in Lake Mac and have been actively landcaring on our public reserves since 1995.

The knowledge of our local bushland within the group is extensive and the group is very willing to share it.

If you have a bushland block and are wondering what weeds are upon it, and what to do about them, the Landcare group is a local source of knowledge.

Every Thursday the group meets somewhere around Coal Point- Carey Bay and at 10am they stop for morning tea.If you’d like to chat with the group and pick their combined brains, that’s the time to do it.

If you’d like to join in and get all the benefits that a bit of physical activity and social contact provides, all are welcome to join in.

Landcaring around our community

For updates on the tasks for the day and specific locations visit the calendar

• 25/8 Gurranba Reserve
• 1/9 - West Ridge Reserve
• 8/9 - Hampton st Link
• 15/9 - West Ridge
• 22/9 - Yarul
• 25/9 - Lions Planting
• 29/9 - Threlkeld
• 6/10 -Burnage
• 13/10 - Killibinbin

A WEED A WALK - WAY TO GO!

Landcaring with Lois (Simpson)

What a season we have had. Our bushland reserves have responded with healthy lush growth and the native plants are looking great. The downside is, so are the weeds! Sadly, the weed invasion ultimately degrades the bushland and throws out the balance of life. Try as we might, your local Landcare team cannot keep on top of them!

Luckily, we do not battle alone. There is quite an army of locals who come out to walk and enjoy our reserves, and quite a few of them have joined the battle by removing a weed (or two or more!) on every walk. What a gift. Never think that removing even just one weed is not worth the effort. If we can remove it before it seeds, then we have saved our bush from tens, or even hundreds more invaders next season. The Landcare adage rings true - "one year's seeding means seven years weeding".

It's a little action with a big impact! Become one of our growing number of walking weed warriors! 

Perhaps focus on one or two weeds that you may already recognise, such as 'farmers friends', formosa lilies, guinea grass or flea bane, and perhaps slip a small bag in your pocket in case there are seeds that need to be popped in the bin at home. And of course revel in the knowledge that you have added a little bending, stretching and flexibility movement to your exercise regime! ...and all the while helping to preserve our wonderful Aussie bushland for future generations.

This is Guinea Grass

Seeding prolifically and making the grassy verges look very weedy at the moment is Guinea grass, a fodder species that colonises roadsides causing problems when growing in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

(Guinea Grass image by John Sharples)

For the walking weeders Guinea Grass provides a calming pause as the seed head stalks slide out of their grassy grasping tubes in a very satisfying way. A fun activity to encourage little people to walk along as well. There’s a fine crop ready for the plucking on Excelsior Parade alongside the Wetlands.

Beyond Our Backyard

Early August was Landcare Week and our local team celebrated with the completion of a little video, Beyond Our Backyard. It highlights our landcaring efforts, showcases the wrap technique for treating large quantities of weeds and celebrates our local bushland. The video was created by Suzanne Pritchard on behalf of the CPPA as part of a Digital Storytelling course sponsored by the Sustainable Neighbourhood Alliance.

What we’ve been weeding

Landcarers spend a lot of time weeding because that releases the natives from the

grip of super tough, vigorously growing, abundantly seedy weeds that can easily gain an upper hand and outcompete the locals for light and water.

We have a list of over 100 common weeds that we deal with in our local reserves. They flower and seed at different times of the year and each have a particular extraction technique.

The weeds we’ve been dealing with lately include; 

Mother of Millions aka Bryophyllum delagoens - removed by carefully plucking them out of their camouflaging hidey-holes and bagging them up for a trip to the tip.

Thunbergia alata

Black-eye Susan aka Thunbergia alata,not the threatened species but the orange petalled-black centred weed with dainty fragile stems that need to be traced back to the ground and carefully dug out by the roots.

We’re constantly dealing with exotic grasses that escape from under the fence of neighbours, or are brought in on equipment and vehicles of maintenance crews. Buffalo grass gets chipped out with a mini mattock, Guinea grass can be chipped out or cut with a gyprock knife in a circular sweep around the roots.

Turkey rhubarb tuber...mmmm

Another favourite that puts some variety in our landcare session is Turkey Rhubarb-Acetosa sagittata. This rambling, arrow-leaved, vigorous vine smothers anything in its path, produces a mass of wind borne seeds and grows an amazing chain of underground tubers, which provide quite a bit of enjoyment whilst digging them out.

Magical MoM Moments

Landcaring resumed on 4th June with social distancing and enthusiasm. The moist soil is providing great upper body workout as we enthusiastically release the natives that have been getting overrun.

We’ve been welcoming new members to the landcare team, saying farewell to others and enjoying the company of all.

Whilst Landcare hours for January-March were an impressive 399, the April-June tally was 150, and it doesn’t take long turn the weedy tide though.

A current project at Gurranba Reserve is reducing the Mother of Millions (MoM) motherlode. The Lake Mac Landcare Resource Centre has provided our group with a tip pass to deal with this non-compostable camouflaging conqueror. Last week on a beautiful

Thursday morning the landcare crew bagged up 180kg of MoM.The slow paced methodical removal was mentally soothing, the sheltered lakeside location allowing the warming sun to work its mood enhancing magic, making the morning a blissful experience. When we thought it couldn’t get any better ‘The Goods’ morning tea, sponsored by Matt Cook of Excelsior Plumbing, made for a memorable and magical session.

Anyone can get a taste of the MoM magic moments, all you need is a bag and a few spare minutes to collect the leggy succulent. Tied-off bags can be left near the black plastic on the Gurranba headland as we’ll be making another trip to the tip while we still have the pass. Please only MoMs in the bag.

Thank you to John Sharples for capturing the camouflaging capacity of this worrying weed.

Landcare Returns

The weeds haven’t been practising social distancing and have certainly taken advantage of the landcarer lockdown but that’s all about to change as the Landcare team emerges from the enforced hiatus.

Along with a willingness to tackle the weeds in our local reserves the landcare line-up are keen to share their weedy wisdom with all those who have been beating about their bushy backyards over the past few months. At 10am each Thursday there’s an opportunity to bring your weeds (or natives) along to the landcare morning tea and find out what you’ve got growing and if it’s friend or foe.

The landcare locations are mentioned in the Chronicle and the exact location details can be found on the online calendar or by ringing or leaving a message with John or Lois 4959 5863.

Burnage Carnage: 

Whilst landcarers have not been permitted to work in the reserves it was truly distressing to find that someone had been giving Burnage Reserve a workout. 

Dumping of household rubbish, destruction of trees that had been nurtured for years and the mass movement of soil to create a bike jump have left the volunteer landcarers saddened as they prepare to return to activity and prepare Burnage reserve for a National Tree Day planting on 2nd August, if COVID conditions allow.

Help keep Coal Point Barleria free.

It's always that time of year to tackle Barleria, it never rests and has the potential to be a massive problem. 

• Individual plants and stems can be manually removed, taking care to ensure that as little as possible of the root system is left behind.
• If total removal is difficult, the removal of flowers and immature fruit will help reduce new infestations.
• Do not add the weeds to your garden compost unless you can leave them in a bin of water for 3 months (to kill the seeds) before re-using.
• Thicker stems can be scraped and painted with undiluted Glyphosate.
• Or you can you can spray foliage with diluted herbicide. As the leaves are shiny, mixing in a surfactant will improve results. (Some brands already include it.)
• Regularly spot spray re-emerging seedlings for a year.

New Kid on The Block - Barleria

The African twiner Barleria repens was first reported in Brisbane (2006), and then recorded in NSW (2010) as a garden escape from a caravan park up at Hallidays Point. It has now arrived in Coal Point and is really making its presence felt. It’s pretty – they mostly are. It’s resilient – they always are.

The pink, five-petalled flowers appear all year, which means it continually seeds too, propelling the seeds for metres through a mechanism of explosive release. It climbs on fences and shrubs, blanketing everything as it grows and laying new roots wherever stems touch the ground. It can cause environmental damage by colonising bushland, especially near water courses, and forms dense thickets that displace native vegetation and prevent movement of animals.

Help keep Coal Point Barleria free.

Individual plants and stems can be manually removed, taking care to ensure that as little as possible of the root system is left behind.

If total removal is difficult, the removal of flowers and immature fruit will help reduce new infestations.

Do not add the weeds to your garden compost unless you can leave them in a bin of water for 3 months (to kill the seeds) before re-using.

Thicker stems can be scraped and painted with undiluted Glyphosate.

Or you can you can spray foliage with diluted herbicide. As the leaves are shiny, mixing in a surfactant will improve results. (Some brands already include it.)

Regularly spot spray re-emerging seedlings for a year.

The Cursed Cassia

Over the last couple of weeks, our local area has been decorated with golden highlights. This “golden glory” is in fact classed as a noxious weed in NSW. Introduced from South America, Cassia (Senna pendula var.glabrata) has invaded our whole coastline.

It is a fast growing plant that can suppress the growth of native species and displace them. It produces huge amounts of long-lived seeds contained in long beans. One mature tree can be surrounded by a small forest of its own offspring in no time at all.

We can really help prevent the spread of this pest by gathering the green pods before they ripen.

Luckily, young plants are quite easy to uproot. Mature plants are best controlled by lopping just above ground level and then painting the stump immediately with undiluted Roundup. They can also be sprayed with Roundup, at a rate of 20ml per litre, but beware of spray drift onto other plants.

Happy cassia culling!

Mother of Millions…more like mother of all nightmares!

By Lois Simpson - Chair Lake Mac Landcare Volunteer's Network

It seems like this devil can sniff out bushland, lake’s edge or road-side verge a mile away. The pinkish-brown to grey mottled stems can be over 60cm high, successfully camouflaged amongst other plants, or, in winter and spring, hailing their presence with tubular, bell-shaped, red to orange flower heads. Look out especially for the sneaky little young ones, hidden and un-noticed, but proliferating like crazy, to surprise us one day as a mini-forest.

It has every survival strategy mastered. Readily spread by plant fragments and seed, even the tiniest piece will take root. Its succulent nature allows it to adapt to prolonged dry conditions and it is unperturbed in saline ground. So it is no surprise that it so rapidly and successfully invades bushland and disturbed sites. It is also highly toxic to stock and poisonous to humans and household pets.

Preventing the spread of mother of millions is the best control measure. Learn to identify mother of millions and regularly check for it in winter when the plants are in flower and are easier to see. If found, remove immediately using a combination of control methods including hand removal, herbicide application and rehabilitation. Herbicides meet with mixed success only.

For small infestations, mother of millions is best removed by pulling up individual plants by hand. Once the plants have been removed they should be stored in black plastic bags until completely decayed, placed in your red bin or buried. Care needs to be taken when using this method of control as plantlets may detach from the leaves during removal and establish as new plants. Regrowth will therefore occur and follow-up treatment is a must.

Once removal of the infestation is complete the infested area should be revegetated with more desirable plants to provide competition to future mother of millions seedlings and plantlets.

For more information on bushland gardening check out the Bonza Bushland Gardening Guide.

PANIC ATTACK!

Panic grass was renamed to Guinea grass, (Megathyrsus maximus). As you might have guessed, it comes from Africa. It was introduced as a fodder species in northern Australia but is causing big problems in our area.

Guinea grass is a coloniser of disturbed sites, including roadsides, and will settle itself happily in our yards, invading lawns and choking out other vegetation. It is robust, carrying hundreds of seeds on each flower head and threatening our bushland by sheer weight of numbers.

It is a large, clumping, long-lived grass that can grow up to 3m tall. Its long narrow leaves are very large, up to 1m long, and 3.5cm wide. Its stem can be quite hairy. It has a large, much-branched seed head, 15-50 cm long, that has large numbers of flower spikelets which form seed that are green or purplish and drop to the ground in great numbers when ripe. Guinea Grass is flowering profusely now and through to late summer with masses of small rounded purple seeds.

Pic.John Sharples

We can keep Guinea Grass under control by mowing it before it sets seed and ensuring seed heads are binned. Of course the more effective control is removal, easily achieved, as the roots are quite shallow, a gentle tug by holding the base of the plant usually does the trick, or a garden knife to sever the roots. Again, the imperative is to make sure seed heads are not left anywhere on the ground.

As with all weeds we have green and red bin options available and this has helped enormously is reducing the amount of garden waste dumped in to our reserves.

Let’s all pull together, for a healthier Coal Point!

Formosa Lily is about to bloom

After years of methodical removal of Formosa lily flowers from our bushland the odd plant or two still manages to emerge over summer. If the flower gets pollinated hundreds of seeds form, get blown on the wind and the process continues.

The flower buds are forming now and it’s time to crack-on and get this garden escape out of the bush. If you like cut flowers feel free to collect this ornamental and scented flower and take it home, just leave enough of the stalk so the landcarers can remove the garlic like bulb.

If you’d like to have a go at removing the whole plant to give the bush a breather there’s an instructional video that the local landcarers put together on the website- Formosa foe not friend.

So long Senna…it’s pod-picking time

What’s bright and yellow and given half a chance will spread throughout your garden and the local bushland? Cassia, also known as Winter Senna, botanical name Senna pendula var glabrata.

Its yellow flower-heads were a visual treat a month or so ago but now the flowers are gone the cylindrical green bean-like pods are drooping with intent. Soon they’ll burst open and spread the 20-40 seeds amongst your garden and then eventually into the bush as the birds, bugs and beasties carry them off.

So what’s the harm in a few lovely yellow flowers? They spread and keep spreading, replacing the native plants and eventually changing the whole plant community if not controlled.

Controlling it is easy and very doable, if it’s in bloom now, you can’t miss it.

If you’re really fond of your Senna, responsible plant ownership is needed. After it’s finished blooming pluck off the seed pods and put them in the bin.

If you want to remove the plant permanently, they are easy to dig out, especially now the soil is so moist, just make sure you get all the roots. Being a very weedy species you’ll probably have to go back over the area a few times to deal with the seedlings but they pull out very easily.

There are some very clear pictures of all life stages of the plant available online

http://www.iewf.org/weedid/Senna_pendula.htm

NOT IN OUR BACKYARD! But in a vase..beautiful.

Free bunch of Formosa flowers available from your local bushland. 

Do you remember our formidable foe the Formosa Lily?

Throughout the cool months, the aggressive invaders have been lying in wait underground, in the form of a garlic-like bulb. In spring the new green stalks grow surreptitiously among the greenery, but by January it is difficult not to notice the tall, waving trumpet-shaped white flowers of the elegant Taiwan (or Formosa) Lily along our peninsula. Before summer is gone, hundreds of tissue light seeds will burst from their pods and be carried by the breeze to surrounding bushland, backyards and gardens.

Unfortunately, these weeds have no enemies in the world of nature and can proliferate unimpeded. Thank goodness for the many local residents who have been working hard to arrest their spread. One reported that the goal of a lily-free garden was in sight, executed a few at a time over a period of weeks. Action such as this is so heartening, because, as Coal Point is almost an island, the Landcare team see this as a winnable war.

Removing the complete bulb requires care as each scale of the bulb will form a new plant if dropped. When you dig them up, it is best to bag them and put them into the landfill garbage bin. A handy picture guide to removal is still available online .

If digging isn’t your thing just cutting off the flowers before they seed will slow their progress for at least this year. Just a reminder, too, while the secateurs are out, to snip the seed heads from finished Agapanthus to prevent unwanted new young plants in the local bushland.

The elegant Formosa Lily does have an innocuous look-alike in the beautiful November Lily. The greatest difference is the November Lily’s contentment in staying right where it has been planted!

What weed is that?

Mickey Mouse plant is not a Mickey Mouse weed. It’s a truly tough one!

Ochna, unripe seed

Ochna with ripe seed, the birds love it.

Ochna serrulata has been introduced from South Africa. It is a hardy shrub to 2m high, commonly seen along Coal Point and invading our fragile bushland. It is dispersed into bushland by birds and through dumping. 

Its yellow flowers and attractive bright red and black berries are eye catching, but belie its noxious status and the struggle required to uproot it. It has an extended taproot that breaks easily when hand pulled. Pruning off spent flowers before they
form seed will slow dispersal. However, the most successful control is by scraping the stem near the base for 6-8cm and painting immediately with undiluted glyphosate (Round Up). 

Hairy Clerodendrum is a great substitute,
the birds like this one too, and so does the bushland

Some native alternatives are Native Fuschia (Correa species and cultivars), Christmas Bush (Ceratopetalum gummiferum), or Hairy Clerodendrum (Clerodendrum tomentosum). If you “go local” you will notice that your garden blends into the local environment better, it will be lower maintenance, should require less water and will provide habitat and food for local wildlife. 

For a European style garden roses, camellias, azaleas and hydrangeas have been in used for a long time and shown no inclination to escape or compromise our bushland beyond the back fence.

BUT WHICH BLACK-EYED SUSAN?

The Invader- Black-eyed Susan

Up along the ridge, our beautiful, threatened Black-eyed Susan, Tetratheca juncea, will be thinking about budding with its pendant blue flowers soon.

Meanwhile, 'the Other' Black-eyed Susan, the Invader, is running rampant through the edges of our bushland and along the foreshore at Threlkled. She is Thunbergia alata, a slender vine that grows about 4m long. She is native to Eastern Africa, and has become an invasive weed species in Australia.

Her bright yellow-orange flowers, with a striking black centre, certainly catch the eye. Her leaves are roughly triangular to heart-shaped, with soft fine hairs and broadly toothed margins.

Roots form at the nodes of the stem when they come into contact with the soil, anchoring the plant and forming new plants. Of course, seeds are also dispersed and germinate far too successfully!

Black-eyed Susan will escape from gardens into bushland and be a huge threat to native vegetation. To keep her under control, gently hand-pull or dig young plants, or spray larger plants.

Good non-invasive native alternatives to Black-eyed Susan are the golden snake vine (Hibbertia scandens) or rich purple native sarsaparilla (Hardenbergia violacea).

The Threatened species Black-eyed Susan

Formosa Lily- Elegant but Evil

The Formosa (Taiwan) Lily is again raising its beautiful but wicked head along Coal Point and in many gardens and backyards. 

This white weed is choking out native vegetation in many bushland areas around Lake Macquarie and spreads at an amazing rate. 

Hand weeding is the best option for home gardeners. Remove the bulb, taking care not to leave any bulb scales in ground. You may have to remove some of the surrounding soil to catch small bulb-lets that break away from the parent plant. At the very least, cut down the flowering stem before the plant sets seed, as the hundreds of papery seeds in each flower can travel quite a distance. 

A big bunch of Formosa flowers makes a very attractive floral arrangement and prevents the seed set.

Locals Lois Simpson and John Sharples have compiled a handy picture guide to removal which can also be viewed below. 
There is a Grow Me Instead guide which offers up some non invasive alternatives. 
Burkes Backyard did an exposé on the weed as well.

The 'movie' above has a new slide every 10 seconds...lots of time to contemplate the issue

Solarisation of weeds.

Have you ever had a patch of weeds and wanted to get rid of them without chemicals?

Have you ever had so many weeds your green waste bin was full?

There’s a solution to both these problems that is being successfully utilised around our local reserves…solarisation of weeds.

The Weekend Gardener says it succinctly “Solarisation is a simple nonchemical technique that captures the radiant heat and energy from the sun and causes physical, chemical, and biological changes in the soil. These changes lead to control, or suppression, of soilborne plant pathogens such as fungi, bacteria, nematodes, and pests along with weed seeds and seedlings”.

Local landcarers will be using this technique to prepare the planting site for National Tree day at Gurranba reserve. It will involve laying and securing black plastic over the area to be treated for 4-6 weeks, heating up the soil and killing off a range of weed seeds and pathogens prior to planting.

The technique has also been used to compost weed material on landcare sites saving both time and resources in trying to remove a lot of weed material. You may have noticed the black solar sausage rolls in some of our reserves. The rolls heat up and compost the contents allowing the nutrients and organic matter that was incorporated into the weed material to be returned to the reserve in a non-invasive form.