We have three different approaches to our current weed plan: Firstly, removal of 3 weed species from the whole lower Stony Creek site, undertaking a complete weed sweep (Site Focused). Performing site specific/ weed specific weeding (using Bradley’s technique and dealing with only specific weeds). Thirdly, creating a pristine demonstration zone; involving intensive weeding, including those weeds outside our main focus.

1. Weed Focused Plan.

We have selected three weeds/weed situations that we intend on eliminating throughout our whole site. We decided upon this approach because these 3 weeds posed the greatest threat in the shortest amount of time, and therefore a plan to eliminate them first was required.

Weed 1 - Ivy that has managed to climb up into the tree canopy (English and Cape): Ivy high up in the trees threatened the life of some of our Eucalyptus and Acacia trees and was also deemed to be fairly easy to control in a short time.

Weed 2 - Broom that is in flower: As broom is a prolific seeder and was just starting to produce flowers when we initiated our activities, we decided that we would eliminate all mature and semi-mature plants before they became a threat. We spent the first 5 session removing hundreds of Montpellier Broom plants (and a small amount of English Broom).

Weed 3 - Bridal Creeper: Bridal Creeper is an incredibly invasive weed and a potential threat to the creek. Last Spring only about 7 instances of Bridal Creeper were located, all of which were fairly small plants. We decide to concentrate on Bridal Creeper and totally eliminated it from our area. Plants are dug out by hand and stakes and ropes are placed around the area, with an identifying label attached. Markers will be kept in place and rechecked for new growth several times a year for about two years.

2. Site Focused Plan

We are currently undertaking a Site Focused plan (as part of the Bradley’s Technique) which emphasises weeding in areas of the least damage and gradually moving into more difficult areas. We have started at the bottom of Stony Creek removing all of the weeds in our Weed Target List. We will start to do some planting while we weed, leaving the majority of planting until we are confident that we have controlled the weeds in given areas.

3. Pristine Demonstration Zone:

A small area has been cordoned off with ropes (approx 15m * 15m) and will be weeded intensively. This means that manual removal of weeds that may not be practical on a larger scale (such as Onion Grass) will be attempted. The area is directly behind our notice board, which is where most of our group’s activities are initiated from, and is directly in front of the council reserve. This should act as a motivator to other members of our community, as it has high visibility and is presently particularly weedy.