One of the magpies checking out Leila, or seeing if she has any food of interest – photo by Mary Clarkson

Whilst the day was overcast, it was good to work in cooler weather.

As we walked up to the top of the headland, we checked the hang glider site, which has remedial works done on it after last winter’s rain. There are now Bitou Bush clumps growing in the hessian matting. The plants are showing Bitou tip moth which eats out the shoots and stunts growth for a while.

Bitou with tip month

This morning’s focus was mature Asparagus Fern which is deeply entangled with natives and thick grass. No fruit but lots of flowering evident. The effort to dig out 4 crowns and expose a large crown. Given the drizzly weather, I’ll treat the large crown with glyphosate next time.

The Asparagus is growing inside the large Dianella clump and is impossible to dig out- so will paint glyphosate on its stems next time.

Aspargus in clump of Dianella – challenging to remove

We have the same problem with Asparagus in the Correa alba clump – see photo below. This will probably require glyphosate as well, otherwise there is no way to remove the weed without damaging the native plant.

Aspargus in a correa alba

Julie checked the Asparagus clump which was treated a month ago. Most of the crown is dead but a section has regrown slightly stunted leaves.

Aspargus reshooting after poison last month

Julie’s haul of aspargus rhyzomes

We hope this is not a rabbit hole

We had morning tea with a beautiful view over the ocean. It was nice to chat to our new members.

Morning tea on the western slope

As per usual the magpies came to visit and check to see if we had any snacks for them.

Inquisitive magpie

After morning tea we continue working in the quiet drizzle, with Lisa working on the Oat grass and Merrilyn working on the ever-growing Bitou.

It was a nice morning overall and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. We had a good turn up, and everyone stayed despite the on and off drizzle all morning. Below are some more photos of the morning’s activity.

Text by Julie Whitfield.