Bushcare Hewitts Creek

Flan again  Coop 3 Meet at the surf club carpark, again (8:30am). Rubbish is to be collected into separate bags. Make piles of it, then someone will bag it and take it to the street bins. Restrict the use of the white woven plastic bags to vegetable matter. The main job is  Asparagus Fern.  There is a lot on this site, but don't touch any growing on the top of the sand cliffs. Reading the Wollongong Environment and Conservation Volunteer News (2026 Autumn) we hear about the nearby Wombarra Bushcare group "crowning asparagus" by just removing the woody growing point or corm. This action limits the soil disturbance while also reducing the amount needed to be bagged to just that corm. The other bits can go into any open areas.  The crowing tool is a Jab Saw  or the cheaper one above is a Craftright 150mm wallboard saw .  They are both made for poking holes through plaster board walls. They are priced below $10, a good idea considering that the saw will quickly...

Coop 3 Flanagans We will be restricting our activities to only Coop 3 at Thirroul Beach. We have left it alone so far. There are reasons why the other coops and neigbouring areas will be left out of activities. New meeting place; the north side of the Thirroul Surf Club. Those driving should park near or in the surf club parking area.  In order of how much of these weeds there are on that site: Asparagus  - there are two types in the coop. See the video above for the technique to remove it from sandy soil. Note: the key thing is to do one and only, one plant at a time Get EVERY frond not just some of them. Twist and pull, then shake. Bag the whole plant, don't chase the tubers. Start with the small plants on their own and build to larger plants and tangled plants. Lantana . Do not attack whole plants, they are habitat.  Use secuteurs to only  remove branches that are competing with native plants. Coastal morning glory  - bag everything. Observe and decide ...

Flanagans if Not Rained Off  Most work tomorrow will be along the north bank of the creek & onto the first section of back beach:   Morning Glory ,  Fennel,  Bidens  & rubbish. There's some cleaning up of rubbish within the three coupes & some weeding of our planted area in the northern one.  2025 Weed of the week Ehrharta erecta   (or Panic Veldt-grass) is along the track on the creekside of Hewitts Creek and is too widespread to target complete removal. Just bag large specimens (in full seed) and any of the grass that is competing with native plants.   Flowering Cassias at Woodlands Ck can be removed & then its to the back of the Blady Grass for a weed salad or over to Manifest Destiny for attack on various regrowths. Given the rain forecast there should be no cut & paint tomorrow. Might also dig up a few unfortunately positioned Sandpaper Figs for relocation or temporary nursery. Check out previous years for jo...

Quiet Little Drink  If you arrive early and bring a spade we can dig out that bike. Down along  Woodlands Creek is a weed forest (inc.  Montbretia and Bidens Pelosa ) so that's where tomorrow's first worksite will be except for those we delegate on a mission into WARC territory to deal with other miscreants on the way. There are also some small jobs in the  Blady Grass  areas inc.  Purpletop , Fleabane  and the occasional  Lily .  Some struggling plantings needing TLC +water At  Manifest Destiny  there needs to be some selective track clearing to access the Madeira Vine  around and under the cardboard. Stone  Road/Boge Massacre sites have scattered  Purpletop .   2025 Flanagans Creek   We have been officially authorised to begin work at Flanagans Creek & we are part of the New Imperialist Zeitgeist imperilling the Old World Order, and we start tomorrow. I will have the Official Bushcare Sign...

Flanagans tidy up Join us at the Flanagans site at 8.30. December is a 5 Monday month, morning will be cool so hopefully no crowd, & there was quite a bit of rubbish there this morning, plus some Lantana regrowth that needs work   It is that time when the Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo (Zanda funerea) passes through. 2024 Tough week to endure We return to the Stony Rd & Ted's Patch for a bit more weeding & watering & there's more work along the edge of Woodlands Ck. After that its time to fold up & stack the "Lounge Area", if its still there, and I'll report it to WCC for removal.  Some fallen timber to cut up/re-locate & a lesson in dealing with Madeira Vine awaits over by Hewitts Ck. Also new plantings need water.  

 Chance of Showers for Return to Flanagans Three main sites to choose from: Coupe 3 has a lovely collection of Cacti in the north-east corner; about 25 of the little spiky monsters to be dug out & bagged. Our planted area requires careful weeders to extract  Morning Glory , Asparagus & Lantana , especially where close to our little treasures. There's also a regrowth Norfolk Is. Hibiscus to be  dealt with. The North side of Flanagans Ck has quite a bit of  Morning Glory with its big purple flowers on show. Pulling & bagging or scraping & poisoning needed in various spots between the bridge & the shelter shed. There's an evil red flowered spiky thing and Fennel further east & then concentrated  Morning Glory  & Asparagus at the back of the beach.  2024 Planting in our Narrow Strip Some Sandpaper Figs will go into Manifest Destiny. A peculiar Trowel may well appear to place some of these darlings into the ground. We ...

Crossing the Flanagans   A crossing of waterways is not for the faint of heart, but tomorrow its the Flanagans for some of us. Ok, we did in the Castor Oils 3 weeks ago but this time we're taking on the small stuff;  Morning Glory , Turkey Rhubarb , Fennel  and  Bidens .  The bank is steep in places so good grip footwear will help. While we're at it we may run into 2 local families, the Wagtails & the Moorhens who both appear to have bred along the creek this Spring. Other options will include:  the usual post-sunny Sunday clean up,  removal of regrowth  Morning Glory   & Asparagus around our plantings plus some water for  those plantings. cutting off dead poisoned Asparagus branches to clear space for plantings to come 2024 So Much Happening We will have two groups in Manifest Destiny cutting back Cassia (& painting if its dry) plus continuing our "nesting" behaviour to reduce our woodpile. Another intrepid group with seca...

New Frontier or Two  Returning to Flanagans Creek . Our advice is to let the sprayed Asparagus wither on the plant for a further time so work inside the 3 coupes back of the beach will be limited to regrowth Morning glory &  Asparagus +  Turkey Rhubarb   where its showing. And general clean-up if needed. Alycia has encouraged us to start work up the creek where feasible: there's a large Castor Oil plant up by the bridge & some invasive vines along the north bank. Won't really know what we're up against until we have a close look. I'll bring extra bags again and if the rain holds off a few litres of water will be happily taken in by our plantings.  Castor Oil plant 2024 Actions on offer include: the Stonecrop spot Honeysuckle flowering east of cycleway Lilies & Cassia just south of Woodlands Ck Cutting up a fallen dead Banksia near Condons Cnr Wading into the Cassia etc east side of Manifest Destiny Ditch edges 2023 Jobs  Conditions are good ...

Flanagans Crk - 5th week (every month) Water recent plantings Rubbish collection after weekend Roll up Morning glory regrowth Lantana regrowth Attack asparagus if no spraying has been done, use tie-up technique to prepare for spraying Avoid relocation Bower bird bower Choppers into third coop 2024 Likely events Montbretia is shooting. Crofton and Fireweed are flowering. Turkey Rhubarb will soon flower.

Once More Unto the Beach We have only 20 tubestock to plant towards the creek end so much of our time will be devoted to ASPARAGUS ! Flanagans creek has turned south for 80 m on reaching the beach, leaving a 2m sand cliff just east of the vegetation. WCC had roped off the access paths last Friday.  The Bower has been re-sited by Mr Satin, now a bit further east & only visible to bending bottle collectors. I also saw a basking Eastern  Water Dragon & 2 beautiful male Variegated Wrens with their extended family.   2024 You'll never weed alone Task sheet to come. Crofton and Fireweed will flower, Montbretia will shoot. 2023 Watering, snakes & Heat Warning The priority will be watering from Woodlands Ck of nearby plantings, also some water for our plantings either side of the track. The forecast is for it to climb to 27-28 degrees by 11am so the main focus will be shady work in Manifest Destiny -- some cutting & painting, some Cape Ivy ; Cassia weeding an...

Back To Flanagans The low areas at Hewitts Crk are still under water & there is mud elsewhere. Flanagans will be considerably drier with its sand base. Choppers & Morning Glory gleaners can proceed to cleanse more of Coupe 2 while Asparagites continue their slow push south. Judging by McCauleys Beach there may also be some beach cleaning required. We'll bring extra bags.  Weed of the week Ehrharta erecta The species has been used for birdseed, and in ecological restoration such as dune stabilization. However, it has become an invasive weed in many parts of the world. It flowers and seeds throughout the year, and its seeds germinate rapidly, forming new plants in only a few weeks. This weed is so widespread that all we can do is remove the visible seeds and clear away any of it that is in competion with native plants. 2024 Planting tomorrow  Most of the sites will be towards Woodlands Ck where salt water isn't a problem so if we all bring a watering can/bottle refills...

Flanagans Creek In the absence of leadership we will share some self-directed weeding at Flanagans Creek. 2024 Success with Bushcare required Lisa's site needs considerable work tomorrow. Gary's "seawall held up well against the big seas. There are a series of 1.9m tides from tonight. There's more to do at Andrew's Amnesia, a small Lantana chop up the dirt track, protection for our Treefern to be installed & some Lilies to be hunted down. 2023 The monarch of weeds, Madeira Vine .  Now we can be a real Bushcare Group engaged in a never-ending battle with Anredera cordifolia. Its on Lisa's site, probably floated in when the lagoon was at its highest, and it becomes our top priority because it never sleeps, can grow 10m in one Spring/Summer & is extremely difficult to eradicate. Great care needed. Intrepid choppers may have some work nearby because the lagoon level has dropped a bit and long loppers may be able to reach the skywards stretch of some big...