The Unique Challenges of the Ruffy Tableland

14/11/2010

Ruffy Tablelands .

This is a large scale regetation project across a west facing slope with lots of granite rocks , remnant trees and very little understorey other than long grass.

Gerry has completed the fencing and sheep are now excluded from the site.

We were sowing into a series of plateaux and terraces down the hillside.

A tractor had been used to clear pathways through the rocks and fallen timber.

The lines of seeding will be hercided after sowing .

This originally was a Cath Olive DPI Grant but due to staffing changes within the department Gerry was feeling abandoned and unsure of what & how things were supposed to happen !
25mm of rain fell the night before and the cape weed patches were very slippery.

You can see from the pics the problems we had going down the slope and then not being able to get back up without recovery straps and help from a tractor.

Thank goodness Gerry was able to be with us to guide us around this complicated site , we might have still been there without his help !

11kms of seeding.

Designing a Landscape for Bush Tender

10 October 2010
Cinnamon Cunningham's site at Fawcett out of Alexandra is an interesting project.
Bush Tender Grant through Cath Olive at DPI.
We had sown along parts of the creek line in 2007 but very few plants appear to have successfully germinated so far . The plan is to revegetate most of the 120ha property over a number of years with a combination of hand planting and direct seeding . Cinnamon & David run a few horses , four alpacas and one sheep called "Elliott" so there is plenty of long grass and weed covering the site. Lots of fog grass this year and not so much patto.
Because this was a Bush Tender grant the species mixes were very site specific :White Box Grassy Woodlands , Valley Grassy Forest & Swampy Riparian Woodland in three separate boxes and individual species packets .This meant we could match the seed to the landform we were sowing into and had more scope to design the landscape .
The site had been hand sprayed with herbicide along the contours. The wetter season has meant we arrived later than expected and the sprayed pathways were overgrowing in places .

The site was still boggy and we had to quickly retreat from the spring soak areas.

Scenic Seeding

November 24th 2010
Progress report : 6 weeks after sowing and the first seedlings are coming up .
The Egan site which was ripped and herbicided twice looks the best at this stage.
Natural regeneration of red gums is happening . The combination of large mature red gums &
warm bare moist soil create the idea conditions for forest of eucalyptus to emerge.
This burst of growth brings new management issues.

Richie Site

8th October 2010

The Mansfield District is home to some of our most successful direct seeding sites.
The local landcare groups really promote this type of revegetation .Erica Lowing is the driver of this project , she personally collects the seed used and supervises site preparation.


Shinns Site

Steven Shinns at Mansfield was so impressed with last years site he set aside another 1 ha to be seeded this year. He has beautiful soil with a high clay content . The soil was moist and a bit sticky in places causing plugging . Hillside site Steven herbicided the whole area . Last year the local red gums readily self-seeded in the sprayed parts of the sites . Private contract. Ercia treated the seed the night before , soaking it overnight & drying it with a hair drier.

Egan

Karen Egan at Mansfield , neighbour of Steve and Erica . Again Erica organised the seed and supervised the sowing .Gentle ridge top site of 1 ha. Sown to attract wildlife. Private contract.

The site was totally sprayed and deep ripped prior to sowing.

David Richie of Mansfield , 10ha of steep rocky hilltops. Ungrazed for 2 years , lots of cape weed and pasture grasses. Well prepared site , sprayed twice and just as well . Finding all of the herbicided paths was a challenging maze. This hilltop site provided us with spectactular views of the snow on Mt Buller , the Paps , Strathbogie Ranges , Mt Skien . 360 degree views!

Cath Olive DPI Grant.

Alexandra Autumn Sowing

21st May 2010
Cath Olive DPI Grant
Simone Elliott - Eildon Rd out of Alexandra.
This site had the potential to get very swampy over Winter so we got onto the site after the autumn break . Sticky clay soil .Tussocks , Slopping site . To be sprayed after we seeded. .8ha .