This year we managed to plant approximately 2,360 plants, comprising thirty species, in the three main revegetation sites (Gulpa, Wanganella and Monimail).
Another 400 plants were grown for other revegetation sites around the district.
Species planted included Callitris gracilis, Eremophila longifolia, Dodonaea attenuata, Casuarina luehmanni, Melaleuca lanceolata, Hakea tephrosperma and leucoptera, Myoporum platycarpum, Geijera parviflora, Santalum acuminatum, Jasminum lineare and six acacias: brachybotrya, hakeoides, ligulata, rigens, victoriae and salicina.
In early July this year I had a metre-wide strip, several kilometres long, sprayed with herbicide at the Wanganella and Monimail sites. Planting started on 16 July after the first decent rain of the year fell in June. (Deniliquin recorded just over three inches of rain in the first half of the year and I was hoping for better things in the latter half).
With help from Steve Seymour we put in about 1440 plants, guarded with milk cartons, at the Wanganella site; 410 plants at the Monimail site on the Hay Road; and 370 at the Gulpa site. A couple of weeks later I planted another 135 plants at Wanganella. There was no time for watering-in the plants as the outback trip was about to start so without a shred of confidence it was left in the hands of Zeus.
It wasn’t just lack of precipitation that challenged us at Wanganella — we had weekend hooligans chasing kangaroos across the sandhill, smashing not only the recently planted trees but also established plants. A padlock on the gate put a stop to that caper. The kangaroos showed a distinct lack of gratitude by chewing the milk cartons, pulling them off and sometimes pulling out the plant. To counter this I made wire stakes bent at the top which hold the cartons down, then put two bamboo stakes in each carton. This helps but the problem is not entirely solved.
Only a small amount of rain fell in August, a bit over an inch in September and very little in October and early November. Add to this, purportedly the worst heatwave ever recorded for November. (Ten of the first twenty days of November were over 100 degrees on the old scale). So much for putting your faith in Greek gods.
All these factors brought about the demise of about half the new plants at the Wanganella site.
However, at least an inch and a half of rain fell on 22 November, with another two-thirds of an inch in the following week*, and at the time of writing (2 December 2009) the remaining plants looked good and were putting out new growth. (I don’t allow myself to be too excited by that as good rain fell in November and December 08, followed by a severe dry spell and a heatwave in February that killed nearly all of last year’s plantings — it is not easy saving the world).
Plants have fared much better at the Monimail site. This plot comprises sandy loam that has a wonderful capacity for holding moisture. New and older plantings are currently growing like mad here and the long-term survival rate is much higher than the Wang sandhill.
Contrary to ‘normal’ weather patterns, the Gulpa site south of town has not received as much rain as has fallen to the north of Deniliquin. About a third of this year’s plantings have been lost but the surviving plants should be okay
There’s been quite a few black honeyeaters at the Gulpa site feeding on flowering Eremophila longifolia. I had not recorded black honeyeaters south of Deniliquin prior to this year.
Superb parrots have been feeding on the green seedpods of Acacia pycnantha and Acacia hakeoides. The motivation for creating this plot was to provide a food source for the superbs so it’s particularly pleasing to see them using it.
* There were several thunderstorms north of Deniliquin in November so the actual rainfall was probably greater than that recorded by the Bureau of Meteorology in Deniliquin.