An Improved Appearance - Junee Cave Reserve Planting

Saturday 17 December 2016

A grant was received from NRM South to buy plants, tree guards and stakes to plant out a degraded area beside the car park and new track to Junee Cave. We decided to wait until the very wet ground conditions abated before planting, but when we arrived it was surprising how dry the soil had become.

Most of the party at Junee Cave site

The site is often abused by visitors who drive onto the surrounding area making it look unsightly, and there is ample evidence of camp fires.  Two large logs were placed at the edge of the car park to prevent vehicle entry and then the open area planted out, mostly with Tea-tree, but a grouping of Melaleuca squamae was placed nearer the walking track and the other species Dogwood,  was  mostly toward the back and sides. 

Two types of plant guard were used and it will be interesting to see if there is any difference of growth and plant resilience between them. An open steel mesh type (cost with 2 stakes $5.13 each) was used on about two thirds of the plants and a PVC model (cost with 3 stakes $3.02 each) on the remainder.  Both are taller than standard sized ones used in past in an effort to make it harder for wallabies to browse.

At work on planting with the two styles of tree guards Adrian, John, Sabine, Trevor & Gaye

It was most noticeable that two invading plant species are on the march towards the State reserve, namely Foxgloves and Oxeye daisy.  Norske Skog pine plantation land and beyond has masses of Oxeye daisy.  The Oxeye is very close and having a healthy native vegetation in the reserve is very helpful in combatting both these invaders.

The weather was predicted to be somewhat unpleasant but it was quite reasonable when we arrived. At morning break a few light drops fell but nothing came of it and some sun returned. Just as the work finished and packing up started a somewhat more substantial shower fell, so luck was with us. Following the work, we returned to the Mount Field visitor centre for a BBQ lunch provided by staff in appreciation of the group’s efforts during the year. The annual meeting of the Friends of Mount Field was also held during lunch

There is a photo album online

A detailed report on the project is at thislink. 

Junee Cave carpark revegetation project 

Funded by NRM South   with a  Naturally Inspired Bite-sized grant

This project has been supported by NRM South through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Programme