May 2018


Volume 45 No 4

26 May APS Meeting

Order of events for the day:

10-12 noon. Either

  1. Visit to Ian Cox’s garden
  2. Bush walk with Jennifer Farrer

12 noon – 1 pm. Lunchtime
1 – 1:30 pm. AGM
1:30 – 3 pm. Gathering with Guest speaker Peter Olde
3pm. Afternoon tea will be served

Lunch Options

The closest place for purchasing lunch is the Cherrybrook Shopping Centre, 41-47 Shepherds Drive, Cherrybrook.

Guest speaker

Peter Olde

Peter is a Life Member of APS NSW, recipient of the Australian Plants Award at the ANPSA Biennial Conference, Canberra 2015 and the leader of the Grevillea Study Group. He is an excellent and entertaining speaker who will discuss the current state of play regarding the relationships between the two genera. Peter is always keen to share his knowledge and will also discuss some of the new cultivars of Grevilleas.


2018 Regional AGM and Quarterly Gathering at Gumnut Hall Saturday, 26 May 2018

The next Regional APS quarterly gathering will be held in conjunction with the AGM on Saturday, 26 May.
The AGM and meeting is being hosted by our Parramatta-Hills Group at Gumnut Community Centre, Gumnut Place, Cherrybrook, NSW.
As most will know there is limited parking in Gumnut Place so please park in Gumnut Road and walk into Gumnut Place.

The day’s program from 10am – 12 noon is a choice between the following:

1. A visit to Ian Cox’s beautiful garden: 5 Ivy Place, Kenthurst (off Jones Road). Please park in Ivy Place as there is no parking on the property.

2. A relaxing Bush walk with Jennifer Farrer: Meet at the end of Trevor Lane, Cherrybrook, which runs off Purchase Road. The walk leads to an extensive stone outcrop which overlooks Pye’s Creek, where the large expanse of sandstone is a fun place to explore. The route passes through typical Hawkesbury sandstone vegetation – which includes Banksia serrata, Corymbia gummifera and Eucalyptus haemastoma. More Banksias such as Spinulosa, oblongifolia and B. marginata form the understorey. The main attraction of the walk in May when there isn’t much flowering, will be the scenic views along the walk.

1-1.30pm Regional APS Annual General Meeting. The agenda is on page 31, Native Plants for NSW, January 2018 or on the Society’s website at www.austplants.com.au

There will also be quality Australian native plants available for sale.


Creation of Barangaroo Park

An Early Drawing of Barangaroo

At our meeting on 28th April 2018 Stuart Pittendrigh treated us to an enthralling account of the landscape development of Barangaroo Park.

Before 1788, Barangaroo Park was a rocky headland, named after the wife of Benelong, for whom the site of the Sydney Opera House is named.

Initially our young colony used the area to grow crops. Later it housed a gasworks and then after other industrial and maritime uses, became a container wharf. After buildings were cleared, there was little sign of the form of the original landscape, only a flat concrete platform remaining.

Site of former Container Terminal before landscaping
Barangaroo transformed – after development

Today the site has been transformed. It is located between Walsh Bay to the east and Darling Harbour and the new Barangaroo Towers and Crown Resort to the south. There is still a large flat concrete area to the south of the park around the proposed Crown Hotel whose development Stuart tells us will include another smaller park area of non-native species all to be completed by 2023.

The total area of the site is about 15 acres. To the east – Merriman Street is 18m above the original level of the undeveloped site. To bring the landscaping up to that level, the Landscape Architects included a large performance space, carpark and water storage tank under the finished landscape. Despite this, 37,000 cubic metres of soil – all manufactured on site – was required as Sydney Mayor Clover Moore insisted “No trucks in Sydney CBD streets”. The soil was made from crushed sandstone out of the site, added nutrients and crushed glass to specifications of soil scientist Simon Leake.

The Cutaway- showing performance space, carparking and water storage under the landscaping – avoiding the need for a further 30,000 cubic metres of fill.

During site excavation, 10,000 sandstone blocks were “retrieved” – as the site could legally not be called a quarry. Each block was bar coded and computer modelled to check that when put in place, the spaces between the blocks were safe for walking or clambering over, with no need for fences or safety railings. Each one of the 10,000 blocks was placed in its exact location by a specially engineered machine. Initially, 7 blocks were placed per day, but with practice, the rate of placement increased to 77 blocks daily.

The landscapers aimed to “create a naturalistic parkland setting consisting of planting species indigenous to the locality and around Sydney Harbour”. Research revealed that the following most likely comprised the original canopy vegetation:

Angophora costata – Smooth bark apple
Corymbia gummifera – Red bloodwood
Eucalyptus pilularis – Blackbutt
E. piperita – Sydney peppermint gum
E. Haemastoma – Scribbly gum

In the moist gully locations the following occurred:

Acmena smithii – Lillypilly
E. tereticornis – Forest red gum
Glochidion ferdinandi – Cheese tree
Elaeocarpus reticulatus – Blueberry ash
Livistona australis – Cabbage palm

Finally, Ficus rubiginosa – Port Jackson fig – occurred on the sandstone outcrops along the shoreline. Although research did not reveal its presence on the site, F. Macrophylla was also used as it is likely to have been present.

The understory, shrub and ground cover generally comprised:

Acacia floribunda – Sally Wattle
A. longifolia – Sydney golden wattle
Banksia spinulosa – Hairpin banksia
Bauera rubioides – Dog rose
Callistemon citrons – Crimson bottlebrush
Correa reflexa – Native fuchsia
Lambertia formosa – Mountain devil
Leptospermum trinervium – Flaky-barked tea-tree
Lomandra longifolia – Mat rush
Grevillea buxifolia – Grey spider flower
G. sericea – Pink spider flower
Hakea teretifolia – Needle bush or Dagger hakea
Hibbertia scandens – Climbing guinea flower
Persoonia levis – Broad leaved geebung

The site was divided into seven Landscape Units according to environment, soil type and aspect. They were:

Ridgetop woodland
Heath & scrub
Open dry forest
Tall moist forest
Damp gully forest
Waterfront promenade
Headland Park open space

Each of these Landscape Units had its own set of plants. For example:

Damp gully forest during construction with some of the Waterfront promenade sandstone blocks to the left. Note full size Livistona australis – Cabbage palms – already in place.

The consultant’s brief for development of the site required them to create a naturalistic parkland setting, with species indigenous to Sydney harbourside areas. As mature trees were required so that the development would become established almost immediately, Stuart Pittendrigh with Soil Scientist Simon Leake developed a new strategy for planting advanced trees. Principally the system diverges from previous practice in using shallow but wide root balls.

The trees, such as the Ficus and Livistona species were grown to required size in ground and then with North marked, they were root pruned to a maximum of 2.4 m, bagged and temporarily water stressed to induce wilt so that with minor trimming and floppy limbs, the canopy could be pulled in to 3m in width for transport by truck. The trees were grown by specialist mature tree nurseries at a cost of up to $30,000 per tree and due to their size, trucked to the site early on Sunday mornings.

Ficus rubiginosa with 2000lt shallow and wide root ball being placed by crane.
Waterfront promenade with individually placed sandstone
blocks and mature F. macrophylla and F. rubiginosa trees

Development of new landscapes is often associated with a mortality rate of plantings of around 10% to 15%. Stuart was proud of his achievement of only 1% mortality, which he attributes to a number of strategies. Firstly, all plants were watered by hand before planting out and then hand watered for a long time afterwards. Only recently has hand watering been phased out. All areas of the site were planned carefully in relation to drainage and when a problem was detected it was corrected immediately. Inspection every month allowed problems to be detected early and corrected. Organic mulch was essential for plant establishment but now leaf litter has built up sufficiently that hand mulching is no longer required. Problems with people sitting under trees causing compaction and damaging the roots were avoided by using a particularly coarse wood chip mulch.

Path through a section of tall moist forest.

The growth rate of the new plants has been outstanding since planting. For example, 150mm pots of E. punctata have grown to between 4.5 and 5m tall. Understorey plantings have all grown well and expanded such that wildlife – insects birds and reptiles have moved in and multiplied significantly. A clear indication of success!

This success has been recognised internationally with the awarding in 2017 of the American Architecture Prize for Landscape Design of the Year from amongst a field of more than a thousand entries from 68 countries. In awarding the prize to Sydney’s newest harbour foreshore park, the American Architecture Prize jury said: “Barangaroo Reserve transforms a huge expanse of empty concrete into humane, usable space, marking the transformation of an industrialised site into a modern reinvention of its more sustainable past”.

This park has cost over $250,000 all of which was provided by the developers of Barangaroo with no funding from State Government or Council. Much of the impetus and direction for the planning came from former Prime Minister Paul Keating, who Stuart says, now has his eyes firmly on redevelopment of Goat Island.

During construction showing the Cutaway adjacent Merriman St with car parking and was storage underneath.

*All photos courtesy Stuart Pittendrigh


Calendar

May
Sat 26 11am to 4pm APS NSW AGM with guest speaker Peter Olde at Gumnut Hall

June
Mon 4 Deadline for Calgaroo news and articles
Wed 13 Propagation at Bidjiwong Community Nursery 10am to 1 pm
Sat 23 Bimonthly meeting at Gumnut Hall, Gumnut Place Cherrybrook at 2pm with guest speaker Michael Batley on “Bees and other Pollinators”

July
Sat 28 North Rocks Plant Sale 8:30am – 5:30pm


From North Shore Group

Topic 24 Eucalyptus, Angophora, Corymbia Talk – 9.45am Monday 2 July at Caley Centre, Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden, 420 Mona Vale Rd., St Ives. Fee $5 or $2 for APS members.

From the Notes on their web site:
Did you know that:

  • The fossil evidence for the first known Eucalypt is from the Tertiary 35-40 million years ago.
  • Myrtaceae is a very large family of over 140 genera and 3,000 species of evergreen trees and shrubs.
  • There are over 900 species of Eucalypts in the Family Myrtaceae in Australia.
  • In the Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden, the Eucalypts are represented in the 3 genera: Eucalyptus, Angophora & Corymbia.
  • The name Eucalyptus is derived from the Greek eu = well and kalyptos = covered.

Sydney’s endangered Turpentine – Ironbark Forests

Suburban Explorations

As some of you are aware, I have recently moved house and am now residing in Concord. On one of my first walks exploring the neighbourhood, I was surprised and delighted to discover Queen Elizabeth Park on Gipps Street Concord. The park has long been established but after a report in 1992 when a Management Plan was produced have some sections been fenced off to allow protection and regeneration of the Turpentine-Ironbark Forest.

As promised, the regenerating landscape has encouraged wildlife to return, so that the surrounding suburbs have a relatively wide range of birds inhabiting them.

Turpentines in Queen Elizabeth Park
Photo: Leone de Ferranti

Turpentine-Ironbark forests are one of six main indigenous forest communities of Sydney. It is typically found in the Inner West region and is amongst the three communities that have been classified as Endangered. The Australian Government classifies this forest type as Critically Endangered.

Only 0.5% of the original extent of this forest type remains and the remnants are heavily fragmented so it is heartening to find our inner city councils are treasuring the remnants and nurturing them.

While Turpentine-Ironbark forest prefers a fertile clay soil derived from shale, its range does not extend to drier Cumberland Plain Woodland or higher rainfall ridges where the also endangered Blue Gum High Forest occurs.

The main canopy trees in this forest community are Turpentine (Syncarpia glomulifera) and a number of species of Ironbark, including Grey Ironbark (Eucalyptus paniculata) and Blackbutt (Eucalyptus pilularis)

The NSW Scientific Committee listing of Turpentine Ironbark forests as Endangered includes a list of 70 species and notes that there are more varieties not included. It is clear that while Queen Elizabeth Park remnant does not have anywhere near this variety but that over time and with careful management more of the variety may return.

Species evident in the park, as well as those mentioned above include White Stringybark (E. globoidea) underneath which can be found weeping Meadow Grass (Microlaena stipoides), Wiregrass (Aristida vagans), Wallaby Grass (Danthonia tenuior), Entolasia marginata, Hedghog Grass (Echinopogon caespitosus), Lomandra filiformis, and Pseuderanthemum variable.


Victorian APS Event

Showcasing Goodeniaceae at the

12th FJC Rogers Seminar to be held in Horsham, Victoria 20-21st October.

For details visit:
apsvic.org.au/fjc-rogers-seminar

Goodeniaceae Dampiera marifolia, from Annuello, Victoria

Keynote speaker Dr Kelly Shepherd, Senior Research Scientist based in Perth, whose interests include the ‘salt- loving’ samphires.

Guest speaker Brendan Lepschi from Australian National Herbarium talking about his interests in Melaleuca, Santalaceae and Goodeniaceae. Guest speaker Neville Walsh, Senior Conservation Botanist at Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria.

Sunday includes garden tours to Wartook Gardens


Garden of Royce & Jeanne Raleigh

Wartook Gardens

2866 Northern Grampiams Road, Wartook, Victoria

In 1973, 70 acres of open farmland was purchased and during 1974 Royce & Jeanne built their own home and initially rabbit proofed a 100metre square to begin a garden. Planting began in 1975 with over 600 plants carted up from Melbourne. Our aim was to create a garden that would show off plants to visitors and have paths and grass areas between beds to gradually create areas where we could attempt to grow a wide range of plants from all over Australia. Jeanne’s English background ensured that we would have quite an exotic area of garden as well.

The garden was soon extended to cover the 5 acres it is today, with rabbit and kangaroo proof fencing. With many trips to parts of eastern and western Australia, as well as many visits to nurseries, we have sourced a range of plants, so that today we grow many species that are simply not available in today’s nurseries. Jeanne, as our propagator, has grown many thousands of plants from both seed and cuttings over the years.

We started growing Hakeas from seed in the late 1960’s as Fred Rogers assured us that they were “reliable”. On our first trip to WA in the mid – 1970’s, Jeanne fell in love with all the wonderful blues of the Goodeniaceae. We now have lots of blue in the garden.

We lost over 2000 plants in the 1982-3 drought and many have been unable to be replaced. We lost all our fencing and a portion of the garden in the 2014 January Grampians fire.

Frosts are a big problem and we can have up to 30 per year.

For drainage, gutters have been dug around garden beds and paths excavated. Our rainfall is approximately 500mm, with winter rainfall and very long dry spells in the warmer months, with temperatures often above 40 degrees. We need to water in dry periods.

The logging of garden bed edges and mulching with scoria, has kept the soil cooler and enabled a much greater range of plants to be grown.

*Photos by Royce Raleigh.


Some differences between the 3 genera of Eucalypts:

Eucalypts are very diverse and widespread gum, peppermint, ironbark, stringybark, mahogany, ash, blackbutt, box, tallowwood. Fruit is a woody capsule, size variable, not ribbed or toothed, variable shape.

Corymbia are diverse and widespread bloodwoods, spotted gums, lemon scented gums and ghost gums. Fruit: Many have typical “bloodwood” shape. No teeth, not ribbed.

Angophora are a well defined group with a small number of species. Found mainly in NSW, QLD, VIC. Commonly called “apples”. Fruit are a ribbed capsule of thin texture with 4-5 teeth on the rim.


Living Sustainably Free Walks & Workshop Series

These FREE workshops are run by The Hills Shire Council and are available to all residents of The Hills.

Places are limited and bookings are essential at: thehillsenvironment.eventbrite.com.au

Monitoring Change

Thursday, 31 May, 10am—11.30am

Monitoring changes in our natural environment provides an indicator on how the climate is changing. Learn different methods for measuring and recording these changes.

This workshop is at Community Environment Centre, Currie Avenue, Annangrove Park, Annangrove 2156

Rouse Hill Walk

Saturday, 31 May, 10am -12 pm

Get to know your local reserves and why it is important to conserve our bushland and waterways.

Leptospermum ‘Mesmer Eyes’

In flower now:

Leptospermum ‘Mesmer Eyes’

Photo by Kevin Stokes of the Newcastle Group in a Hunter Valley garden.


Choosing a Potted Plant

by Gordon Brooks

When choosing a potted plant for your garden avoid:

  • very tall, bare stemmed plants with leaves only at the top;
  • root-bound plants – very carefully tip the plant out of its pot to ensure the roots are healthy;
  • any that look droopy and may have a disease, been over- watered, or allowed to dry out.

For preference select a plant which :

  • has been tip-pruned and is beginning to bush out – it is more likely to have a good root system and become an attractive, compact specimen;
  • is still small (in a 75mm or a 100mm pot, larger if it is ultimately a large shrub or tree) – it will more quickly acclimatise to your soil and quickly catch up to plants that are in a larger pot;
  • will grow in the position you propose to plant it as regards the type of soil and the amount of sun, wind and frost, if applicable, it will receive – some plants are susceptible to a local microclimate so record the details of your planting for later evaluation, if necessary.

When planting ensure you dig a hole larger than your pot to provide for root growth, particularly if your soil is compacted. Add some slow release fertiliser and some water retention crystals and water for the first few weeks, depending upon the weather. Don’t over-water but ensure the water is sufficient for it to drain down to the bottom of the hole to encourage the roots to grow down. Surface roots lead to an unstable shrub which is unable to feed properly because the feeder roots dry out.


Birds in Your Garden

by Gordon Brooks

Most folk who grow native plants hope to attract native birds to their garden.
Some points to note, as related in a former issue of Calgaroo, are :-

  • Introduced plants should not be used as birds that feed on these plants may aid their spread into the native bush.
  • Artificial sources of food should be avoided as these encourage native birds to develop a dependence upon humans and thus reduce ability to utilise their natural food sources.

Dependent chicks, for example, do not learn how to feed on natural foods and may also develop nutritional deficiencies. In addition, artificial foods are more likely to attract introduced species of birds.

  • Plants should be selected to provide as wide a range of food types, shelter types and levels of vegetation. In this way you will increase the variety of wildlife that will be attracted to your garden. For example, areas of trees without a shrub layer or with only Grevilleas with large flowers will attract mainly Noisy Miners which in turn will repel most other birds.
  • To prevent introduced birds from entering the garden you will need to duplicate the bush setting as near as possible. For example, the best way to keep out Indian Mynas is to avoid planting lawns which are their favourite feeding sites.

There are many references should you wish to seek more detailed information.


Actinotus forsythia – Flannel Flower

This is the Pink Flannel Flower which Lloyd Hedges has brought into cultivation. It is native to the Blue Mountains and south coast areas. It is a more or less prostrate herb with stems to about 50 cm long and is an annual. It has inflorescences with pink flowers surrounded by white bracts which is the main attraction. Grows well in a pot with good drainage and will grow in rockeries and sandy beds.

*Photo from Waratahs & Flannel Flowers Study Group courtesy of the Sutherland Group Editor, Peter Shelton


Call of the Reed Warbler

I am currently reading a fascinating book, indirectly about native Australian flora and ecology. ‘Call of the Reed Warbler’ was written by Charles Massy, who is a life-long farmer who runs a successful merino stud in the Southern Highlands of NSW. He brings together the learnings of many influential, controversial and forward thinking individuals in the field of Regenerative Agriculture and questions traditional farming methods that have long worked against nature rather than in harmony with our unique Australian ecology and landscape. More on this fascinating book in next month’s newsletter! ed.


A Brief History of Eucalypts

The 18th & 19th centuries were periods of extensive land exploration in Australia. Enormous numbers of specimens of native flora were collected and ended up in England.

The first recorded scientific collection of Australian flora was made by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, during Sir James Cook’s 1st voyage to Botany Bay in April 1770.

From 1800-1810, George Caley collected widely in N.S.W with exceptional skill and knowledge in his observations, superb preservation of plant specimens, extensive records and fluent expression in written records.

It is a great pity that his findings were not published and he didn’t receive the recognition he deserved.

The identification and classification of the Australian genus Eucalyptus began in 1788 when the French botanist Charles L’Heritier de Brutelle named a specimen in the British Museum London.

Eucalyptus obliqua.

Eucalyptus obliqua.

This specimen was collected by botanist David Nelson on Captain Cook’s ill- fated third expedition in 1777 to Adventure Bay on Tasmania’s Bruny Island.

E.obliqua proved to be a very satisfactory species to represent the genus as the “Type” specimen.


Parramatta and Hills District Group

SECRETARY: Caroline Franks

Email: apsparrahills@gmail.com