Jamberoo Mountain Landcare
Jamberoo Mountain Landcare Inc. began in 2001 on private properties on Jamberoo Mountain below Barren Grounds Nature Reserve. Landcare weekends have attracted people from Sydney suburbs, Jamberoo valley and residents on the mountain. Everyone enjoys the communal lunches and dinner on the Saturday night. Sixty one people aged between 30 and 80 have contributed one thousand hours over 3 years to stop weeds from destroying the rainforest With careful management, through the principles of bush regeneration, weeds are removed to allow native species to germinate. Gradually the rainforest is returning.
The major weeds are garden plants which have escaped into the forest.
 The seeds of arum lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica) and ginger lily (Hedychium gardnerianum) are moved from gardens into the forest by birds. Arum lily has invaded swamps and has poisonous flower parts so we compost its tubers separately. Fortunately Ginger lily leaves and rhizomes are eaten enthusiastically by the cow. Plectranthus ecklonii which had spread into the rainforest is a spindly vigorous shrub which is hard to kill. We pull it out of the soil and stack it into piles which are turned several times each year until it rots down after about 4 years. |
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Believe it or not this plant is still being recommended for shady spots by gardeners and nurseries.
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Trad also called Wandering Jew (Tradescantia albiflora) is our worst problem and will take many years to eradicate it but for now we are preventing it from spreading further. It must be removed carefully as it will readily resprout if parts of the plant are left behind. Our approach to lantana is to remove it only on the forest edge and let the rainforest takeover that area before removing more. Mist weed (flower)Ageratina riparia is removed by hand in wet areas and in drier areas is sprayed with a very low dose of glyphosate in July/August before it flowers and when it has maximum leaf cover. |
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