Lazy

“Lazy”Turkey TangentialBy Spencer Shaw of Brush Turkey Enterprises
Being a naturally lazy person I don’t like complicated solutions to what should be theoretically the relatively simple process of restoring our native ecosystems. My idea of perfect regeneration is sitting back on the verandah sipping a cup of tea, reading a book and occasionally lifting my gaze from the page to watch native fauna undertake all the work that is necessary to restore the native vegetation on our new block. That’s the dream…..However it’s worth remembering, that when we undertake ecosystem restoration we don’t, shouldn’t and simply can’t act alone – quite humbling for your average egocentric Homo sapien.In late January this year the Brush Turkey clan moved to beautiful Reesville, just 5 minutes west of Maleny, to start work on (and enjoy!) 14 acres of land & 1 acre of water. More than 12 of the 14 acres of land are pasture, a substantial proportion of which we plan to either restore to native vegetation or plant up in some form or another. So unless we are happy to say farewell to the relaxed weekend forever and only catch up with the kids some time around their 21st’s – its time to get lazy and work with nature.Ok, so let’s break the processes down and work out what is stopping native ecosystems looking after themselves and eliminate those hurdles. If you have native vegetation on your property, that’s a great start. We have several patches of remnant and planted vegetation, so from there we at least have a seed source and, often more importantly, habitat for native fauna to move through the landscape spreading seed from our remnants and nearby native vegetation. So given that we have these few remnants on our property, what processes are stopping native vegetation spreading all by itself? Competition from an exotic grassland/pasture ecosystem is the primary limitation to the regeneration of native ecosystems on our property. Intensive grazing of cattle contributes to the maintenance of these pastures and the removal of any native seedlings that do pop up. Herbicide use over the last 50 years or so has helped suppress the growth of native weeds such as raspberry and even the exotic blackberry that would protect young saplings and allow them to grow. So as a lazy revegetator, how first would I tackle the revegetation of some of the pasture areas? Well, if I was really as lazy as I aspire to be, I would simply exclude cattle from a paddock and then wait for the grass to grow so thick and rank that it started to break down on itself and allow blackberry or raspberry to establish, a few wattles pop up etc… privet would move in and then a few 100 years later, a full blown rainforest would have re-established. But even my impatience gets the better of me here and even I want some results a bit quicker than a few centuries allows for…As we were lucky to start with a very clean pasture of carpet grass, kikuyu and couch, I simply removed cattle from the paddock to be planted and then spot sprayed planting circles of 0.75 metre diameter at 2-3 metre spacings, then walked away for at least 6-8 weeks. In that time the grass that was sprayed dies off nicely and makes for easy digging. The grass that wasn’t sprayed is then cut prior to a planting and used as mulch, saving a lot of labour costs (and allowing the wallet to stay closed) as mulch is produced on site, right where it is needed. Then it’s a simple matter of planting a variety of local natives, from shrubs to trees and keeping the grass well away from them long enough for them to grow and in turn shade out the remaining grass, all being well in 2-4 years.  That’s how we will tackle some of the pasture areas and set up a forest framework – but a few planted trees does not a forest make! When we stop the processes that are interfering with native ecosystem restoration – in this case the sward of exotic grasses that suppress the germination and spread of native seedlings, that’s when the fun really begins. Finally I get to sit back on the verandah with the book, cup of tea etc… Forest birds such as pigeons and doves, bowerbirds, catbirds and of course brush turkeys, will start to move in and spread the seed of other local natives. Bandicoots and echidnas will roam about digging holes, spreading spore of important mycorrhizal fungi and creating the disturbance that allows the germination of some seeds hidden in the soil. Possum and wallabies will carry on their legs the sticky seed of the native creeping beard grass and spread this native groundcover. A host of invertebrates and a swag of fungi will then find homes in the new litter layer that establishes under our growing trees and shrubs and this in turn will build soil and cycle nutrients.So next time you are out there saving the planet and it all seems like too much hard work, think lazy, find yourself a hammock and think about how you can assist the wildlife to help themselves by interrupting whatever processes are inhibiting the ability of local ecosystems to regenerate themselves.