MY RE-VEGETATION PROJECT

October 2006 - Farm View

November 2006 - Replace Topsoil

May 2007 - Ripping Soil

June 2007 - Before Planting

June 2007 - Fully Planted

June 2007 - Eucalyptus Platypus

September 2007 - The revegetation site now has some vegetation around the trees

September 2007 - Close up of a young gum. The seedling is beginning to show some new leaf growth

November 2007 - This seedling did not survive and the area is being invaded by the creeping wireweed

November 2007 - Flooded areas will remain moist and ideal for growth in the coming weeks

This photo gallery serves as a diary showing how a damaged part of the farm is to be re-vegetated and what will happen to the new wildlife which will come once established.

October 2006

This is a view of part of the farm which needs to be re-vegetated with trees. The top 50 centimetres of topsoil and subsoil has been removed. This site has very low fertility and only a few very tough weeds are able to grow.The soil is composed of very hard clay that stops plant roots from growing.

November 2006

Heavy machinery has been contracted in order to replace some of the lost topsoil. This will allow newly replanted trees to get established.The topsoil will allow better penetration of moisture into the soil.

May 2007

Now that we have had some autumn rain, the soil has softened enough in order to be ripped. This process breaks up the hard clay in the subsoil and allows moisture to penetrate more deeply. Plant root growth is greatly improved.

Ripping is carried out using a narrow metal blade and is most successful if the soil is broken up to a minimum depth of 30 centimetres. I have attached a wooden sleeper to the ripper as the extra weight will enable deeper penetration into the soil.

June 2007

• The planting rows have been ripped before planting can commence.
  
  
• The re-vegetation site has now been fully planted with gum trees. The selected gum is Eucalyptus platypus as it is able to grow well in areas that have poor drainage and where soil fertility is poor. This gum is also used as a windbreak and will be very useful on the farm.
  
  
• A eucalyptus platypus after 6 months on the farm. I expect the trees in to revegetated area to take longer to reach the size of this specimen as the soil is much less fertile in the re-vegetation area.
  
  

September 2007

The revegetation area now has some green vegetation between the planted rows. This vegetation being a mixture of weeds and barley will provide desperately needed organic matter to the soil after the growth is slashed.

The young Eucalyptus plantings have struggled due to a lack of moisture, but most are now producing some new growth. This is an encouraging sign if the trees are to survive the forthcoming summer conditions.

November 2007

After a relatively dry spring we have had some heavy rain leading to the flooding of parts of the revegetation area. Some seedlings did not survive the past three dry months, but those that have survived are now able to gather strength and will put on good growth in the forthcoming weeks before summer arrives.