PLEASE NOTE: The
purpose of this survey is not to allocate blame to any particular
ethnic group for any particular problems. If any blame is
attributable it is to successive Australian governments that set
immigration policy based on economic criteria alone.
I have a theory as to the nature of the gulf
between those calling to maintain unprecedented high immigration and
those calling for it to be slashed, and also why there is an apparent upsurge
in perceptions of racism in Australia
I would therefore like to gather some survey data to
test that theory.
I would particularly like to hear from long term
Australian citizens, who were not born in Australia, and whom came
to here to escape over crowding and in their country of origin.
Please take a few minutes to fill out this survey.
If you are cheesed off with the ALP and the
Liberal Party then there is a new political party that you might
consider supporting:
The New
Australia party.
New Australia is truly focused on
environmental sustainability issues rather than on refugees and
immigration issues as the Australian Greens are under Bob Brown's
leadership. They tick all the right environmental boxes for me,
including zero net population growth and community above big
business.
New Australia is currently trying to achieve
the necessary 500 members that will entitle it to be listed at the
Australian Electoral Commission and obtain grants.
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- After 2-3 years gardens with plastic weed
mat end up looking like this.
- And it does not suppress weed growth for
very long - they simply grow through tears and holes, through
gaps in the weave itself e.g. couch grass or simply grow on top
the plastic.
- Plastic weed mat is an out dated technique from the 1970s and
1980s that many home gardeners and landscapers still cling to.
- Plastic weed mat is simply not necessary if
you lay a thick enough layer, at least 10cm to start, of organic
mulch directly over the soil surface after you have carried out
any necessary weed wontrol.
- In a matter of a few months the loose mulch
will compact down to a dense 5cm thick layer that is not easily
scattered and suppresses weeds very effectively.
- Further more worms will churn through the
interface between mulch in soil destroying weed seeds and
incorporating the decaying plant matter through the underlying
soil, thus enriching it and improving its texture.
- Contact your local tree loppers about
obtaining a truck load of fresh tree mulch - they usually charge
between $120 to $200 for 10 to 15 cubic metres.
- Or ask at your local garden centre about
Eucamulch.
- If you compact the tree mulch layer with a
roller you can immediately spread a thin layer of decorative
mulch or pebbles over the top.
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I have just completed an experiment with this
technique with a view to using it to create an alternative garden
edging. I created it by mixing granitic sand with hydrated lime
in the proportions used for lime cement along with coloured oxides,
dampening (not wetting) the mixture with water and then packing it
into a plastic pot.
It took one and half days for the outside to
harden in warm sunny weather however the inside will still be damp
and soft and it will no doubt take several weeks for the material to
completely dry and harden throughout. The resulting artificial
sedimentary rock so far seems to be a bit softer than unglazed
terracotta.
It will chip, wear and weather more easily
than concrete or terracotta however this will simply add the rustic
look of the material. Larger chips and
cracks are easy to repair by patching with the same mixture
Old fashioned
lime cement is supposed to be a little more flexible and more
sustainable than modern concrete based cement. Cement takes a great
deal of energy to produce while hydrated lime takes considerably
less.
The rammed earth is strong enough for the mould
to be immediately removed and the front edge smoothed, brushed or
bagged to attain the desired effect. You can also mix in objects
such as pebbles, drift wood, old bottles and glass bricks to create
some additional interesting effects.
The edging can be an embedded in the ground to
anchor it and any cracks that develop over time can be bogged up
with the same mix and rendered virtually invisible.
Click here to
view it.
I am proud to announce that I have recently
received a Green Gardeners certification from Melbourne Water and
Sustainable Gardening Australia. It has re-affirmed
many of the ecologically principals that I apply to my landscaping
projects.
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You can purchase a variety of plants directly from me
at my very own online nursery. It is not quite as sophisticated as Oztion in that payments
are not integrated into the 'shopping cart' and must be made once
you receive an invoice, via email, from me. You can still pay
via direct bank deposits, Paypal
and Paymate but you must do
so from the relevant websites rather than mine.
Try it out and email
me if there are any problems.
Alternatively, please visit my Oztion
vShop.
Section of retaining wall in Greenvale.
Dry creek bed garden added to Rosanna job.
These display gardens are at Cranbourne Botanic
Gardens and there is not a single exotic plant in any of them. I
did not create these myself by the way...
This garden would look right at home in front
of a California Bungalow in one of Melbourne's older suburbs.
This is a more contemporary style and still
there are no exotic plants in sight.
The general belief that native gardens are
drab and untidy is a result of the lack of knowledge of native
plants and the very limited range that are available at regular
retail and wholesale nurseries, rather than a lack of variety and
versatility on the part of Australian plants.
If you want to see the full potential of
native plants then pay a visit to Cranbourne Botanic Gardens and
some specialist native nurseries.
Brachychiton
populneus / Black Kurrajong
If I didn't tell you that this is
a native plant you would assume that it is some exotic species that
would look quite at home on the 'Oak Lawn' of the Royal Botanic
Gardens.
Here is further proof that
both native plants and exotic plants can blend together seamlessly
in your garden!
The foliage of Brachychitons
is also excellent fodder in drought conditions when your
paddocks are bare. Why plant weedy Tree Lucerne when you can have a
beautiful ornamental native tree instead?
The species is a frequent member
of now rare 'dry rainforest' communities, found on the western
flanks of the Great Dividing Range. Dry rainforests have much the
same gloomy look and feel of temperate rainforests, except that
everything is much drier.
Around 100,000 years ago, before
Aborigines had colonised Australia and when our megafauna
(e.g. Volkswagen sized Diprotodons, possum like Marsupial Lions, 3m
tall Short Faced Kanagaroos, 6m long goannas, Anaconda sized snakes
and 3m tall carnivorous emu like birds)
roamed the landscape, much of Australia was dominated by dry
rainforests rather than sclerophyll or Eucalypt forests.
Gradual drift of the Australian
continent north and subsequent drying of our climate, extinction of
our megafauna and the increasing dominance of fire in Australian
ecosystems saw the ecological balance tip in favour of sclerophyll
forests at the expense of dry rainforest.
It is quite possible that the
ancestors of Aborigines, having arrived in Australia from New Guinea
and colonised it between 60,00 to 40,000 years ago, played a key
role in this dramatic change in Australia's vegetation and ecology.
You can read more about this here.
Callitris oblonga /
Pygmy Cypress Pine
This native conifer was
probably widely distributed from Tasmania to NSW. However it is now
an endangered species and is only found in the north east
corner of Tasmania and a few scattered sites in coastal NSW.
I have scored some seeds of this
species and hopefully will have some plants available before to
long.
They have considerable advantages
over those bloody exotic Cypress Pines that Melbournians don't seem
to be able to get over and want cut down once they realize how
overwhelmingly big they grow!
Unlike exotic Cypress Pines:
1) They do not get much bigger
than this and so they wont engulf your garden or driveway or lawn
and wont cause major problems with overhead power lines.
2) They look identical to the
conventional exotic Cypress Pines.
3) They are more drought
tolerant.
4) They are faster growing.
5) If they do self seed outside
your garden then the species will be simply re-claiming territory
that it once occupied prior to European settlement.
Verticordia grandis / Scarlet
Feather Flower
In flower now.
Alternative Garden Edging
Please excuse the blue marker dye - I
had just sprayed out the Cape Weed lawn.
If you don't like the idea of the arsenic
in treated pine sleepers but you are also concerned about the
fact that untreated hardwood sleepers come from unsustainable
logging of old growth forests then perhaps this alternative is
for you.
They are coir logs made of the same
material that coir front door mats are made off. The consist of a
cargo net woven into a tube and densely packed with coir fibre. The
come in lengths of 3 metres with a diameter of 30cm and in either a cylindrical
or square profile. They made from
the by products of the coconut processing industry.
Advantages:
- They are a sustainable product.
- They contain no toxic
preservatives.
- They are flexible and will mould
to the ground profile and can be tightly curved as long as they
are adequately anchored.
- They can be stacked to form small
retaining walls.
- They have a much softer and more
organic look than sleepers.
- They are very easy to install
simply requiring some tent pegs or star pickets to anchor them
in place.
- They will not buckle or tilt as a
result of earth movement.
- They have a similar life span to
untreated sleepers.
They can be lined with builders
plastic, or any waste plastic, to prevent soil infiltration thus
further prolonging their life.
Click here if
you don't understand what indigenous plants (also
called local native plants) are and how they differ
from exotic plants and Australian native plants.
Here are some very good reasons why you should
consider using indigenous plants in your garden:
- They thrive in the heavy clay soils of the
basalt plains region of Melbourne, in the poor sandy soils of
the coastal areas and in the stony Silurian soils to the east
and north east of Melbourne.
- They easily withstand Melbourne's hot dry
summers and periodic droughts with little or no watering.
- They are very efficient at gleaning what
little nutrients there are in our impoverished soils.
- Most indigenous plants grow quickly and
flower within the first season of being planted.
- There is no risk of indigenous plants
becoming environmental weeds.
- Indigenous gardens provide badly needed
habitat for our unique native fauna.
- They cost considerably less.
- Indigenous plants are far easier to
plant in hard soils because they only require a small hole.
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- Full range of plants indigenous to the
basalt plains region of Melbourne.
- If I don't have it on hand I can normally
get it within a couple of days.
- Orders delivered FREE of charge if
you are local (Epping) or if ordering 48 plants or more.
- Forestry tubes and cell trays.
- Limited range of advanced indigenous
plants.
Click here for
further details.
My indigenous landscapes/local native
landscapes are based on ecological principals and:
- Meet the expectations of gardeners while
harmonizing with the surrounding natural
landscape.
- Provide badly needed habitat for local
wildlife.
- Contain no environmental
or noxious weeds.
- Require little or no watering or
fertilizing once established.
- Naturally suppress weed growth.
Many landscapers only consider what their
landscapes look like upon completion. But coming from a Conservation
& Land Management background I know what they can end up looking
like 12 months later.
Without incorporating effective weed
suppression measures in the design and appropriate regular follow up
your nice new landscape can quickly turn into an unsightly weedscape.
Bare soils, sparse planting and the use of
regular soil mixes from landscape suppliers can lead to a very
disappointing result.
My landscapes also contain more plants and are
less expensive than traditional landscapes because:
- They don't require sub-surface drainage.
- Cultivation, soil replacement or soil
improvement is unnecessary.
- It is far less labour intensive to plant
the forestry tubes.
- The plants are far less expensive.
What others normally do with
traditional exotic plants I can, in many cases, do with indigenous
plants. All it requires is knowledge of the range of species
available, their growth habits and how to get the best out of them.
Alternatively I can create a
representation of natural indigenous plant communities, such as
grassy woodlands and herb rich woodlands. Why not have a little
piece of the unique Australian bush in your own garden? It can
manicured a little to keep it looking neat but still retain its
natural look
You can contribute to preserving our
unique and endangered Australian flora & fauna. In a
largely cleared & eroded landscape your garden could provide
desperately needed habitat for our fauna and act as an 'ark' for our
flora.
Why not create a natural looking indigenous
pond that stands apart from all the rest. With such a varied
range if local native water plants and a good range of regional
native fish it can be achieved.
With this pond water trickles out from beneath
the top boulder beside the branch. The small cascade is supported by
a sleeper and the pond pump is in a pit behind it (covered with leaf
litter).
I use a unique double lining system that
creates are far more natural effect. The whole base of the pond is
lined by natural clay or bentonite (refined clay) while only the
inner deep zone is lined by conventional rubberised pond liners.
This system allows the aquatic plants to be
planted in the ground rather than in containers and creates a
wetland around the pond due to slow seepage of water.
The rubber lined inner zone ensures a minimum
water level for any fish and tadpoles as well as preventing
rhizomatous aquatic plants from completely overrunning the pond.
Bentonite is used by the agriculture sector to
seal damns or repair leaks. It is also used in the wine industry as
a fining or clearing agent and will therefore clarify your pond
water.
With careful species selection your pond can
become a self contained wetland ecosystem and largely take care of
itself. Small native fish and fresh water invertebrates will consume
mosquito larvae, native fresh water snails will graze the algae and
water plants will help oxygenate the water and provide shelter.
So called natural ponds, that are fully lined
with rubber or plastic, still end up looking like a glorified
swimming pool with a few plants. And without a muddy bottom and rich
variety of plants they can never develop a complex ecosystem.
Many exotic water plants are also a threat to
the environment if they are released or escape into our water ways
from your pond.
Gold fish are about as unique and interesting
as MUD. They are also a type of Carp and we all know about the
damage that Carp, and other exotic fish, do to our water ways.
Try a few native fish in your pond instead.
They require a little more patience to introduce and establish in
your pond however they are well worth the effort.
Here are a few of our native fish
(Permission granted to display
images)
For small ponds - around 15cm in length:
Barred Galaxia
Spotted Galaxia
Flathead Galaxia
Southern Pygmy Perch
Tupong
For large ponds - greater than 20cm in
length:
Australian Bass
Trout Cod
Golden Perch
Spangled or Jewel Perch
Top
- Lawn mowing
- Pruning
- Weeding
- Mulching
- Watering
- Specialising in maintenance of
indigenous plants and landscapes.
Top
The integrated management techniques used by a
farmer to control weeds in his pastures or crops is every bit as
relevant to your garden, all be it on a smaller scale.
A professional management plan means the
difference between a garden that is generally over run with weeds
with occasional weed free periods and a garden in which the weeds,
although always present, remain inconspicuous throughout the year.
An integrated management plan must take into
consideration the following:
- The weed seed bank in you garden soil,
providing a continual source of new weeds for decades to come,
and strategies in which to diminish it over time.
- The most optimal times in the year to
eliminate weed seedlings.
- The use of selective herbicides or
application techniques to eliminate the weeds without harming
garden plants.
- Non chemical techniques such as ecological
competition to suppress weed growth.
Click here
to find out more about weed control in general or here
to find out about my weed management services.
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- Transform your small rural
property from a bare & wind swept paddock to haven for local
fauna.
- Why tolerate your bare muddy damn
when you could have a thriving billabong or wetland.
- Revegetation plans prepared
including weed control, erosion control and suitable plants.
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The subjects that I feel most passionate about
are:
- How indigenous plants can be used to create
an attractive garden.
- How to maintain indigenous plants in order
to get the best out of them.
- Exotic and alien Australian native plants
and environmental weeds.
- Applying ecological principals to
gardening.
Click here
to see further details.
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The pages in my online nursery can easily be
adapted to sell any type of item as long as the information on each
of your sale items can be formatted as a series of repeating cells.
The ongoing fees in maintaining your own
selling website, if you use my system, will be as much as your web
hosting service is currently charging you.
If you choose to use one of the official
online shopping cart software systems you will be charged
significant ongoing fees for the use the software, in addition to
the fees charged by your web hosting service. I know because I
looked into this option when I was thinking about setting up my own
online nursery. Not only were the ongoing fees a put off but the
setup and maintenance were complicated, inflexible and frankly not
worth the effort or the cost for such a small enterprise as mine.
I can either build you an entire website,
including selling pages or I can simply setup a series of selling
pages for you to include in your existing website. It will cost you
$50 per web page, so you could
have a basic selling website for a one off cost of a few hundred
dollars. Obviously later additions or modifications to your website
will cost you extra.
System Features & Usage
- It is a simple and inexpensive online order
receiving system ideal for small businesses taking their first
step into online selling.
- Upon receiving an order from a client you
then email them invoice for payment. This invoice can be created
with what ever software you prefer to use and saved on your hard
disk where ever you choose to do so.
- There are major security issues with handling credit
card and bank account numbers etc that I was not prepared to deal in setting up
my online nursery. So I left out the internal payment system
along with the complicated and expensive web security features
that are required. Goods purchased from my website can still
easily be paid for online but my customers do so via the website
of their bank, of Paypal or Paymate rather than via my website.
The most common method of payment for plants ordered from my
online nursery is direct bank deposit.
- There are no tracking or accounting
systems with my system as these sorts of features
add to the complication and expense in setting up and
maintaining the website. All my accounting and order tracking
take place via the business systems I had setup prior to
creating my online nursery.
- It requires that your web hosting service
has Microsoft FrontPage extensions, PHP support and Microsoft
Active Server Pages (ASP) installed.
My website and online nursery consistently
appear on the first page of results in Google for a number of
different search words and phrases. So I can provide you with advice
on how you can achieve similar results in a reasonably short period
of time.
Email
me if you would like to try my system for your online sales..
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This consists of a CD containing
my plant list in Microsoft Excel format with linked photos of each plant.
At present it is restricted to indigenous species however I plan to
expand to contain some Australian native species.
It is a work in progress and will
require a great deal more time to accumulate photos of all or most
of the plant species. However there are currently photos of a good
range of indigenous plants and, at this stage, the fee for this CD
is $6.00 (including $1 postage & $1 CD).
To obtain a copy of the CD post
me a bank cheque or money order and I will post you the CD. Or
alternatively pay me a visit in Epping.
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Ever seen a native bee? Here are
two that I have found in my garden. This
one is Hyleoides coccinea or the Wasp Mimic Bee. At first
glance it looks like a wasp right down to the way it holds its wing
in a classic wasp V-shape, except that wasps don't visit flowers and
collect pollen. Wasps are more aggressive than bees and so this one
gains protection from its predators by pretending to be a wasp.  This
one is a tiny Lassioglossum or Wahlenbergia bee. Lassioglossum
exclusively visit native Wahlenbergia flowers. 
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Tetragonia tetragonoides or
Warrigal Greens is a native green vegetable similar to spinach. It
is a semi-succulent plants and the leaves are quite a bit more
'meaty' than regular spinach. The foliage contains small amounts of
oxalic acid that must be removed in the same way as rhubarb. I
have tried this on two occasions now with my evening meal and can
report on my experience. The
first time I lightly blanched the leaves so that they retained their
firm texture and bright green colour. I then served them with some
butter and salt, and they had quite a pleasant taste that resembled
regular spinach. The second
time I let them cook in the microwave for far to long so that they
looked much like the soggy grey silver beat my mother used to serve
up to my brother and I as children. It was not where near as
enjoyable as my first effort. Top
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