Prepared for hot dry summer – thick mulch

By: Sheamus O’Connor

New growth on Bottle-brushes

The Pollinator Link garden Mount Gravatt State High School welcomed the cool change that came with the enormous and fierce storm that hit South-East Queensland this week. Heavy rain came with it, which the plants and animals were crying out for. We had been waiting for this rain for a reasonable amount of time, and to prepare the site for the summer wet, most of the soil was covered with a healthy layer of stunning mulch.

Site 1. Looking a lot like a thick weedy jungle, however, all natives, and the invertebrates are loving it.

Cadaghi is very resilient, like this one with new shoots after being cut and poisoned

The Pollinator Link garden suffered, like most things, during the period of extreme heat and blistering sunny days. Yet, there were only a few fatalities, and many plants pushed on. The plants reacted almost instantly to the downpour we had, such as Bottle-brushes producing new soft growth.

Site 1, being the most established, is a great example of what the entire link will eventually appear like. The small area is thick and dense due to the astounding growth of the Scented-top Grass Capillipedium spicigerum, as well as, lush new growth from the Brisbane Wattle Acacia fimbriata. There once was about a dozen Black She-Oaks Allocasuarina torulosa here, however, all but one died, possibly some root disease…

In terms of invasive plants, there are only two ‘hard-to-tackle’ species. There is a large Mother of Millions Kalanchoe delagoensis, population, which over time will be controlled. Probably the most difficult plant is the dreaded Cadaghi tree Corymbia torelliana, growing into massive trees which are also a large problem for our native bees. Yet, over time, these species will be controlled, and the Pollinator Link will be home for a countless number of plants and animals.