Beechworth Urban Landcare and Sustainability

By Charlie Robinson

Before moving to this area I thought that the obvious answer to this question was an emphatic “yes”.  After all, towns such as Bright, Yackandandah and Beechworth have become tourist destinations due to their vibrant autumn colour.  Very little of these autumnal tones are produced by our native flora.

Now a resident of Beechworth, I have become very aware of an anti-exotic philosophy underpinning many people’s beliefs in this region and, I must say, particularly among “Landcarers”.  This article will attempt to inject some balance into the debate, for a debate it is.

Many myths abound regarding the vices and virtues of both exotic and native species, the main myth relating to the suitability of either species to the Australian environment.

For instance, it is a common myth that many native plants do not require supplementary water.  A common Landcare activity is tree regeneration activities along waterways and other areas of bushland – the young trees are simply plonked in the ground and then seemingly ignored in the quest to regenerate yet more bushland.  While these may be laudable activities, it’s annoying to discover a relatively high mortality rate following these events – “drought” isn’t killing the new plantings, lack of follow-up watering is the culprit.

Similarly, many exotic plants have an undeservedly poor reputation in the Australian landscape.  Once established, I would rate English Box, Buxus Semperverins, the traditional hedging plant found in numerous iconic English gardens, as one of the most hardy of plants.  I have seen ancient (possibly 150 years old) examples in abandoned farm houses far from civilisation, their python-like trunks growing over dead eucalypts.  These were obviously the vestiges of a once-manicured formal low hedge.  In our garden they are treated with indifference and seem to thrive on the neglect.

In our former garden in Bungendore, NSW, many of the native eucalypts were succumbing far quicker to climate change than any of our exotic choices such as liquidamber or English oak.  Why is this so?  For a start, many plants possess confusing common names – London Plane, English Oak, English Elm and English Box do not come from England and many of these plants are used to summer temperatures far in excess of the Beechworth historical average.

Clive Blazey , CEO of Diggers Seeds, has this to say about eucalypts :  “The leaves of eucalypts hang vertically to reduce evaporation letting through light that raises soil temperatures and reduces soil moisture…by raising soil temperatures they destroy soil carbon and reduce soil fertility.  They do more damage to our ecology than noxious weeds like blackberries, or introduced animals such as foxes” (Diggers Winter Catalogue 2009). Andrew Steiner is a beef and crop producer near Narrandera (south-west NSW) and his observations are interesting:  “I don’t believe we should just plant natives. Many of the gum trees are dying in the drought. We should also look at hardy European trees, such as oaks.  Being deciduous, they provide summer shade and in winter let the light through, while the seeds are high in protein and the leaves improve the soil” (The Weekly Times, May 13, 2009).

Last year I planted eight English oaks on our north-east quadrant – once mature, these trees will form a valuable shield against ember attack should a fire originate along Three Mile Creek, they will provide a shady habitat for birds, animals and humans; the leaves will be used to make compost; and I intend to coppice them for firewood on a rotating basis.  The only disadvantage as opposed to planting eucalypts is that they will grow at a slower rate, but this is a minor factor as growth rates in Australia are quite rapid compared to their country of origin.

One of the major recommendations following the Ash Wednesday (1983) fires was the planting of deciduous exotics around the perimeter of properties, due to their inherent fire-retardent characteristics.  Take a run along Lady Newton Drive to the junction of the Six Mile road within Stanley Forest – there is a stand of English Elms virtually untouched by the recent fires while all around the destruction to native species is obvious.  If you don’t learn the lessons of history you are destined to repeat them – what a great saying!

I don’t believe in classifying plants according to whether they are “water-wise” or not – a plant’s survivability in our environment is more dependent on how water-wise the gardener is.  The only difference between a hardy plant and a fragile one is appropriate location, and mulch.  We grow a variety of grevilleas, callistemons, hakeas, proteas (hardy South African plants) as well as numerous exotics.  With mulching, none of these plants needs more or less care than the others – they are all water-wise (even the hydrangeas).  With a thick layer of eucalyptus mulch, I would say that our rose garden would have survived last summer with no supplementary watering.

My final, and obvious, point is that you will go very hungry unless you begin to embrace the most important introduced plant – the fruit tree.  Our future survivability in the face of chronic food shortages (another topic for another day) may well depend on that acceptance.  We face huge challenges staying alive in tomorrow’s climate and ill-informed attitudes amounting to botanical apartheid, to quote Don Burke, can only exacerbate the situation.

by Charlie Robinson

The current Royal Commission into the horrific Victorian bushfires will examine in detail the current “stay or go” policy as it pertains to people in fire-affected areas.  I want to examine another stay or go issue, but this relates to whether you or I stay in Beechworth in the face of the increasingly hot and dry conditions which we are experiencing, and will continue to experience.

This needs to be addressed in the context of anecdotal evidence which suggests that some residents are seriously considering their movement options.

Firstly, let’s examine some consumer issues.  Today (Budget Day), the ABC announced that major whitegoods retailers have been overwhelmed with demand for plasma televisions and that there are lengthy delays while stocks arrive from the manufacturers. At the same time, it’s interesting to note that most suppliers of water tanks are doing it tough in the face of decreasing demand.  This was the primary reason given for the collapse of the iconic Australian company, Nylex, earlier this year.

I’d also bet that, despite the Global Financial Crisis, more Australians bought new cars than all the water tanks, solar hot water systems, grid-connect PV systems, and greywater recycling systems combined. In light of evidence that we are heading for increasing climatic challenges, it seems that most of us are either oblivious to the problems or feel that more “stuff” may attract rain clouds.

In our region we are in serious water trouble.  Bore drillers will tell you that local ground water stores are running out and most of the permanent springs that used to be a feature of our area have now dried up.  Baarmutha, which is aboriginal for “place of many springs” may have to be re-named.

If you have sufficient space, you can be totally self-sufficient in water.  Around 100,000 litres should be enough for a family of five as long as they observe sensible conservation practises.  We have another 60,000 litres for our garden and this amount is plenty for our current demands. In an urban area, even a smaller tank of around 15,000 – 25,000 litres should be enough to water the thirstiest garden. For around the price of a small car (or a plasma TV in suburbia), you can have all the water you need, and the peace of mind that goes with it.

A little water can go a long way if you’re sensible.  I’m a big believer in recycling greywater and the majority of our plants are watered by this method.  For instance, we can water up to 85 hedging plants and some of our fruit orchard, from just two loads of washing.  In winter, when water needs in the garden are low, we use this greywater to flush the loos and for bricklaying and concreting. The principle is to use water twice

People generally water their garden too much.  I was horrified to learn that a friend of mine waters his tomatoes every day.  While this may be therapeutic for the gardener, it’s unnecessary for the garden. If you thickly mulch your beds (tomatoes love this) most plants only need watering once a week, at most.  During the summer, I watered our roses every six weeks and, even then, this may have been overdoing it as the plants showed no signs of distress. My strategy is to walk around the garden every day and to take note of plants that may be suffering – then, and only then, should water be applied.  There are a few exceptions to this rule – silver birches are notorious for letting you know they’re thirsty by just dying.

On the subject of mulching, we have used nine large rectangular bales of rice and wheat straw this year.  While this may seem like hard work to spread it around, it is one of our best labour-saving strategies as most of the areas I’ve mulched won’t need to be revisited for a couple of years and will remain weed-free, and moist.  We also experience a massive increase in earthworm populations under the straw.  This has significant benefits for our food production, a topic I will discuss next week.

Should you stay or go?  Simple really.  If you’re prepared, any place you choose to live could be OK.  If you’re unprepared, every place is a bad choice.