Iron Knob and Marree host native plant and weed workshops
Wonderful! Loved this workshop! Excellent workshop, very well done thanks! Very interesting. Very informative. These were some of the comments from the 25 people who attended plant workshops in Iron Knob and Marree in March and April.
Posted 13 April 2017.
Wonderful! Loved this workshop! Excellent workshop, very well done thanks! Very interesting. Very informative.
These were some of the comments from the 25 people who attended plant workshops in Iron Knob and Marree in March and April.
For many the biggest highlight was the hands on plant identification session with native plant enthusiast and author Neville Bonney, author of What seed is that? and Adnyamathanha and beyond: useful plants of an ancient land.
Neville arrived laden with fresh specimens of local plants and put participants to the test, showing them how to use an identification key to distinguish local species by their leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds.
Participants also learned about native plants local to their areas, including the species which would be good options for their gardens
In Iron Knob, Barry Cooke (Glenbarr Weed and Pest Control) discussed local weed control options and conducted a tour of sites on Corunna Station, where he had carried out African Boxthorn control.
Other speakers included Geoff Mills (Arrium Mining) who discussed pest plant and animal control on the Arrium properties; Barry Croft, a Barngarla ranger who discussed his role of protecting Aboriginal Heritage sites and overseeing pest plant and animal control on Cultana properties; and Paul Hodges who presented options for Opuntia species control and the results of different herbicide treatments and injections.
Meanwhile, at the Marree workshop grasses were a big feature with Jodie Reseigh (Rural Solutions) talking about how to identify native and introduced grasses, including Buffel Grass, the nutritional content of grasses and the importance of maintaining species diversity for healthy pastures. Participants visited a Buffel Grass infestation with Barry Cooke and Paul Hodges where they discussed identification and control.
Thanks to all who attended, the presenters, Corunna Station and Marree Hotel.
