Autumn means it’s time for a garden stocktake
The air is getting a little chillier at night and the days are becoming crisper, announcing that Autumn is here on the Sunshine Coast.
This season’s forecast is for below average rainfall and slightly warmer than average temperatures, which means the ground will continue to dry up. Every day, as it gets cooler and dryer, plant growth across the region slows down.
Autumn is a good time to get into the garden and survey your property, plant natives and remove invasive plants, to encourage flora and fauna to flourish.
Sunshine Coast Council Pest Plant Officer Rhea Phelan has some tips to keep your garden in great condition this Autumn.
Top of the list is discovering what the warm, wet summer brought to life on the land where you live?
Have you discovered any new native plants popping up?
Bloodwoods and wheel of fire trees have just finished flowering. Blue Quandong trees are finishing fruiting. Some of the coastal casuarinas are seeding which feed glossy, black cockatoos. Maiden’s wattle and Scurvy Weed are some of the natives still flowering, providing bees with food to get them through the season. Frogs are seeking shelter from the dry in tree hollows and under rocks and bark.
Did floods wash any new invasive plants into your dam, farm, or bushland? Have native violets disappeared under the vigorous summer growth of the invasive ground covers?
It can often be difficult to know which plants are invasive and which are beneficial natives that provide food and home to wildlife.
Here are two natives that will grow well this Autumn across the region, as well as two high priority invasive plants that might be flowering at your place this time of year to keep a look out for.
Invasive weeds
Broad-leaved pepper trees (Schinus terebinthifolius)
Originally introduced as a garden ornamental, broad-leaved pepper trees escaped cultivation and now dominate sand dune ecosystems on the Sunshine Coast replacing banksias and casuarinas. They are recognised this time of year by their flowers which are small and white and followed by hundreds of red berries.
Madeira Vine (Anredera cordifolia)
This weed is a prolific spreader from aerial tubers, plant parts and seeds. Madeira vine has fleshy, bright green leaves and flower spikes that are around 10cm long with tiny flowers covering them. It’s often described as resembling a lamb’s tail. The Madeira vine is currently flowering.
Beneficial Natives
Blueberry Ash (Elaeocarpus reticulatus)
This tall, hardy native shrub has a dark green foliage, fringed bell-shaped, pinkish-white flowers and stunning, blue berries. It attracts Figbirds, Regent Bowerbirds, as well as Wonga and White-headed Pigeons.
Purple Coral Pea (Hardenbergia violacea)
A hardy vine that grows well across the coast, this native has spectacular, purple flowers and is a food plant for the common Grass Blue Butterfly whose larvae feed on the leaves, buds and flowers.
Head along to Sunshine Coast Council’s FREE Caring for your Backyard Field Day to learn about invasive plants and animals at the information stalls, take part in free workshops and a free morning tea.
Council’s Backyard Field Day will be held on:
When: Saturday May 6 from
Time: 8.30am to 3pm.
Location: Endriandra Park, Bushland Conservation Reserve, on Bunya Rd in Bridges - near North Arm.
Registration is essential.
Head to Caring for our backyard workshop to register.