Friends Of Warrandyte State Park in Warrandyte, Victoria, Australia | Home improvement

Friends Of Warrandyte State Park

Locality: Warrandyte, Victoria, Australia

Phone: +61 408 317 327

Address: Pound Bend Road 3113 Warrandyte, VIC, Australia

Website: http://fowsp.org.au

Likes: 1054

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• Home improvement
• Non-profit organisation
• Environmental conservation organisation
• Gardener

25.01.2022 So here is why wild freesias are not a good option in Warrandyte and surrounds and infest the bush. They have three survival/reproduction methods. They grow from a bulb-not shown in these photos - but it is quite deep in the soil and difficult to dig up. It also sets viable seed. You can see maturing seed pods on the plants here. But look at this sneaky little bulb attached to the stem at the base of the plant. When you pull the plant out this little bulb falls straight back into the exposed soil and a new freesia grows. No wonder they out perform our beautiful native orchids. We pull them out of the bush at this stage because it slows them down considerably by not letting the goodness from the leaves die back into the bulb. We can destroy the seed and squash the sneaky bulb.

24.01.2022 Here is something FOWSPians might be interested in...... https://www.facebook.com/royalsocietyvictoria/live/ https://fb.me/e/2WjHf6u6R

24.01.2022 https://facebook.com/events/s/john-paul-memorial-lecture/1017878138652922/?ti=icl

24.01.2022 Here are two plants not to be confused with each other. On the left is our native Clematis also known as Old Mans Beard because of the lovely white fluffy flowers it gets all over it. On the right is Vetch a nasty weed a widely distributed scrambling herbaceous plant of the pea family.

23.01.2022 Plant number 4 of what NOT to put in your garden and suggested alternatives. On the left is Jasminum Polyanthum - Jasmin. On the right are three hardy indigenous alternatives. Top right is native Clematis known as Old Mans Beard. Middle is close up if the Clematis flowers with Hardenbergia violacea hiding in the middle of it. Bottom right is also Hardenbergia violacea but the white version; alba.

22.01.2022 Dear Member, We are excited to be able to provide the opportunity for customers to attend the nursery and choose their own plants! Please be aware that we have limited stock and may not have what you need, but we are happy to take orders for next Autumn. The Nursery will be operating with our normal hours of 9.30am-12.30pm. In order for us to trade we need to comply with State Government restrictions and have a COVID Safe Plan in place.... Therefore, our shopping experience at the Nursery will be a little different to the norm, so please be aware of the current trading conditions in order for us to be open. Please enter the nursery via the steps from the bottom car park. You will be greeted by our customer information concierge at the entry, who will collect your name and a contact number for tracing purposes if necessary. There will be a limit of 8 customers at any one time in the retail section. Be prepared to queue and wait if there are already 8 people shopping in the Nursery. A condition of entry is that a mandatory fitted mask be worn by staff and customers. Contactless card payments only at this time, no cash. Please maintain a 1.5m distance between customers and customers and staff at all times. Once you have paid, customers will exit down the western driveway and around to the car park to mitigate congestion at the stair entry way. Thank you all for your patience and we look forward to seeing you over the next few weeks.

21.01.2022 Don’t mix this up with the nasty oxalis. This is the native variety.

21.01.2022 Another plant in our what NOT to plant in your garden series and an indigenous alternative. On the left is Ixia a plant that reproduces rapidly and soon becomes problematic particularly in our beautiful bush. On the right is an indigenous alternative; Milkmaid.

19.01.2022 If we don’t do anything else for the environment this year except get ALL our readers to watch; Kiss the Ground (Netflix) we have done a good job. It’s a fascinating movie that will change the way you think about soil.

19.01.2022 Our staff are under pressure. Our volunteers are not there to help out at present. If you want plants please look at the stock list on our website - that’s all we have at present but we can propagate plants for next season IF YOU ORDER THEM. Staff have been suggesting alternatives but we really need to curb this service for the time being. Put your phone number in your email order. Michelle or Josh will ring you back. NO PICK UPS AT PRESENT. Please be patient. We are doing our best.

19.01.2022 The Dianella caerulea is just starting to flower.

17.01.2022 Here is the latest list of plants ready to sell. Please email [email protected] with your order. You must include your phone number so the nursery staff can ring you back to give you a time for pick up. Credit card sales ONLY, sorry no cash. More plants will be available soon. Or you can order plants for next season now. This helps us as it gives us an indication about what to propagate.

16.01.2022 Plant number three of what NOT to put in your garden: on the left is freesia, unfortunately this is another baddie. As you can see from photo number two they take over. This one will be controversial as many people like the smell and look forward to them popping up to herald the onset of spring. Because of this I will not only give some alternatives to plant. I will also show you why they are awful. Please look at the captions on the photos to follow the story.

15.01.2022 Acacia verticillata - Prickly Moses. Likes a bit more water than some wattles so prefers to grow at the bottom of hills or on river and creek flats.

14.01.2022 I thought I’d do a series of plants that we request you DONT put in your garden and of course suggest an indigenous alternative. Here is post number 1: Please don’t plant polygala, (on the left). The Thursday activity group at FOWSP spend hours weeding this out of the park. Yes it’s very pretty but it seeds prolifically and will take over huge areas very quickly. The seeds live a long time in the soil (up to 20 years) so if it gets a hold in your garden you will be weeding it out for years to come. A beautiful alternative is Indigofera australis on the right.

13.01.2022 Here is a very tough one. Don’t get these two grasses mixed up. The one on the left is a weed. The one on the right is a beautiful native called Microlaena stipoides. I’m not good with grasses so I can’t tell you what the baddie is. I just know to pull it up now before it seeds.

12.01.2022 This is Pomaderris elliptica or Smooth Leaf Pomaderris. It can grow to be a large rambling shrub 3m tall but here it has been topiaried to make a small dense pompom. If you prefer a more formal garden please still consider planting your local natives. They are stunning, grow better in the area with less water, feed the native bees and other native animals and birds, and are not introduced species that sometimes run rampant and become weedy pests. This shrub can be seen in the Pollinator garden at the FOWSP nursery. Please park outside the gates and walk in for your exercise.

08.01.2022 Are you keen to encourage wild pollinators and beneficial insects to your garden and farm? Then check out this upcoming free Webinar. Registrations are essential https://mornpen.zoom.us//tJwrduqoqDkjHN1-0oR-u5WdXc3jj_il2

08.01.2022 Acacia genistifolia. Not much to look at this spiked wattle really comes to the fore when it flowers. Great habitat for small birds.

08.01.2022 For those who are interested in reading FOWSPs final submission into ecosystems decline. You can view it on the FOWSP website at http://fowsp.org.au/publications.php?section=submissions If you are interested in receiving updates on the progress of this Inquiry into Ecosystems Decline, please email [email protected] and ask for Inquiry into Ecosystem Decline in Victoria news alerts. You may also refer to the Committee’s website at https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/epc-lc

06.01.2022 Now is the time to pull pest grasses out before they set seed. Especially Sweet Vernal.

06.01.2022 Scotchman’s Hill Action Group has permission from Parks Vic to recommence our works on the Hill. Come and help preserve this fragile patch of native wildflowers Wednesday morning 10-12.

06.01.2022 Here is another good local. It looks a lot like grass so many people pull it out thinking it’s a weed. This is luzula meridionalis. It’s actually a sedge. You can differentiate it from grass by the Hairy edges of the leaves.

06.01.2022 This small wattle looks fairly insignificant but Acacia brownii is mighty tough. It’s no longer common in Warrandyte But we sell them at the FOWSP nursery.

05.01.2022 What NOT to plant number 2: Looks like somehow or other I messed up this post and the photos didn’t show properly. Because of the overwhelming response I’m reposting it because Vinca on the left is a monster weed. Difficult to remove because every tiny bit of stem and rhyzome will regrow. Our native alternative is on the right Dichondra repens.

05.01.2022 July 2nd: The TAG team from FOWSP building yet another deer exclosure. L - R: David Voss, Brian Ditchfield, Don Vincent, Artur Muchow, Barrie Taylor and Gray Ardern. This area will be planted with plants indigenous to the area some, rare some endangered. This is on the river flats so things that like some moisture will go in this one. There are several exclosures in Warrandyte State Park. Two on 4th Hill are for plants that like it tough and dry. Like the Leopard Orchids and the rare Blue Caladenia.

02.01.2022 Here is plant number two we ask you NOT to plant in your garden. On the left is Vinca major also known as Blue Periwinkle. It is a monster! It doesn’t die when sprayed with herbicides, it snaps off when you try to pull it up and each tiny rhyzome results in a new plant. It becomes a thick mass of ground cover and scrambles over everything else choking them out. It takes several visits to a site to get rid of it from the Park and yes, it spreads by seed as well as runners. On the right is Dichondra repens our suggested alternative, a beautiful native ground cover that once established creates a mat that holds moisture under its mat and sustains itself. The photo on the left is the variegated variety of Vinca more commonly the leaves are just deep green.