hard work to restore indigenous vegetation

Two days ago Penny and I walked at a local reserve, along the Yarra River. We stopped to look at one spot where there was a great difference between two types of vegetation. On the left, native grasses. On the right, ubiquitous wandering trad.

I've heard from many people that dogs can have an allergic reaction to wandering trad, and it's possible Penny does, but I've never been sure. (She does have frequent skin issues.)

I don't usually mind seeing non-native plants around the place, because it seems to me it's inevitable that garden escapees will grow amongst our indigenous plants, but I must say I hate to see this plant, because it seems to have no natural enemies in Australia and smothers every other plant. Here's a photo of it that I wrote about in a previous post, on a day when I walked past literally kilometres of nothing but trad, with only trees able to resist its smothering embrace.

But how lovely to see the native grasses given a chance to succeed against it, with the help of the wonderful volunteers who put so much effort into maintaining Wilson Reserve.

Penny stayed home today

Penny didn't come with me today when I walked in one of our favourite spots, near the confluence of the Merri Creek and the Yarra River.

Long ago, I sort of complained that we had been banned from entering our number one top-favorite, most loved swimming spot. I'm glad that a short time later I wrote about our acceptance of the new restrictions, because today I found out what a special spot this is and why it should be protected and allowed to regenerate as natural bushland.

This week is Wurundjeri Week. The Wurundjeri are the indigenous people whose home is this region of Victoria, and they are conducting walking tours to teach the public about their culture. It seems the places where there is a confluence of streams or a crossing place have special significance, and our old swimming spot is the meeting of the Merri Creek and the Yarra River.

It was lovely to be made welcome in this special place. I've often noticed the sign at the start of the off-lead area, and enjoyed trying to read the language on the sign, but it was even better to hear a speaker of the language welcome us.

The mystery circle explained

Long, long ago, Penny and I were mystified by a circle of dead grass that appeared  in a local park.

We did figure eventually that the grass had been sprayed in order to prepare the spot  for an indigenous planting.

And now the planting is flourishing.

It's a pity that they probably used a horrible, dangerous herbicide on the spot originally, but I guess we'll have to hope it hasn't remained in the ground. (But latest science seems to indicate it stays around longer than Monsanto would have us believe.)

answers to some questions about dog walking at Yarra Bend Park

On 17 April I  blogged about the strange 'crop circle' at Yarra Bend. (Not really a crop circle, of course. Just preparation for indigenous planting.)

It was great, therefore, to see how the planting is progressing.

In another section of the park, at the place we are sad to be banned from, there is also planting.

I don't think we'll ever be able to swim there again, because once dogs lose access to an area, they're unlikely to win it back again. But on the whole it's a fantastically dog-friendly park. 

dogs in the Northern Territory communities in Australia

In the current edition of The Big Issue, there's an article about a program in the Northern Territory - the Maningrida Dog Health Program. Photographer Dave Tacon accompanied Dr Ted Donelan, a Melbourne vet who regularly visits the area to administer the program, and there are interesting photos on Tacon's site.

The relationship of indigenous Australians to dogs varies in different places, but Maningrida is 'dog dreaming' country, where people have a special relationship to dogs and want to be free to live with as many dogs as they wish. There are some problems with aggressive dogs, though, and the Dog Health Program aims to help foster responsible dog ownership, both for the dogs' sake and for the safety of humans.

What I loved about the photos on Tacon's site was the way the dogs were an integral part of people's lives, lolling around with their human companions or joining them in their daily activities, with not a leash or collar in sight.

The University of Melbourne's Vet News has an article about a veterinary visit to Kunbarllanjnja Community.