Vol. 17, No. 2 September 2006 - Indigenous Flora and Fauna ...

Vol. 17, No. 2 September 2006

Editorial
The Indigenous Flora and Fauna Association was
formed in 1986 by individuals who were concerned
about raising the profile of native vegetation and
habitat, protecting it from removal and degradation,
and starting to reverse the degradation by restoration
and revegetation.
It aimed to: “Promote
awareness and conservation
of indigenous
flora and fauna (particularly
in the Melbourne
Region)”. IFFA
brought together
people already doing
this work and others
interested for support,
exchange of ideas, and
to begin the task of
convincing people that
protecting and restoring
remnant vegetation
and planting indigenous
plants should be
basic management
requirements.
One of the first activities
of the group was to
publish a series of
pamphlets under the
banner “Melbourne’s
Indigenous Gardens”.
The pamphlets encouraged
the conservation
of remnant vegetation
and the use of indigenous
plants in rehabilitation
and landscaping,
and gave local contact information for interested
people who wanted to take it further.
IFFA has seen many successes. Protection of remnant
vegetation has become enshrined in law. The
importance of managing environmental weeds has
been recognised. Native vegetation management has
become an industry, with expertise developing
rapidly. Many local indigenous nurseries have been
set up and promote the use of indigenous plants.
Greening Australia has set up a training program. A
journal (Ecological Management and Restoration) has
been established to exchange information about
technical matters.
Quite a few of the 'old folk' of IFFA, as well as new
members and interested people got together in June
to celebrate 20 years of IFFA. We met at the Wildlife
Reserves at La Trobe University, now known as the
Melbourne Wildlife Reserve. Things had certainly
changed, especially the
vegetation. 20 years
ago much of the
campus reserve was
little more than grazed
paddocks. Some of us
found it hard to recognise
where we were,
but there were a few
landmarks (see front
cover).
Cover Photo
Geoff Carr talked to us
about the history of
IFFA. Randall
Robinson reminded us
of a whole swag of
IFFA's other achievements
and the challenges
ahead. After a
barbeque lunch we
were taken on a short
tour of the reserve by
one of the Rangers,
Anthony Theunissen
and finished up having
a cuppa at the office
where we were fascinated
by the wireless
network infrared
cameras monitoring
activity inside nesting
boxes in the reserve.
The Melbourne Wildife Reserve is well worth a visit.
It's open 9-5 weekdays and sometimes on Sundays.
The Keelbundoora Indigenous Nursery which is part
of the reserves is open every Sunday.
Photo from Jon Greening of
the 20 year re-union at the
Melbourne Wildlife Reserves
at La Trobe University. It
took 3 people to hug this fine
old Red Gum.
Page 2
Indigenous Flora and Fauna Association Inc. (Incorporated Association No A0015723B)

From our Suburban Correspondent
One of the things I like about planting indigenous
plants is never having to say you’re sorry. No matter
how scruffy it looks next to the neighbour’s weeds,
you know it belongs right where you planted it.
Unlike a glorious magnolia whose only value is
superficial, a scrawny indigofera that’s growing so
open you can hardly tell it’s there has an intrinsic
value that goes beyond any frivolous opinion on its
appearance. Yes, I am an indigenous gardener. I
have truth on my side.
So here I am, weeding my attempt at a microlaena
lawn, knowing that there is only one true grass and
all the rest are evil.
I start to become familiar with the evil grasses. There’s
the one that I think is Poa annua and another that may
or may not be squirrel grass. There’s the super fine one
that comes up every spring, turning the muddy bald
patch outside Arie’s bedroom door into two square
metres of golf course before dying off in the summer,
leaving us with a scale-model desert. There’s the one
that looks like Microlaena on growth hormones. (Could
it be Microlaena? Is that what Microlaena looks like
when it’s not struggling to survive in a hyco tray that
should have been watered days ago? What if it is
Microlaena? That would save me a lot of weeding.
What if it is and I think it’s not and I spend the remainder
of my life pulling it out and then one of those VINC
people come around and tell me what a fool I’ve been?
Relax, Neil. If you pull it all out, they’ll never know.)
Weeding. Weeding, weeding, weeding. I look at a
clump of grass(es) and it appears to have some
Microlaena-like features. There’s probably some
Microlaena in there, but where do I start? I pull away
something that looks wrong. It looks better. I remove
another clump of something evil. And then
another. And then there’s a moment when the gates
of perception open in my aging brain and voila - it’s
not just a clump of grass anymore. It’s a beautiful
little clump of Microlaena.
Indigenotes Volume 17, Number 1, April 2006
Don’t ask me what makes grass look like Microlaena.
The answer probably involves a lot of words like
lanceolate or bifurcated. All I know is that I’ve looked
at 1300 Microlaena seedlings, pricking out the precious
little bastards and sticking them in hyco trays.
Never again. I’ve collected a bit of seed from the first
round of plants, and I’m going to broadcast it this
spring. Wish me luck.
The first round of plants came from VINC, but also
from seed that was given to me by a friend who lives
about a kilometre away, next to Rosanna Parklands,
whose garden is only nominally separated from the
Parklands by a treated pine railing. One kilometre.
How indigenous is that?
Weeding, weeding. It’s a strange kind of meditative
state, but I can’t let it become robotic, because if I do,
I’ll just end up pulling things out because they’re
green. And there’s a sort of zen in-the-moment
thing. If I start to think about outcomes, about where
this is all heading, about how much longer it’ll take or
whether it’ll ever be done, I’ll go crazy. Because
weeding is never done. Never. It has no past, no
future. Weeding is now. And always will be.
I stand up and stretch and groan and hobble about.
My certainty about the one and only true grass is
rattled a bit when I look at the Isolepsis that has
escaped from the bog garden. It looks really good
growing on the wrong side of the paving stones
around the pond, forming a natural link between the
lawn and the pond. Last summer I found out that
you can mow Isolepis. I decided to try mowing the
Microlaena to see what would happen and the Isolepis
grew right back. Happy as Larry. The Microlaena has
still not grown back. It just sits there, looking mown.
Maybe it’s waiting for spring. Maybe it’s waiting for
me to stop worrying.
Page 3

The Beautiful Country:
Extracts from Remarks on the Voyage to Western
Port by William Hovell
Jeff Yugo
ugovic
vic, , Biosis Resear
esearch,
During the short-lived Corinella settlement of 1826–
1828, William Hovell explored parts of the Westernport
region. Extracts from his journal of the expedition of 13
to 23 January 1827 are presented here with comments.
Hovell’s handwriting is not always easy to read so there
may be a few transcription errors. He provides fascinating
insights into the ‘beautiful’ country and its healthy
and ‘no doubt happy’ people.
A complete transcription of William Hovell’s journal
would be worthwhile research.
Sunday 14 January 1827, Plains Grassland, around
Yallock Creek:
"I took two soldiers with me to trace up the course of the
river, at half past we left and the distance of about one
mile, I came to a fine level open country, very thinly
covered with trees, soil of a good quality, and the grass
long and fresh. . . the only objection to it is that I think it
lies too flat to be perfectly dry in rainy seasons. The water
is exceedingly good and the timber on the side of the creek
or river is good also."
Yallock Creek issued from the southern end of the
Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp and was essentially the lower
course of the Bunyip River which entered the swamp
in the north-east (Rosengren 1984). Grassland and
acacia open woodland occurred extensively around
the lower Yallock and separated the Koo-Wee-Rup
Swamp from and Tobin Yallock Swamp to the south.
The early survey plan of Smythe (1842) maps these
relatively open areas between belts of Melaleuca
scrub, and annotates them ‘black soil wooded with
lightwood – good grass’. At that time Lightwood
was Acacia melanoxylon, now Blackwood.
Acacia open woodland on alluvial plains is now extremely
rare and yet was once a distinctive part of the
landscape of southern Victoria. Acacia melanoxylon was
effectively the only tree species in this damp grassy
ecosystem, probably due to its resilience to flood,
drought and fire. Its strong suckering habit enabled it to
survive fire. Occasional individuals would eventually
reach tree size and thus avoid grass fires, forming an
open woodland on many sites. Open treeless plains
also occurred in several areas around Western Port Bay.
Plains Grassland / Grassy Woodland, west of Sawtell
Inlet, Tooradin:
"in less than one hour’s walk from the Entrance was
enabled to see the land, on the other side of the river, is
clear and open…it has a very fine meadow and in other
parts, park like appearance."
Grassy woodlands were relatively open under the
Aboriginal fire regime and were spoken of in rapturous
terms such as ‘beautiful’ and ‘delightful’ by William
Hovell. Today many remnants of this endangered
ecosystem have high woody cover due to lack of fire.
Plains Grassland / Plains Grassy Wetland, Clyde-
Tooradin Plain:
"I came to another open space, quite clear of trees for
several miles square, but so perfectly flat that the water
appears to have no possibility of draining off, consequently
after rain the ground must be some time before it can
absorb the whole, but at this time we could not get a drop
to moisten our lips, which would have been very acceptable
from it being so very hot, and which we so much required,
having come upon a Native path, which led in the direction
I wanted to go, I kept upon it in hopes that it would lead to
water"
Since nearly all of the woodland and scrub that defined
the edge of this extensive treeless plain was cleared
after European arrival, all living memory of this land
system was lost. It was only with the recent discovery
of Urquhart’s (1847) remarkably detailed survey plan
that we have become aware of this once conspicuous
feature.
Rail line remnants of native vegetation on the natural
surface of the plain are tussock grassland but the plain is
likely to have also supported grassy wetland. This open
plain was on the western edge of the impenetrable
‘Great Swamp’ (Cook and Yugovic 2003).
Tuesday 16 January: Beside an unidentified creek:
"Passed many [native] huts on our way, on the sides of the
creek, they had only left them a few days back, the grass all
around has been burned lately."
Page 4
Indigenous Flora and Fauna Association Inc. (Incorporated Association No A0015723B)

Thursday 18 January: Grassy Woodland, beside
Dandenong Creek:
"We have been travelling over a very fine, I may say
beautiful country, all hill and dale, and the creek running
between, with a wide space of meadow land on each side,
the soil and grass on both very good, trees thin mostly
Honey Suckel, Wattle & Gum, I have not seen a more
interesting country anywhere, it is worth the attention of
either farmer or grazier. . . passed a number of native huts,
they are always to be found on the banks of rivers &
creeks"
Friday 19 January: Plains Grassy Woodland (mature
River Red Gums)
"Some parts of the land has a great deal of timber on it,
and on others very little, but where that is the case it is
very large, some would measure 40 feet in circumference,
but they are always very short in the barrel."
From the immense size and description of these trees,
they must have been River Red Gum Eucalyptus
camaldulensis. A few of these giants survive today.
Encounter with Koories:
Indigenotes Volume 17, Number 1, April 2006
"At 1 oclock 2 native men paid us a visit, they had tracked
us for some distance, having heard us fire at some ducks,
they left us for a short time, and took some tea which had
been given them to show their friends, which were encamped
at no great distance from us, but previously to them
going I made them understand, that if they brought the tin
pot back I would give a tomahawk in lieu, in half an hour
they returned bringing an old man with them, who from the
great degree of familiarity used towards us, and his examining
everything belonging to the party with a sort of desire, I
strongly suspected him to be a rogue, and cautioned the
men against him, I was not long before my suspicions were
verified for having found where the hatchet was put, used by
us, he contrived to conceal it under his cloak, and appeared
carelessly lounging about, at the same time sideling off
towards a thick scrub close by, on seeing that I enquired if
the hatchet was safe, it was gone, and he was going too, but
the sight of a musket pointed towards him brought him back
quickly. . . knowing the way to treat them on those occasions,
not coercively but by signs the very white people treat
each other under such circumstances, afterwards we
became good friends, and he with the others requested we
would accompany them to their camp to get the tin pot, and
at 2 oclock set forward for that purpose, on arrival within a
short distance of the camp, the women and children retreated,
the men began to arm themselves with their spears
and called out to those with us to keep the guns, of which
they are in very great dread, further off, judging the occasion
of the alarm I gave my piece to one of my party, all of
whom I had decided to keep at a distance, and went to the
camp alone, on seeing me unarmed they laid down their
spears and became perfectly reconciled, I made them
sensible where I had been & where I was going, gave each of
them fishing hooks (which they knew the use of) and the
tomahawk to the young man, who in return gave me the tin
pot, and we set forward on our journey but the old man who
had stolen the hatchet now made up for the breach of good
faith, by accompanying us to a considerable distance (about
a dozen followed) and put us upon a path which he gave me
to understand would take me to where the boat can come,
this was the river I wanted [Sawtell Creek]. There were
several old men among them, but one in particular which
appeared the chief was the oldest, the hair on his head &
also his beard, which was very long, was perfectly white, his
legs and arms very small, but he appeared in good health
and I should judge him to be about 70 years, they are all in
what may be termed good case, and from the cause of them
having several good kangaroo legs, no doubt live well, they
appear very active, and what ever we may think to the
contrary, I have no doubt happy."
In this fascinating encounter, Hovell would have known
that a violent confrontation so far from help could have
been disastrous. He appears to have been reasonably
diplomatic and was able to communicate with the
Koories effectively although he was in fact assessing the
suitability of their land for future European colonisation.
"Some of the men & boys had one of the front teeth
knocked out, others again had not. The most of them had
curly heads, but one or two, had lank, they had parts of
several kangaroo, one or two tin pots, some pieces of iron
made into tomahawks, and some pieces of millen cloth.
They had got their huts on the top of a small hill & creek
on the side, and at the commencement of a very beautiful
country, we had three hours travelling on this delightful
country. . . the grass is very fine, but so thick and long
although young that there is not a spot of earth to be seen,
and there is not more than 2 or 3 trees on an acre except
on the tops of the ranges."
Further reading:
Cook D & Yugovic J (2003). Clyde-Tooradin Grassland re-discovered. The Victorian
Naturalist 120: 140–146.
Hovell WH (1827). Remarks on the Voyage to Western Port. Manuscript (microfilm
copy), State Library of Victoria.
Rosengren N (1984). Sites of geological and geomorphological significance in the
Westernport Bay catchment. Environmental Studies Series 401,
Department of Conservation, Forests & Lands, Victoria.
Smythe GD (1842). Survey of the eastern coast of Western Port. Land Victoria.
Urquhart WS (1847). Continuation of the survey of the Toomuc Creek to the Great
Swamp. Central Plan Office, Land Victoria.
Yugovic J & Mitchell S (in press). The Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp and associated
grasslands: A retrospective. The Victorian Naturalist.
Page 5

Waterbirds of the Coorong
Robert Bender
The Coorong is a long narrow estuarine channel,
extending along the South Australian coast from the
swamps north of Kingston to the Murray mouth,
about 100 km further north. Younghusband Peninsula,
a long sand dune, is the only land between the
Coor-ong and the Southern Ocean. It has always been
a salty environment and has attracted multitudes of
sea birds and migratory wading birds each summer.
Some of them migrate from Siberia, Japan and China,
others move short distances to and from the grasslands
further east in South Australia. A bird count in 1965
yielded a figure of 250,000 waders of many species.
In recent years the count has been of around 20,000
to 30,000 birds. The habitat has very clearly been
degraded by a variety of factors.
For the past decade David Paton, research fellow at
Adelaide Uni. has been surveying birds in the Coorong,
assessing abundance and diversity of species and the
changing mix of birds. For the past few years he has
had the help of Earthwatch teams and in January this
year I joined one of them: 15 volunteers, mainly from
SA, but several from Victoria, NSW, ACT and even
UK, all keen to help gather data about the decline of
waterbirds in this beautiful area.
David set us to perform various tasks – walking the
east and west shores counting waders feeding along
the shore or in the waters just offshore, boating up
the centre counting birds in the middle of the kilometre-wide
estuary; using spotting telescopes to intensively
observe behaviour of individual birds; mistnetting
and banding forest birds along Younghusband
Pen.; sampling aquatic plants to assess food abundance
for the herbivorous birds, fish-trapping to
assess food abundance for fishing birds.
One sign of the changing environment this year was
the abundance of brine shrimp, indicating increasing
salinity of the estuarine waters, mainly due to the
damming of the Murray, which has radically reduced
flows down that stream, and led to partial, or some
years complete, closure of the Murray mouth, reduced
or absent tidal flows, and consequent changes
in salinity, among other things.
Brine shrimp dead on the Coorong shore
Counting birds can be quite difficult – some flocks
were huge, thousands of birds in a small area, many
of them liable to suddenly fly off nervously at our
approach.
Sandpipers on the tidal flats
On my first day of boating, we had to abandon the
boat several times and walk around islands as the
water was so shallow.
Walking the Coorong shore
Page 6
We found some large flocks of Pelicans, up to 250 in
some gatherings. They were roosting around 40 km
from their feeding sites, so much energy was used
daily in flights to and from their food sources, which
are apparently much depleted from their usual
Indigenous Flora and Fauna Association Inc. (Incorporated Association No A0015723B)

summer geographical spread. The same applied to
large flocks of terns of various species, especially
Whiskered Terns, which we observed fishing in large
flocks. Asessments of their time budgets to measure
levels of food stress showed they were foraging a very
large part of daylight hours, so were having a hard
time finding enough food to feed their young.
Mist-netting of woodland birds produced a delightful
diversity of species and good numbers of insectivores,
seed-eaters, predators, and nectar-feeders.
A fox on the shore
Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and Red-capped Plovers
gathered in little flocks of nervous and frenetic birds,
pecking eagerly for tiny invertebrates along the sand
spits. Reduced tidal flows have very much diminished
the surface area wetted by tidal waters, so these
sandy areas cannot support as many birds as formerly.
Brown Thornbill
Foxes are abundant along the Coorong, much of it
adjacent to farmland. On one shoreline walk we
spotted a very large dog-fox stalking a flock of Sandpipers.
The abundance of foxes has made it necessary
for many breeding birds to restrict their egglaying
to the islands in the middle of the Coorong,
and even these are not safe when the water depth,
always shallow anyway, is particularly low, as foxes
will wade across to some islands.
Malleefowl nest with interpretive sign
After one morning of mist-netting, we visited the last
known active malleefowl nest in the area. This species
has experienced a long-term decline with the
spread of farms, coastal towns and foxes.
Indigenotes Volume 17, Number 1, April 2006
Page 7

Waterbirds of the Coorong (continued)
Summer was in the middle of the breeding season for
some migratory waders, including Red-necked
Avocets and Fairy Terns. On one afternoon I was
lucky enough to be selected for the boat crew to visit
a nesting island to capture and mark Fairy Terns. The
Avocets lay eggs directly on the mottled sandy rocks
where their speckled surfaces are cryptic so avoiding
stepping on any was a real challenge – we saw them
seconds before putting a foot down
continuity of ecosystems, destroying a large area of
shrubland, creating an arid gash ex-tending 3 km
through the ancient dunes and altering the water
flows on his own land and in the Coorong into which
the drain empties. Allegedly the massive earthmoving
project breached several planning laws and
heritage approval procedures, but was retrospectively
legitimised by the Liberal government.
Avocet eggs on offshore island
The Coorong is an area in big trouble – its status as a
major feeding and breeding site for migratory waders
is under serious threat, the mix of species is changing
in important ways – a very large number of Banded
Stilts had appeared this year, a species formerly rare
in the area, responding to the changing salinity and
the appearance of the brine shrimp on which they
feed. The major declines have been observed among
Small Migratory Waders, whose food needs have
been severely damaged by the reduced water flows
through the semi-closed Murray mouth.
Fairy Terns are in serious decline on the Coorong,
down from over 1000 breeding pairs to under 300.
We rascals ran around the rugged rocks capturing
flutter-ing little chicks, which would suddenly disappear,
as they sat down against the eroded and jagged
limestone and were so cryptic they were hard to find.
David’s daughters had made some wire traps to
capture and mark the parents, to help assess how far
they were flying to their feeding sites. We observed
Silver Gulls, which have become very abundant along
the estuary and are now a big problem for waders,
trying to steal eggs or chicks and being mobbed by
aggressively defensive parent birds.
On our last day we were taken to an infamous site at
which one of the neighbouring land-owners had
excavated a huge drain to remove water from the
wetlands on his heritage-listed prop-erty, severing the
Solutions to the problems of the waders and other
sea birds require a multi-pronged program of action
– increasing environmental flows along the Murray-
Darling system, bringing an end to land-clearing
inland of the Coorong, which is destroying habitat of
short-distance migratory birds, and enforcing heritage
and planning laws to prevent such atrocities as
the above drain from being constructed.
Page 8
Indigenous Flora and Fauna Association Inc. (Incorporated Association No A0015723B)

Snippets
Scrofa Hawk Moth
While monitoring significant species in March 2004 at
Jukes Rd Grassland, Fawkner, Brian Bainbridge found
a most stunning Hawk Moth.
It was large, having a wingspan of 6 cm or so. Its
body was large, brown and cigar shaped. The wings
were brown, with red underwings, which it showed
when disturbed. He took photos and later checked
references to identify the moth, which turned out to
be Hippotion scrofa, Scrofa Hawk Moth.
Just over a year later I was unloading weeds just
removed from Jukes Rd Grassland. Amongst the
weeds I found a large, smooth skinned caterpillar. It
was brown with two large eye-spots at the front of its
abdomen and off-white dotted lines and dark oblong
patched along its body. It tapered abruptly at both
ends, and had a small 'tail'. A spectacular caterpillar!
Have a look at http://www.usyd.edu.au/macleay/
larvae/sphi/scrofa.html and you will see what I mean.
The caterpillar feeds on a strange variety of (nonnative)
plants including Mirror Bush, Busy Lizzy, and
Fuchsias. Considering the diet and plants found at the
site, we guessed the caterpillar had been feeding on a
native, Hairy Willow-herb, Epilobium hirtigerum. This is
an often unloved and unlovely native that is frequently
disregarded for its habitat potential in moist soils. It
rarely needs encouragement and may need reducing,
in the early stages of revegetation, to allow the more
permanent, ‘desirable’ plants to establish. Perhaps
revegetators could leave an out of the way corner for
these plants to flourish - with, hopefully, H. scrofa too.
The moth occurs all over Australia plus New Caledonia,
the New Hebrides and Norfolk Island (or worldwide
- references differ). It has been celebrated on
postage stamps and as a Yowie (series 4)!
- Wendy Moore
Nocturnal Visitor
Recently I was devastated when my neighbour had
most of his garden clear-felled. While few of the trees
and shrubs were natives it was loss for local wildlife.
One tree in particular, a Jacaranda, was a sad loss for
me. Though not major habitat, I liked this tree. It
grew in the narrow space between our houses,
adjacent to my front door. While it had kept me busy
every month or so, up on the roof removing its
debris, which was VERY effective at blocking roof
plumbing, I mourned its loss.
A while after it went I noticed one positive outcome
of the Jacarandas demise. Outside my front door is a
portico with obscure glass in its top third. Now,
without shading from the Jacaranda, light from
yonder street light breaks through, forming a glowing
orb on this glass.
Every evening I delight to find a marbled gecko – I
have a resident, breeding population of these and
Weasel Skinks, in my yard – on the glass, presumably
hunting the moths attracted by the light.
I never turn on the porch or outside light now, as it
disturbs my little friend. Nocturnal, human visitors
just have to watch their step as they negotiate the
junk on my path!!
- Wendy Moore
FUTURE GUARANTEED?
VICTORIA'S THREATENED SPECIES
2 nd November 2006
A one-day conference presented by the Environment Defenders
Office Victoria iand the Threatened Species Network
It is almost 20 years since Victoria's Flora and
Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 was introduced. Is the Act
working? Is it up to 'guaranteeing' species in the future?
This is an opportunity to hear speakers and panelists with
scientific and legal expertise discuss topics including:
What to list and when? Are the categories and listing
criteria under the FFG Act appropriate? Can they respond
to threats such as climate change?
The interaction of the FFG Act and planning
schemes. What is the role of local government? How
can we protect threatened species on private land?
Date: Thursday 2 nd November 2006, 9-4pm
Venue: Arrow on Swanston - 488 Swanston Street,
Carlton VIC 3053
Cost: $22 (Community Groups) / $66 (Professionals)
More Information: call the EDO on (03) 9328 4811
Scrofa Hawk Moth, Hippotion scrofa (Sphingidae)
Indigenotes Volume 17, Number 1, April 2006
Page 9

A formal indigenous garden at Fawkner
By Neil Huybregts and Brian Bainbridge
Fawkner Community House is located in the centre
of the C.B. Smith Reserve on Jukes Road in Fawkner,
not far from Merri Creek. When the house opened in
2001, the garden was in poor condition, lacked any
areas for people to congregate and harboured environmental
weeds like ivy and desert ash. A dense
hedge hid the house from public view.
Following a working bee during which the hedge was
removed from the front garden, a few of us got
interested in the idea of creating an indigenous
garden at the House. The informal indigenous garden
at the Fawkner Library was commonly seen as
messy, brown and drab by the locals, so in 2002, a
few of us decided it would be good to create a formal
indigenous garden in an attempt to marry sustainable
gardening practices with local sensibilities. The
Fawkner Indigenous Garden Group was formed and,
in early 2003, a Sustainable Moreland Environment
Grant was obtained from the City of Moreland and
work began in earnest.
including Italian, Greek, Arabic, Yugoslav, Dutch,
German, Maltese, Polish and ‘Anglo’. Less physically
able participants were included with tasks such as
making the excellent lunches (feasts!). The physiotherapist
from Fawkner Community Health Service
came to teach muscle warming-up exercises and safe
working techniques.
The final working bee was held with the Fawkner
Arabic Women’s Support Group who filled and
planted out large concrete planter boxes which had
been donated by Council. John Vestjens, a member
of the group and a cabinetmaker by trade, built some
seating around the paved area.
A number of community meetings were held to
discuss the project and the form that the garden
would take. Merri Creek Management Committee
were approached to provide expertise in plant selection
and garden design and Brian Bainbridge, a
Fawkner resident who is expert in indigenous flora
became involved. Brian led an initial workshop to
explore what we would like from the garden and then
developed draft plans which were further ‘workshopped’.
Renovations to Community House delayed garden
development but, in February 2004, the group finally
got stuck into the real work.
We were clever enough to realise we needed professional
advice on the paving design and installation and
Damian Bateson, a landscaper who was on the VINC
Board of Directors, was commissioned to direct and
assist with the paving installation at working bees.
Damian knew exactly how to do many things that we
seemed unlikely to work out by ourselves. His expertise
laying-out, levelling and laying the pavers and
working with a bunch of amateurs was invaluable.
Seven working bees were held over several months.
Up to 25 people were involved in each working bee –
weeding, digging over, shaping and levelling, laying
paving, planting and cooking community lunches for
participants. Residents attended from cultural groups
The garden is divided into four ‘rooms’ defined by
clipped hedges of Rock Correa (Correa glabra) and Smallleaved
Eutaxia (Eutaxia microphylla var. diffusa) (below
the eaves) and lines of Spiny-headed Mat-rush (Lomandra
longifolia) and Black-anther flax lily (Dianella revoluta
sensu lato). Sheets of Tufted Bluebell (Wahlenbergia
communis) and Common Everlasting (Chrysocephalum
apiculatum) and Berry Saltbush (Atriplex semibaccata,
selected to underplant a mature small Eucalyptus
leucoxylon cultivar) fill in the foreground and surround a
large mosaic bird-bath made by the Fawkner Youth
Group. A staggered row of Lightwoods (Acacia implexa)
along the barbed-wire-topped cyclone wire front fence
were selected for their light shade, rapid growth and
narrow, high canopy to reduce the visual impact of the
fence while still keeping the house visible from the
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Community House
carpark. The planting boxes were planted out with a
flowery mix of Cut-leaf Daisy Brachyscome multifida,
Common Woodruff, Asperula conferta, Matted Flax-lily
(Dianella amoena) and Clustered Everlasting (Chrysocephalum
semipapposum).
The garden was launched formally at the end of
November 2004 by Kelvin Thomson, the local MHR
and a founding member of a number of local environment
groups.
The garden is often commented on favourably by users
of the House and the seating is frequently used. The
Lightwoods have grown rapidly and will soon provide
welcome shade on warmer days. Many people express
surprise that the plants are all ‘local’ indigenous plants.
Since the garden was completed, group members
have worked to maintain the garden by weeding and
clearing wind-blown rubbish, rabbit-proofing with
tree-guards and watering over the summer in order
to assist the plant establishment. The rabbit-proofing
required major effort, including two rounds of ferreting!
The garden is in good nick, despite the rabbit
attacks and the mysterious disappearance of the
Berry Saltbush. Was it vandals or was it some wellmeaning
House participant who thought it was a
weed?
The garden is a useful example of a ‘formal-indigenous’
garden for others in the process of designing
gardens. Anyone who is interested in the garden is
welcome to have a look. The house is open most
days, especially 10am-4pm Monday to Thursday. If
you’d like to know more, contact details are below.
Now for the side and the back
The Fawkner Indigenous Garden Group has recently
received another grant from Moreland City Council to
develop the side and back yards. We are planning to
create a garden that combines indigenous plants with
plants taken from House participants’ cultures and
experiences. We hope to create a space that encourages
a sharing of the stories that connect people to
their environment, both past and present.
The current design consists of a zig-zag path connecting
the back and side. About a dozen garden beds
will be defined by the path and by structural plantings
of indigenous shrubs and trees. Two new outdoor
meeting areas, including one that uses a large existing
carport, will be created. Waist-high planter boxes
will allow less mobile people to participate in planting
and tending.
A design process of workshops and talks will seek
design suggestions, invite the house users to nominate
plants, and assist people to propagate material
for the garden. Efforts will be made to reconnect
people and their ‘special’ plants. Help will be sought
from other community gardens and from garden
societies for species and varieties that may be difficult
to source in Australia. This part of the project should
generate ongoing opportunities to highlight biohygiene,
including the role of the customs department
and the threat of environmental weeds. Indigenous
plants and their various human and wildlife
associations with grow alongside the exotic plants in
an effort to ensure a truly inclusive and fertile space
for sharing the stories that have a role in connecting
us to our wider environment and community.
The garden is also envisaged as the setting for artwork
rich in association created by and for house
users. Herbs and plant materials from the established
garden will be available for house cooking and
craft programs.
We are keen to involve as many people as we can in
developing the side and back gardens. If you’re interested,
feel free to get in touch with either of us or the House.
Neil Huybregts neilhuy@alphalink.com.au
Brian Bainbridge brian@mcmc.org.au
Fawkner Community House can be contacted on
(03) 9432 7005.
Indigenotes Volume 17, Number 1, April 2006
Page 11

INDIGENOUS GARDENS
OPEN DAY
21 October 2006
The Southern Peninsula Indigenous Flora and Fauna
Association (SPIFFA), Mornington Peninsula Round
Table (MP&WP Biosphere) and Trust for Nature have
organised a tour of local indigenous gardens on the
Peninsula. Come and see the array of beautiful local
plants that can be used to create a stunning and
drought-tolerant indigenous garden.
There are a range of properties – from Boogoolum at
Main Ridge, to smaller blocks in Somers, Rye, Rosebud
and McCrae – to look at. Properties in Red Hill,
Flinders and Tuerong will also be on display.
The self-drive tour will begin at 10.30am on Saturday
21 October, from either Seawinds Park at Main Ridge
or Boneo Primary School off Limestone Rd, where
participants will receive a map of the gardens on
display for the day. People can then choose which of
the properties they wish to visit. Car-pooling for the
event is recommended, and each venue is child friendly.
Gold coin donation (market day parking fees apply at
Boneo Primary - follow the signs to the wetlands).
Some venues will provide light refreshments.
For more information on gardens, contact Gidja
Walker on 0418 416 182, Carri on 5983 2072 or
Virginia 5989 0223
Membership
IFFA membership costs
$40 for non-profit organizations,
$50 for corporations,
$25 for individuals and families,
or $20 concession.
Membership includes
4 issues of Indigenotes per year, enhanced
access to IFFA's website at iffa.org.au
and discount subscription to
Ecological Management & Restoration Journal
Members should check the mailing label to
ascertain the status of their membership. If an
invoice is required, please send a purchase
order requesting an invoice.
Membership applications and renewals should be
sent to the membership secretary.
CONTENTS
Editorial: 20 years of IFFA 2
Letter from the Suburbs 3
The Beautiful Country - Jeff Yugovic 4
Waterbirds of the Coorong - Robert Bender 6
Snippets: Scrofa Hawk Moth, Marbled Gecko 9
A formal indigenous garden at Fawkner Community
House - Neil Huybregts & Brian Bainbridge 10
Office Bearers:
President: Randall Robinson, P.O. Box 122,
Hurstbridge 3099. Email: president@iffa.org.au
Vice-President: Ken Duxbury, email:
vicepres@iffa.org.au, phone 9859 5192.
Secretary: Michele Arundell (03) 97612787(ah)
email: secretary@iffa.org.au
Membership Secretary: Dimi Bouzalas
(03) 93860264. 21 Harrison Street East Brunswick
Vic 3057. email: membership@iffa.org.au
Treasurer: Caroline Dunn, email: treasurer@iffa.org.au
Committee members: Liz Henry, 9890 4542 (h), Jon
Green 9529 2523 email: jonni5_is_alive@yahoo.com
Editor: Tony Faithfull, (03) 9386 0264 (ah). 21
Harrison St East Brunswick 3057. editor@iffa.org.au
Webmaster: Peter Neish, web@iffa.org.au
Website: www.iffa.org.au
Contributions to Indigenotes should be sent to the
editor — the deadline for the next issue is 30 October
2006. Contributions must be in electronic form,
either on PC formatted floppy disk or CD or can be
sent to the editor by email.
The views expressed in Indigenotes are not necessarily those of the
Indigenous Flora and Fauna Association.
Ecological Management and
Restoration Journal
The leading Australian journal for those interested
in the science behind restoration and management.
Subscribe to EMR for 2007 at the special IFFA
membership rate of s $59.40.
See your Indigenotes wrapper for subscription
details.
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Indigenous Flora and Fauna Association Inc. (Incorporated Association No A0015723B)