BY JULIA BELL
The Canberra based Friends of the Grasslands (FogG) group held a working bee with other willing volunteers on Wednesday 24 June 10.30am to 1:00pm on the protected grasslands at St Mark’s. The CSU gardening team and staff from St Mark’s and ACC & C also attended to learn something about the history and diversity of plants on the site.
The meet was hosted by Sarah Sharp of FoG who also very kindly provided cakes for a late morning tea. She and other FoG volunteers took teams off around the site to concentrate on different jobs requiring completing.
After the rain in February, there are a lot of species that have emerged very early – thousands of Yam Daisies, Creamy Candles, Scaly Buttons, an orchid or two.
These were easy to spot amongst the orange coloured Themeda grass, as some were in flower and all were green or grey coloured. The working bee was a chance to remove some of the invasive species of weeds including Wild Oats and grevillea before they seed and therefore spread in the spring. As it had rained a few days prior the ground was moist so removing the weeds with tools provided by Sarah was easy. The CSU gardeners took the larger heavier debris away afterwards.
It was a delightful, fulfilling couple of hours spent in glorious sun and warmth. FoG hope to hold other working bees in the future for anyone interested in helping keep the only remaining grassland in the CBD in good health.
JOIN US as we tidy our iconic ‘heritage-listed’ grassland in a working bee on Wednesday 24 June from 10:30am to 1:00pm.
Organised and sponsored by local volunteer group, ‘Friends of the Grasslands’, this one-off working bee aims to do some weeding and invasive shrub and species removal before they seed. There will also be a tour of the site, a talk about the history of St Mark’s grassland, and morning tea.
St Mark’s Grassland is an iconic grassland in central Canberra containing a high diversity of native plants and low invasive plant diversity. After the rain in February, many species emerged early — including thousands of Yam Daisies, Creamy Candles, Scaly Buttons, and even an orchid or two. Here’s your chance to get to know more about these species and why they’re special.
- Venue: 15 Blackall Street, BARTON ACT 2600 (Get directions)
- Free parking: Park in P2 Carpark and walk towards the lake to the grassland
- RSVPs are required.
To register, obtain details of meeting places and further information, email Sarah Sharp or call 0402 576 412 by COB 23 June.
We hope you can join us!
