Too dry to plant
Tubestock insufficient winter rain
2017 has been a difficult year at Niagara Park Bushcare due to lack of rain.
Each year we have tubestock supplied by Central Coast Council (Gosford Council Bushcare) which we start planting in autumn relying on winter rain to help establish.
This year we only managed to plant about half of our tubestock, approx. 200 plants were supplied. Of those 100 planted maybe 30 are still alive at the end of September. Some plants were dug out by an animal - rabbit? bandicoot? Some were stolen. However the vast majority died due to lack of water. Our small creek has all but dried up, and the stormwater drain water is stagnant and revolting.
For the first time in my 18 years of bush regeneration we are returning tubestock to the council nursery as it is just too dry to plant.
Those tubestock surviving have been cared for - weeded, thickly mulched with our compost made from solarised Trad.