Parts of NSW have what can affectionately be called heart-break land, that is, it is overworked, over supered and is organically dead. It also has a till pan at 300 - 450 mm (12 - 18 inches) down making growing most crops by any means almost impossible.
It has been interesting watching the natural regenerative cycle over the last 40 years. The other issue is the encroachment of weeds. Weeds are not always weeds here. My wife has been at me for months to get rid of the weeds around the compost bins. But, after 4 days of rain we finally got a fine sunny day. Imagine my surprise when I went over to the compost bins only to find hundreds of bees in the weeds that I was supposed to get rid of. Note to self, weeds are not always weeds especially when you have bees. Our pasture is what is called native woodland pastures but is seriously degraded with a pH in some areas as acid as 3.5 (ouch). So how do we bring it back from dead sodic soil and incapable of growing anything at all?
This forum could be what I have learned from doing it - successes and failures in rehabilitation OR Rescuing a rotten region. Looking forward to thoughts on sifton bush (Chinese brush), acacia and finally the return of eucalypts and casurinas.
Grassy Woodlands are a widespread and quintessential feature of rural Australia. They are the original vegetation of the wheat and sheep belt.
Dominated by eucalypts, typically boxes and red gums, grassy woodlands have a relatively open canopy with sparsely distributed shrubs and a conspicuous and diverse ground cover of tussock grasses and herbs. from Local Lands Service website (LLS NSW)
Unfortunately large tracts of land have been destroyed by large scale farming and grazing. Each small area we can rehabilitate adds to the natural biome.
grassy-woodlands.jpg
The direction we are headed
Failure is a stepping stone to success. Failing is not quitting - Stopping trying is Never retire every one thinks you have more time to help them - We have never been so busy
Ouch indeed! My land is pretty acidic, although I think it is nearer 4.5 and shallow; bedrock between 0 and 24 inches down mostly.
If you're trying to restore to 200 year old conditions I'm not sure what to suggest. The only encouragement that comes to mind is that plants don't read the books and seem to want to grow anyway given relief from grazing.
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