Australian Native Grasses

Austrostipa species (Spear Grass)

Austrostipa species (Spear Grass)

Yesterday I went to a native grasses identification workshop organised by the Native Grasses Resource Group (NGRG) which is based at Mt. Barker in South Australia, about 20 minutes from Adelaide. The workshop was at Mount Pleasant. It was aimed at beginners, which I am, and I hope will give me a few skills to build on so that I can get a reasonable identification of the grasses on our property. Over the last five years I have seen the return of eight species of native grass. There are two more sessions next month. One will be with samples and books, the last out in the field.

The Spear Grasses are well named as the seeds penetrate socks and are quite sharp. They can be a problem with sheep. Apparently there are trials happening with getting stock onto paddocks with spear grass to eat them before seed is set. Being perennial grasses, they resprout when the conditions are right.

I like the plumes on these grasses. This one in the photo was taken last spring after good winter rains as can be seen by the barley grass in head, also. That paddock was mown twice. This year there hasn’t been the growth to warrant mowing.

Useful Book On Gardening

Kevin Handreck’s book, ‘Gardening Down Under’, is another publication of the CSIRO in Australia. Its ISBN is 0 643 05511 8. I found a lot of treasures in it that I had forgotten about. Some are:- different potting mix recommendations for different sized pots, fertilisers for soils and potting mixes, watering regimes, gardening and salty water, raising and lowering soil and mix pH.

He is not only practical in his approach. He also gives the science behind the practical measures he recommends.

With the drought conditions in Australia at the moment, any information about efficient use of water is welcome. There are a lot of recommendations and reasonings in this book which make sense.

Lowering pH of Soils Information

I had the opportunity to hear Kevin Handreck speak about soils at the Australian Plants Society Flower Show and Plant Sale. Kevin is a well respected soils scientist and author of a number of small books for the CSIRO. He also wrote the book ‘Gardening Down Under’-Better soils and Potting Mixes for better gardens. I highly reccomend this book to all gardeners.

Instead of speaking in general terms about soils, he asked the audience what they would like him to discuss. Well! My first question was about dealing with highly alkaline soils. Bless the man, he spent quite a while discussing strategies.

As Kevin said, the obvious solution is to use those plants that don’t mind those conditions. However, for the rest of us who want to try other plants, he offered some possible solutions to try. One I think is a distinct possibility. Under the drip line of the plant make 3 or 4 holes (depending on the size of the plant) and fill with a mixture of cocopeat or potting mix or peatmoss and ferrous sulphate (10 litre cocopeat to 1 cup ferrous sulphate) and cover with a layer of soil.

As an extension of this, I wonder if it would also work to remove the soil from the planting hole, place the plant, add the peat mix to the soil and back fill with it. It is worth experimenting.

Banksias In A Stump

Flower Arrangement with Banksias

Flower Arrangement with Banksias

Banksias are such dramatic flowers. There are two different species in this arrangement, plus the seed cone of another species. A typical piece of Australiana is the old gnarled piece of mallee stump.

When we used to get to the city for shopping, when living in the north of the state it was always a treat to see the flower stalls in Rundle mall, the main shopping precinct in the CBD. There were always buckets of Banksia flowers. I would buy a few of each to take home and place in water to enjoy the real colours. When the water evaporated the flowers would dry and keep for months. I often used the leaves with their different serrations as shapes for stencilling.

I enjoy the skill and creativity of the people who did these floral arrangements in Sogersu School of Ikebana.

Flower Arranging With Banksias

Banksias  and Woolly Bush

Banksias and Woolly Bush

This is another of the flower arrangements in a form of Ikebana. The featured flowers are Banksia spinulosa and Woolly Bush (Adenanthos sericeus). Also featured are gnarled pieces of one of the She-Oak family (Allocasuarina). The old seed cones have been retained and some yellow lichen has been left on the stems, also.

Woolly Bush is a wonderful plant. It has a green and grey appearance as the camera flash has picked up in the photo. It is one of those plants that one has to touch because of the soft woolly feel of the foliage. This plant grows well here with good drainage and in the alkaline soil, too. It has small, red jug-shaped flowers that are also attractive but the foliage is the feature.

I really like the way these flower arrangements show off Australian native Plants.