PlantNET Search – Find your local plants
I’m giving away trade secrets here but apart from identifying plants one of our common requests is for species lists of what grows in an area, or what is suitable to plant in an area. Some areas we know quite well and will be able to give a reasonable list just off...
Tools, Tricks and Tips: I Saw That, The “Unbelievable Saw”
One tool that has been in my collection for about 10 years and gets dragged out every now and then is a handy little rope saw called “The Unbelievable Saw”
Tools, Tips and Tricks: Try not to get lost!
Apart from my Landcare work I do the odd bit of consulting and flora survey work, this work can take me into some fairly remote places and often by myself. While I regard this as the fun bit of my job it is not without a level of risk with the possibility vehicle...
Tools, Tricks and Tips: Nursery Cheats
Ok, I have a confession, despite enjoying working in nurseries I really hate pricking out and potting up seedlings. Yeah, I know, it is the main point of working in a nursery, but it is just so tedious and time consuming so if I can find any way of doing it quicker I...
Tools, Tricks and Tips: Rainy Day Jobs
You know what it’s like, it’s cold and wet outside but you really don’t want to be inside, because, well, you need to do something more than pushing pixels, or you just want to hide from the boss for a while so the only real retreat is the shed and as there’s only so...
How to Clean Secateurs
Tools, Tricks and Tips: Lockdown
One of my first jobs was at a nursery, the nursery specialised in citrus and roses and was spread over a couple of hectares. My job, for the most part, was weeding. For a whole $2.25 an hour (award rates) I was to start at one end of the nursery and pull the weeds out...
After the Fires
Once the flames die down and the smoke clears the question arises “what now?” Now that the adrenaline has flushed out of the system and you face a whole new blackened landscape, it can be more daunting than when the fires were burning. At least then there was only one...
New App: Birdata
Did you know birds are a key indicator for biodiversity health in the landscape? How healthy is your patch?
New App: I Spy Koala
A new app encourages users to record sightings of Koalas
How Tea Bags Can Measure Soil Health
The Tea Bag Index (TBI), first published in 2013, can be used as a method of comparing the rates of decomposition of organic matter in soil.
The Peter Lever
Used every now and then by bush regenerators for digging the crowns out of things like asparagus fern and also good for digging into gravelly creekbanks when doing plantings.