At home we are working on regenerating our native bushland and increasing the flora and fauna diversity. We do this as a family and the boys learn as they participate. We're currently targeting cypress pine over growth which is a legacy of past sheep grazing. I've found some useful information about white cypress pines here. The white cypress pines are native to our area but when they grow densely they suppress all other under storey plants. In dense cypress stands the diversity of fauna is also extremely low because they don't provide nesting habitat or food sources. Until a few years ago sheep have eaten or trampled everything except the cypress pines so they dominate our landscape. "Plants and Animals of the Dubbo Region" Dubbo Field Naturalists & Conservation Society Inc. Fortunately controlling the white cypress pine is very straight forward - you just cut them down. This restores balance to the ecosystem by allowing other species to emerge. I target the young trees that are at least 1m tall and up to 3cm in trunk diameter with a pair of tree loppers. I have found that if I cut them down when they are too small they re-shoot. We've taught the boys to identify the white cypress pines and they are very enthusiastic about helping to manage them. 6 year old Wolf prefers the big saw. He likes it because it's big. He takes a lot of pride in how many trees he can cut down and how strong he is to carry them by himself. Fox who is 9 years old prefers the pruning saw. I think this is the most efficient tool for the small trees with trunks bigger than 3cm diameter. Bear who is 10 years old prefers the axe - it is the least efficient tool but he enjoys the process, he can attack bigger trees and he does bring them down eventually. Over a couple of years we've watched the vegetation change as we've worked on small sections at a time. It has become denser and greener and more beautiful.
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My name is Vicky and I have 3 boys - Bear (10), Fox (8) and Wolf (6). Somehow I stumbled across Montessori and now my goal is to raise and educate my children with a Montessori approach in Dubbo. Archives
April 2024
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