Interesting things have been happening on Cornish Hill as the Friends as we explore different ways of eradicating weeds and reducing our use of herbicides. Thanks to our neighbour Vasko, 8 gorgeous goats have been devouring their way through broom, blackberry, willow and other woody weeds. And just around the corner, mighty Ivon the not so terrible has been wielding the brush cutter to remove the infestations of blackberries along the creek.

Spraying weeds January 2019

At the other end of the Reserve, at the picnic area, Kieran Foley of Steam Weeds Eco Weed Management has been using high pressure steam on the weeds growing through the gravel near the Interpretation sign.

Removal of flowering gorse heads and cutting and painting willow suckers have taken place in the past. Big thanks to everyone who has taken part in this exercise. We can’t do this sort of thing without the help of our volunteers, We are looking forward to hosting a Conservation Volunteers team later in April and you might have guessed!  Weed eradication will be the name of the game then as well.   

Late last year we engaged a team from Aus Eco Solutions to complete a lot of weed removal above the picnic table.  The initial brush cutting took place in November and significant rainfalls in December encouraged regrowth of the gorse.   A return trip from Aus Eco in late January gave us a great opportunity to spray the regrowth.