Wednesday volunteers at Iramoo Court
11th October 2022
By Gerry Robinson
Each Wednesday Volunteer activity is organised by the Merri Creek Management Committee. They select the site and provide a supervisor, the tools and equipment. Friends of Merri Creek provide the muscle. Having previously tested my dodgy knee, I decided to go along to pull some weeds to test my hamstrings. We gathered at 10am at Imaroo Court, Fawkner and descended to the Merri Creek Trail.
Weeding a small stand of Poa grass was the challenge of the day.
The planted area was around thirty by sixty metres and had been established many years ago. There was a lot of competition from various introduced weeds, including:
- Delairea odorata (Cape ivy)
- Ehrharta longifolia (Annual veldt grass)
- Vicia sativa (Vetch)
- Asphodelus fistulosus (Onion weed)
Poa is a tussock grass and it was relatively easy weeding: except for the onion weed. Ironically, this noxious plant creates a carpet of pretty white flowers, but it is really difficult to remove. Our best weed pullers attacked the onion weed with gusto and in two hours we transformed the area into a more natural state.
I asked Tony, our supervisor, if we would tackle a task like this in summer due to the risk of snakes. He advised he would complete a very careful site risk assessment. That said, I was pleased we were working on a cool overcast day after some heavy rain.
