20th September 2021

Visit to Yundi property, owners Martin and Carolyn.

We met Marty at the gateway where he gave a brief introduction. The property is 45Ha with about 80% of the land being Heritage Listed. The terrain is fairly steep with 3 main gullies and the Finniss River at the bottom. On the slopes, the main vegetation community is Stringy Bark with a Yacca understory. The photo below was taken towards the bottom of the hillside and the plant in the foreground is a Gahnia.

Martin and Carolyn have owned the property for 17 years and they have done a lot of weed control – blackberries in the gullies, gorse, broom and watsonia elsewhere. They have done very well and the bush is a pleasure to look at.

Marty was very pleased to start some revegetation work on the flat areas this year after battling invading cattle for a long time and now that there is an effective fence on the property on the other side of the Finniss River.

Marty’s planting tip is to put a stake close to the new plant before putting the guard in place as this helps deter nosey kangaroos.

The property has a very large dam and just below it are some impressive River Red Gums and a few Candlebark Gums that are not common. Their stark white trunks really stand out against the subdued green colour of the background vegetation.

The properties we visited on the field trip were looked after by people who had a close connection to the land and the owners were determined to improve the health of the vegetation and reduce the stress on native plants by those plants that do not belong. All the visits left us feeling uplifted and the owners enjoyed sharing their properties with people who appreciated their effort and knew what hard work it can be at times.

Chris.