Stanhope to make the willows weep

I like willows. Then there is the possibility of erosion in the meantime – assuming we continue to get rain.

As a few people have suggested all the land around the lake is probably about to be privatized and sold to developer anyway.

I really don’t give a damn whether a particular tree is “native” or immigrant. I just like Willow trees.

Drain the lake and build a dragway.

Apparently they were going to obscure the views for the people on the ground & first floors of the 20 storey unit blocks they’re going to build around the lake.

JOOOOKING! That was all the trees at Deekes Forest..

Not sure what you mean, Al. I can understand getting rid of woody weeds such as Firethorn (Pyracantha) and Cotoneaster. But this crusade against Cootamundra Wattle and every Willow along our waterways smacks very much of unthinking obsession with little chance of success and high costs in doing so. That means fundamentalism, in my book.

You’re right, andym, there needs to be more than just ripping them out – there needs to be stabilisation of the banks and the planting of replacements, and even more important, ongoing watering and maintenance. Otherwise, ecologically, it would be better to just leave the Willows in place (and save a lot of money in the process).

I’m all for getting rid of the willows, but they need to be replaced with something. I like the native Casuarina, which is endemic to the area and probably used to grow along the Molonglo long before LBG arrived.
They also make the best sound as the wind blows through them.

Just out of interest… I read recently that the original willows on the Molonglo were struck from cuttings imported from a St Helena tree that drapes over Napoleon’s grave.

sepi said :

I thought latest research suggested willows weren’t actually that bad for waterways?

And getting rid of them all at once to leave bare banks is not so nice for the birds etc.

They are problems. “The latest research” was merely a fan trying to restore them to favour – no reasearch.

But they do need staged removal. The smart way to do it is to remove one or two and grow a replacement among the remainder. Then remove more once the replacement species has achieved some size. As someone said, next to the Lake there’s no great rush.

Fundamentalism 54-11? In this town – seriously? You had a look around how many exotics we have vs natives??

I thought latest research suggested willows weren’t actually that bad for waterways?

And getting rid of them all at once to leave bare banks is not so nice for the birds etc.

They do offer a degree of amenity but there’s a heap of environmental damage that comes with them in the bargain.

The huge numbers of leaves that they drop end up in the water and substantially increases the nutrient load which in turn is a major contributor to the incidence of blue-green algae blooms. They are also very effective at excluding other plants (quite an evolutionary success story in itself) hence the short term erosion issue upon removal because there’s nothing there to hold the banks together.

One wonders though at the cost effectiveness of trying to unscramble this particular egg. Wouldn’t all those dollars be better spent at the arboretum?