Overgrowth Management in Emerald

Overgrowth Management in Emerald: Local Conditions and What That Means for Your Property

Overgrowth management in Emerald is largely a problem of the bush interface, and it comes in two distinct forms. The first is blackberry (Rubus fruticosus aggregate), which establishes aggressively on any disturbed or unmanaged ground receiving direct sun: fence lines, the backs of sheds, cleared drainage easements and the edges of the Cardinia Creek tributaries that cut through the lower-lying properties. Blackberry in the high-rainfall environment of the Dandenong Ranges grows canes to two metres in a single season, and a patch that was manageable in spring becomes impenetrable by late summer without intervention. We cut canes back hard, treat the root crown with registered herbicide, and where access allows, follow up with a second application in autumn when the plant is translocating energy back to the roots and uptake is highest. The second form is scrub encroachment from adjacent public reserves (particularly on properties abutting Wright Forest, the Cardinia Reservoir Park buffer and the Puffing Billy corridor) where sweet pittosporum (Pittosporum undulatum), boxthorn, and English broom advance steadily into maintained garden areas. Sweet pittosporum seedlings are especially persistent in the moist, shaded soils under established eucalypts; hand-pulling young plants in winter before they set their first seed crop is far more effective than waiting until they are multi-stemmed and need cutting. On the larger Belgrave-Gembrook Road acreage properties, kangaroo grass and tall tussock grasses encroach from the southern paddock edges; slashing these on a two-visit annual cycle keeps them from seeding back into garden beds.