"Trish Brown" wrote in message
...

Well, my 2c worth would be good old-fashioned violets for a shady
spot!
They do a fair job of suppressing weeds in my garden (on the dry,
shady
side of the house) and the smell is divine when they're in flower. You
could use native violets, too, since they perform pretty much the same
function.

Yes native violets are candidates


Or, for a larger, more shrubby plant, why not try native
Indigofera? It's like a miniature wisteria (up to about a metre high)
with intensely pink flowers and a tendency to form thickets... While
Indigofera doesn't climb or ramble as wisteria does, it will spread
fairly quickly.

Apparently there are a few members of genus indigofera. Do you mean
Indigofera australis ?

David

"Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish" wrote in message
...

You're going to need to drill fill / cut paint or hand pull the
privet, and you will need to remove all tradescantia. It sounds like
you live in an area like mine. The groundcovers we have that do well
a

Dichondra (kidney weed)
Hedycaria (native violet)
Comelina (scurvy plant)
New Zealand Spinnach
Oplismenus gracilus (nice low pretty grass with no common name, does
well in shade).
If you can get cabbage palm seeds, they work as a groundcover for the
first few years.


Thanks,

Hedycaria (native violet)
Comelina (scurvy plant)

are candidates for sure

David

"silvasurfa" wrote in message
...


Throw a few nasturtium seeds in whatever you decide to plant, because
if
they do well and reseed it would be lovely, and if you decide you no
longer
want them they are very easy to pull out.


I have seen nasturtiums go mad in full sun, but no experience of them in
shade, will they form a dense cover in shade or end up going leggy
trying to climb up to the light?


David

"Chookie" wrote in message
news:ehrebeniuk-D5BC50.10303026032003@news...
In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

On a new property I have a serious weed problem. The place is: warm
temperate, about 1200mm (48in) annual rainfall, deep heavy fertile
soil,
on a river bank. Down by the river there are trees growing along
the
banks quite densely, producing shade and part shade.

Here I have small leaf privet (ligustrum sinense) and wandering jew
(tradscantia fulminensis) both noxious weeds, going rampant after
the
recent rains.

The information I have read on bush regeneration suggests that you
should work
in from a less-weedy spot to the more-weedy areas, and replant as you
move in
so that the weeds have competition.

Yes that's the plan.

You're going to need local native plants
for this, and probably quite a lot of them

True

-- how long is your piece of river
bank?

The actual river bank segment is only about 70 metres long but there are
several little gullies and billabongs that are also infested. I haven't
yet measured the full area but it will be something like 300-400 m long
and 5-10 m wide. As I said it will take years.

Landcare can probably help. As it's a river bank, erosion is also an
issue if you go mad with defoliation... Good luck!

I will indeed be joining the local landcare group. Whether we use
physical removal or spray (or both) will depend on the situation. I
will not be going mad with defoliation unless I can also go mad with
replacement plants.

David

David Hare-Scott wrote:

Apparently there are a few members of genus indigofera. Do you mean
Indigofera australis ?

David

Yes. Here's a pic online:

http://www.australianplants.com/imag....australis.jpg

--
Trish {|:-}
Newcastle, NSW, Australia

In article , David Hare-Scott wrote:

"Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish" wrote in message
...

You're going to need to drill fill / cut paint or hand pull the
privet, and you will need to remove all tradescantia. It sounds like
you live in an area like mine. The groundcovers we have that do well
a

Dichondra (kidney weed)
Hedycaria (native violet)
Comelina (scurvy plant)
New Zealand Spinnach
Oplismenus gracilus (nice low pretty grass with no common name, does
well in shade).
If you can get cabbage palm seeds, they work as a groundcover for the
first few years.


Thanks,

Hedycaria (native violet)
Comelina (scurvy plant)

New Zealand Spinnach is an amazing weed supressor. If you can get a
couple of plants going to maturity after a year or so, you'll have
more than enough plants, and a good soil stored seed bank.

If you're in the right area, oplismenus will come back on its own
accord after the weeds get under control. My impression is that
Tradescantia seems to out compete it majorly.

Oh yes, another plant worth encouraging / reintroducing is Geranium
solanderi - a native geranium with similar properties to NZ Spinnach.
Again a native of creek bank areas it reappeared spontaneously in our
block.

If you want to communicate more about this, email me off-group.
Instructions for recovering my real email address are in my
signature. If you can tell me where you are, etc I may be able to be
of more help. I'm in the Illawarra.


--
Replace abuse with kd21 in email address to assure valid reply
address.

"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
news:3e82643d$0$12816

The actual river bank segment is only about 70 metres long but there are
several little gullies and billabongs that are also infested. I haven't
yet measured the full area but it will be something like 300-400 m long
and 5-10 m wide. As I said it will take years.

Landcare can probably help. As it's a river bank, erosion is also an
issue if you go mad with defoliation... Good luck!

I will indeed be joining the local landcare group. Whether we use
physical removal or spray (or both) will depend on the situation. I
will not be going mad with defoliation unless I can also go mad with
replacement plants.

David



There is a group that raises native plants to be sold cheaply as tubestock
for rehabilitating bushland. Landcare will know if they are operating
locally. Your little stream is likely a tributary of a larger river that
already has an environmental plan happening. You may be able to get some
help through that.

FWIW, sedges are tough as guts, tolerate some shade and there are native
varieties. The warmth and fertility tend to make me think native ferns too.