good soil under lantana

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robyn
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 7:38 pm

good soil under lantana

Post by robyn » Sat Aug 11, 2007 3:13 pm

I have been cutting off lantana at the base and leaving the branches and leaves on the ground. Is this the correct procedure? The soil is so friable under the bushes that I feel the stumps need to be left in the ground, but I can't seem to keep up with it although it is not in thickets but mostly single bushes. Should I be putting the leaves to better use elsewhere?
Thank you

vhoffman
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Jun 02, 2007 12:07 am

Post by vhoffman » Sun Aug 12, 2007 5:24 pm

Perhaps a countouring system needs to be in place. A weed cant live in its own residue and a contour will prevent leaching. Biodiversity is the key. Nature always adds more to solve the problem. Recycle the plant, plants make the soil so let them do their job.

robyn
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 7:38 pm

lantana

Post by robyn » Mon Aug 13, 2007 4:14 pm

I forgot to mention I have flat land so no contours.

duane
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Joined: Fri Apr 20, 2007 1:44 pm
Location: Central Coast, NSW
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Post by duane » Sat Aug 18, 2007 1:31 pm

Robyn,
your observations about the friable soil under lantana confirm my long observations too.

Although you land appears to be flat I would guarantee that IF YOU PUT A LASER LEVEL ON IT there would be a fall...even if it was 10mm in a 100m.

If you can mulch the lantana and place it as Vern suggested in the top of your hydrology (next time it rains go out and see it which direction the surface runoff goes) put the mulch somewhere at the top so that when a fresh comes it can trickle feed thru the mulch.

Throw some appropiate seed mix onto the friable soil to get a quick coverage and keep us informed of the outcome.

CSIRO developed a biological control for lantana back in the 70-80's....not sure though if its still available but a google search could soon tell you....click on http://www.nrw.qld.gov.au/alan_fletcher ... poster.pdf

robyn
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 7:38 pm

lantana

Post by robyn » Mon Aug 20, 2007 6:24 am

Thanks Duane. It has just rained here for the first time since June and I had mulch at the top of the very slight decline but will now move the lantana there. All the slashed lantana had very healthy new shoots so now we are removing the stumps. I don't like doing that but can't see another way around it apart from bugs. We will be starting biological control very soon on cats claw creeper along the creek (from Alan Fletcher research station). The thickets of lantana are much worse than a few months ago and make it difficult for wallabies and koalas to move through. With the rain we might have better luck removing the stumps.

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