Welcome to the website of South Lawson Park Bushcare Group. For contact and session details, please view About

A very active session this month, held in the east Waratah section and swamp of the ecological restoration area. Planting was the main activity. A mix of 20 Leptospermum polygalifolium, juniperinum and grandifolium, Callicoma serratifolia and Hakea dactyloides were planted in the riparian strip of a Lawson Creek tributary (recently cleared of Privet), the swamp and in the Eucalyptus woodland to the east. There was little to no natural regeneration capacity in the selected planting areas.

Japanese Honeysuckle in the central section of the ecological restoration site was treated, and is gradually being eliminated from this area. Blackberry and Turkey Rhubarb skulking in the unformed section of Waratah Street were routed.

Welcome to the website of South Lawson Park Bushcare Group. For contact and session details, please view About

Lots to do at South Lawson Park. At the August work session more check dams were created in the swamp, utilising tree logs from power company trimmings. A wet spring is forecast, and the check-dams help to control sediment flows. A thick stand of Privet in the eastern ecological restoration site was treated. Privet seedlings were removed. Blackberry in unformed Waratah Street was treated.

Streamwatch convenor reports that water quality was good. BMCC Aquatic Systems Officer reports that the health of Lawson Creek, in 2022, was rated as Fair. This means that macroinvertebrate life was recorded at the testing site, but diversity of species was limited.

Welcome to the website of South Lawson Park Bushcare Group. For contact and session details, please view About

A busy work session at South Lawson Park bushcare! Work continued on the Waratah St east section of the ecological restoration project. Consolidation of the good bush continued, with Privet seedlings and other riff-raff being removed.

Further work was done on lopping mature Privets. This work is paying benefits, as indigenous plants are being uncovered and provided with better growing conditions, particularly sunnier conditions.

The check-dams set up in the swamp have successfully managed sediments, following the heavy rains (400mm) of early July.

Streamwatch convenor reports that water quality in Lawson Creek tributary is good.

Welcome to the website of South Lawson Park Bushcare Group. For contact and session details, please view About

A lovely sunny, winter’s day in Lawson! The bushcare group got to work on the Waratah Street east site. Further expanses of Privet seedlings were removed; as a result, Microlaena sp. grass, or Weeping Meadow grass, as it is also termed, is naturally regenerating strongly. Some heavy duty weed busting was done by Bushcare Officer Karen on stands of Privet, Japanese Honeysuckle and Blackberry, revealing a nice clump of Blechnum nudum ferns. A tributary to Lawson Creek was also treated and several Rough Tree Ferns (Cyathea australis) were rescued from darkness and smothering Japanese Honeysuckle!

Streamwatch convenor reports that water quality in Lawson Creek tributary adjacent to Waratah Street east site was good: oxygen levels; phosphorous levels; turbidity; saltiness; pH levels.

Welcome to the website of South Lawson Park Bushcare Group. For contact and session details, please view About

A busy morning at the bushcare site! A very damp bushcare site: lots of surface iron oxide was present, and small rivulets were flowing. We worked on the western Waratah Street site. A lot of time went in to bagging up plantings and scattering a dense cover of natural debris over them, in an effort to deter the resident Wallabia bicolor from munching on the plantings. Some of the plants are doing quite well, but others have been somewhat trimmed. More check-dams were added to the swamp; aquatic fauna, in the form of crayfish, have taken up residence. Honeysuckle was treated in the privet forest. Weedy grasses along the track were managed. Assistance was lent to young BMX folk who needed some tool help with their broken down bike!

Streamwatch convenor reports that water quality was very good: oxygen levels, phosphates, chemical balance, salt levels and turbidity.

Welcome to the website of South Lawson Park Bushcare Group. For contact and session details, please view About

On Sunday 17/04/2022 we continued our weeding work along the eastern Waratah Street section of the ecological restoration site. Numerous Privet seedlings and also mature plants were treated. The constant regrowth of Privet on this site, over many, many years, has been quite amazing, but we do keep on top of it. Fortunately, there is plenty of good bush around to keep us inspired. Natural regeneration of bush along some fringes is good, and planted ferns and Eucalyptus species are going well. Snake Vine Stephania japonica was observed.

Along the wall of weeds central section of Waratah Street large quantities of Japanese Honeysuckle, some with stem thicknesses of 6-7 cms, and 10 metres plus of height, were treated. The honeysuckle is now well controlled. As the swamp steadily settles into a more stable bush condition, more work can be done on this wall of weeds section.

Streamwatch convenor reports that water quality in the Lawson Creek tributary flowing through the swamp was good. The check dams there are creating pools and riffles, and we have some welcome visitors moving in!

Welcome to the website of South Lawson Park Bushcare Group!

The March working session was conducted in the East Waratah Street patch, and the target was Privet. Big Privet, medium Privet and small Privet, we got a heap of Privet! There is some very nice bush coming on in this section now: Gahnia, Lomandra, Hakea, Eucalypts, Blechnum ferns and Geranium. Our swamp withstood the heavy rains quite well, and there have been no serious sediment flows. The new check-dams controlled the sands quite well.

Streamwatch convenor reports that water quality was good.

Welcome to the website of South Lawson Park Bushcare Group. For contact and session details, please view About

A busy work session was held on Sunday 20 February. Additional plants, Leptospermum polygalifolium (4), were planted in the west ecological restoration area. Unfortunately, our local swamp wallaby, a considerable gourmet, has taken quite a liking to our recent plantings, particularly the L. juniperinum; nice to have our work appreciated. Many Privet seedlings and a large area of weedy grasses received the appropriate treatment. In the swamp, several check-dams were installed to slow sediment drift and encourage pool development.

Streamwatch convenor reports that water quality in the upper tributary running off unformed Waratah Street is good: oxygen, phosphorous, chemical balance, freshness and turbidity.

Welcome to the website of South Lawson Park Bushcare Group! For meeting and activity details, please go to About

A very busy work session was held on Sunday 16 January 2022. Approximately 30 Leptospermum polygalifolium and juniperinum Tea-trees were planted in the western and swamp ecological restoration areas. Previous plantings appear to be doing well. Our Duke of Edinburgh student and bushcare members removed vast swathes of Privet and Japanese Honeysuckle. Other members concentrated on managing Privet seedlings and removing J. microcephalus seeds.

Bushcare Group members were very pleased to welcome Gundungurra community member David King and partner Bella to this work session. David was impressed with the restoration progress being made around the upper reaches of Lawson Creek. Woodlands and swamps are steadily re-emerging, as Privet, Blackberry and Japanese Honeysuckle are progressively removed from the site. As an original member of Garguree Swampcare, The Gully, Katoomba, David is aware of the demands of these projects, and the care and skill that have to be exercised. David also spent time with a significant cultural heritage item on the site.  

Streamwatch convenor reports that Lawson Creek water quality was good.

Welcome to the website of South Lawson Park Bushcare Group.

For contact and meeting details, please go to the About page.

Following a washout in November, a small but very focused team got to work with some planting and weed removal work on 4 December 2021. Leptospermum juniperinum x 8 were added to the west Waratah Street site. Hakea salicifolia x 8 and L. juniperinum x 4 were planted in or adjacent to the swamp. Despite the interruption to the work schedule caused by Covid-19, the site is stable and the more serious weeds, such as Blackberry and Japanese Honeysuckle, are highly controlled. The sediments in the swamp are stabilised by Juncus planifolius (and Yorkshire Fog grass). The recovery of the upper stretch of Lawson Creek is well underway!

A busy month! At the regular session on the third Sunday 19/12/21, planting was the main activity undertaken. Approximately 30 plants went into the western ecological restoration area and the central swamp: Black Wattle Callicoma serratifolia, Tea-tree Leptospermum juniperinum and polygalifolium, Bottlebrush Callistemon citrinus. Good planting weather!

A total of approximately 55 plants found homes in the ecological restoration site during December. Some of these plants were purchased at Wildplant Nursery, Katoomba, using our 25 year Bushcare Award. Peter propagated and raised 30 of the plants, using local seed.

Streamwatch coordinator reports that water quality (phosphorous, acidity, freshness) in the ecological restoration area swamp was good when tested. Understandably, oxygen levels were a bit low. Eastern Water Skink is a regular feature now.