Over 30 years ago the wattle (specifically Acacia pycnantha) was declared the official Australian national floral emblem. With its striking golden flowers peeking through the brown Australian bush, the wattle cemented itself on the Australian coat-of-arms, and on the backs of our greatest athletes. However, there is more to Australian wattle than meets the eye, as I spent one warm August day weeding native Cootamundra and Black wattle from a property out in Murrumbateman, NSW.

The Cootamundra wattle (Acacia baileyana) curse

A. baileyana, or Cootamundra wattle, is an Australian native wattle species with a very limited natural distribution in the Western Slopes region of NSW. However, following its popularity and high cultivation rate, research has shown it has a strong disposition for invading, far beyond its native area, into drier regions with a range of soil types and around 400mm in annual rainfall. This makes the Southern Highlands, Canberra and surrounding areas highly susceptible to invasion by this species.

Cootamundra wattle has a disastrous impact across a range of different landscapes, as the wattle competes with native shrubs and ground flora. This then impedes their regeneration, something becoming more important as changing fire regimes can result in more intense fires and more regeneration occurs. Habitats starts to change as a result.

Furthermore, the situation has become more complex, with research highlighting Cootamundra wattle’s ability to hybridise with at least six other wattle species. This not only has impacts for weed control efforts, but it is beginning to threaten the integrity of native wattle populations by genetic pollution.

In the field

I was lucky enough to be able to join Richard Bland from EnvrioAg, an expert in on-ground land management, for some wattle removal on a private property not far from Murrumbateman NSW. We had two tasks for the day. First, spotting any remaining Cootamundra wattle that had been missed in the weeding work undertaken about a month ago. Richard’s ability to spot them while driving is unmatched, and we would jump out the Hilux to see if they needed to be sprayed again.

Second, and the main reason for the visit, was removing a large cluster of predominantly dead Black Wattle (A. mearnsii) shrubs that had overgrown the only fire track out of the dense grassy woodland. Moving along the tack, Richard used a chainsaw to cut the shrubs at their base. Leaving the bottom half of the trunk in the landscape, I proceeded to then feed the remainder of the shrubs into the chipper. Clearing about 5 metres either side of the fire track was required to ensure the client has a safe exit out the property. While removing the dead shrubs affects habitats in the area, leaving some of the larger shrubs as logs, and the chipping mulch in the landscape, helps new habitats become established.

Far from over

Richard emphasised to me that their goal is to “work their client out of a job”. However, the reality is there will always be weeds, and with a changing climate, EnviroAg have seen an increase in demand for their services. While we did a solid day of work, this will not be the last native weeding done out on this property, and EnvrioAg will continue to tackle weedy native wattles around this region.

Thank you to Richard and Adrian from EnvrioAg.

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