40th Anniversary Weed Control Project

In 1989 the Red Hill Regenerators set themselves the formidable task of restoring and improving degraded land within the Red Hill Nature Reserve.

At that time at least 50% of the 293ha Reserve was badly degraded with large parts heavily infested with weeds.

Thousands of hours of work undertaken by the Regenerators volunteers together with Parks and Conservation Service work and support has resulted in most of the Reserve now being high quality woodland.

30ha of low-quality woodland remains, as shown in red on the map.

Red Hillx

Controlling the weeds in these areas will take a number of seasons. Even after the initial eradication, with favourable weather the weeds will reappear in large numbers. This necessary muti-year treatment requires significant resources.

The Regenerators' aim to restore these low-quality areas by 2029, the 40th anniversary of the Regenerators foundation.

You can help the Regenerators by:

Becoming a member

Becoming a member of the Red Hill Regenerators and participating in the planned activities to control weeds and revegetate degraded areas. See details under Join and Activities;

Making a donation

Making a donation to the Regenerators through an Electronic Funds Transfer to the Red Hill Bush Regenerators Account at BSB: 633-000 Account Number:198147183. Please include your name and notify our Treasurer at info@redhillregenerators.org.au. Donations of $2 or more are tax deductible.

Removal of the weed infestations will enable the native ground cover to recover and allow for self-seeding of mid and upper storey trees and shrubs. This will improve connectivity and viability for woodland flora and fauna. Improving these areas will also make revegetation easier with the aim of restoring the full range of woodland flora and fauna.

This project is being undertaken in conjunction with the ACT Parks and Conservation Service with assistance from the ACT Government under the ACT Environmental Grants Program.

Progress

2023

Volunteers undertook many hours of cutting seed spikes, poisoning mature Verbascum plants and digging out Verbascum rosettes on the slopes of Mt. Davidson and in areas near Hindmarsh Drive. Detailed GIS maps were made to show the locations of Verbascum, thistles, and St. John’s Wort in the low-quality woodland areas of the Reserve. Mapping was also undertaken of the location of Blackberry patches throughout the Reserve, including the low-quality woodland areas.

The Regenerators were provided with grant funds from the ACT Environmental Grants Program. This enabled herbicide spot spraying of Verbascum, Saffron and Scotch Thistles, and Horehound to be conducted in Spring 2023. The total areas of weeds sprayed was 10.9 hectares as shown in red on the map. The work was extremely thorough and well targeted. The spraying work was complemented by Regenerators volunteers undertaking spot spraying and physical removal of weeds in areas adjacent to those sprayed by the contractor. Sometime after the spraying was completed volunteers swept through the sprayed areas to eradicate any weeds that were missed or were reappearing. In November and December 2023 St. John’s Wort was sprayed. The total area sprayed in this period was 3.57 hectares. The work was extremely thorough and well targeted. The appearance of the weed areas in the following weeks and months indicated that the spraying was highly effective in killing the St. John’s Wort plants. The project was undertaken in cooperation with the ACT Parks and Conservation Service.

Progress

2024

In early 2024, a further 4.74 hectares of a densely infested area of St. John's Wort was sprayed. The total area sprayed is shown in yellow on the map. The work was extremely thorough and well targeted. The appearance of the weed areas in the following weeks and months indicated that the spraying was highly effective in killing the St. John’s Wort plants. The Regenerators will undertake follow-up sweeps through the sprayed areas, particularly in Spring/early Summer 2024 when the St. John’s Wort is flowering.

In April 2024 spraying of Blackberry patches was undertaken. This work was made possible by ACT Government funding provided through the Southern ACT Catchment Group. In Spring/Summer 2024 all the sprayed patches will be checked and where necessary follow-up spraying will be undertaken in the following Autumn period with the assistance of a grant from the ACT Environmental Grants Program.

In Spring and early Summer 2024 Regenerator volunteers removed large numbers of Verbascum and woody weeds from the Project area. Follow-up sweeps were undertaken through the areas sprayed for St. John’s Wort in early 2024 to identify and eradicate sites of regrowth.

In December 2024, a further 6.9 hectares of a densely infested area of St. John’s Wort was sprayed. This area is shown in brown on the map. This work was made possible by ACT Government funding provided through the Community Stewardship Weed Control Support Program

Progress

2025

In Summer and Autumn 2025 volunteers undertook hundreds of hours of work ridding the area of patches of Verbascum, thistles, Horehound and an array of woody weeds which continue to occur in the area. As a result of the thousands of hours of work undertaken by volunteers in the last three years, together with the work undertaken by contractors, around 25ha of the area has been treated for weeds. While the broad- scale infestations are currently under control it will be necessary for volunteers to continue targeted maintenance work for this control to be maintained.

Blackberry April 2024 Scaled — April 2024

In April 2025, a further 248 hours of spraying blackberry infestations was undertaken by a contractor. The spraying effort was mainly focussed on blackberries in the northern part of the Reserve. To finalise the contract a sweep was undertaken through the southern part of the Reserve to deal with any regrowth and new outbreaks of blackberries in the area since it was successfully sprayed in 2024. The hundreds of blackberry plants and patches that have been sprayed are shown in pink on the attached maps. [April 2024, April 2025]. The eradication of these blackberries will greatly enhance the health and well-being of important plant and animal species found in the Reserve. Follow-up maintenance activity will be undertaken by volunteers. This work was made possible by ACT Government funding provided from the ACT Environmental Grants Program. The project was undertaken in cooperation with the ACT Parks and Conservation Service.

Surveys of the area have indicated that some very extensive patches of St. John’s Wort are still to be found in the area, with the bulk of them occurring on the slopes facing towards Garran. The treatment of these areas of weeds in the coming Summer season would greatly improve the ecological well-being of the area.