“We’ve seen tremendous changes in the last 20 years,” says Simon. “Once upon a time, the property was choked with wild oats, almost head-high in places. We’ve got the oats down to almost nothing. Now we are seeing a lot more diversity of grasses and wildflowers across the property. By getting rid of weeds, a lot of natives have cropped up that we’ve never seen before. It’s been very gratifying – steady improvement, steadily increasing diversity.”
How do you restore a weed-infested grassland? For Lorraine and Simon, it meant years of hard work: spraying, burning small patches year-to-year, and weeding. Now, they mostly manage weeds by hand. They harvest the seed heads of native species, like kangaroo grass, and spread them across the property.
The results of this intimate and manual care have been spectacular. Lorraine and Simon have found around 20 species of native grasses on the property, and 60 species of wildflowers, including Lemon Beauty-heads, Yellow Rush-lily, Creamy Candles and Blushing Bindweed. They’ve recorded 160 species of birds, like the Yellow-rumped Thornbills that have woven their dome nest in the branches of a large Yellow Box, and the endangered Diamond Firetail.
The results of this intimate and manual care have been spectacular. Lorraine and Simon have found around 20 species of native grasses on the property, and 60 species of wildflowers, including Lemon Beauty-heads, Yellow Rush-lily, Creamy Candles and Blushing Bindweed. They’ve recorded 160 species of birds, like the Yellow-rumped Thornbills that have woven their dome nest in the branches of a large Yellow Box, and the endangered Diamond Firetail.
“We used to see them in small numbers, and I just saw one again recently,” says Lorraine. “It’s really important that these habitats are available for them and that they’re still surviving here.”
Apart from the grassland, the Jollys’ property is home to woodlands and lignum swamps, as well as ancient moonah clinging to the edge of the gorge that drops down to the river. Recognising the importance of the property, Lorraine and Simon protected part of it with a covenant in 2011. Now, with support from the Victorian Government, they are protecting the rest.
“We’re very pleased that we can protect the property for future generations through covenants.
That’s the way we intend to protect it as much as we can because we won’t be here forever,” they say.
That’s the way we intend to protect it as much as we can because we won’t be here forever,” they say.
With less than two per cent of the grasslands on the Victorian Volcanic Plain remaining, and the remainder under pressure as Melbourne expands westwards, the Jollys’ property is more important than ever. The couple enjoy sharing their love of the grasslands, regularly hosting groups to learn about the significance of the habitat.
“If we didn’t look after these areas, in 100 years we would have no idea what the grassland flowers looked like,” Lorraine says. “So it’s very important to
keep them for future generations. We see ourselves as temporary custodians, looking after as much diversity as we can so it can be conserved for the future.”
keep them for future generations. We see ourselves as temporary custodians, looking after as much diversity as we can so it can be conserved for the future.”
If you’ve enjoyed reading about how Lorraine and Simon have restored the grasslands on their property, you may also enjoy learning about habitat requirements of the Plains-wanderer in the Northern Plains Grasslands.