I missed a call from a wonderful Lathlain resident the other day. She was wondering whether it was ok to do a bit of weeding at the remaining reserve next to The Siding, on the corner of Rutland Avenue and Bishopsgate St. Of course it is; I was glad she decided to simply come over and get started.

The idea of a ‘jolly good weeding party’ was raised. We set a date and time. Saturday 4 June from 1-4pm. A number of neighbours and Lathlain residents turned up and many hands made light work. It is a fairly large piece of land, but I know that with a bit of hard work we will manage to get the weeds under control.

So why are we doing this? We hope to be able to beautify and re-vegetate this reserve, ideally with food producing trees and plants. We raised this in conversations with the Town of Victoria Park who seem open to the idea. Our job now is start planning, meet and discuss details with the Town and of course get the weeds under control. We hope to be able to plant next winter.

Most of the reserve was already been covered in cardboard with a thick layer of mulch on top a few monts ago. Nevertheless, the couch grass is stubborn and seems to find its way through. The use of the pesticide Glyphosate (or Roundup) has been suggested to us, however for environmental and health reasons we prefer not to. (While typing this post, I received an email from a not for profit organisation called Avaaz saying that ‘the European Union just refused to grant Monsanto a new license for its flagship product – the pesticide glyphosate. Their campaign calls for a suspension until independent science determines the safety of glyphosate. Glyphosate is still widely used in Australia.)

We will keep you updated on progress. If you have ideas and/or would like to be involved, get in touch.