The beauty of #weeds in a young #bushregeneration planting (others may call it #rewilding).

Working in the #landcare industry, we are told that all exotic plants are bad and must be removed, while there happens to be a cozy relationship between chemical companies and the goal of recreating precolonial vegetation types (definition: putting the genie back in the bottle). It's a noble pursuit and a simple goal to achieve; weed=bad, kill weed. Note: I'm definitely not saying that some invasive weeds don't deserve all of our ire and don't require chemical control, don't get me wrong.

For the small scale, we can break vegetation types into #successional needs and suddenly they aren't all bad, an exotic herb or grass is not always the weed of a tree canopy when that's the goal we are working for, nor will the conditions be present for it to thrive when that canopied state is achieved.

Plus, look at the photos; it's a concert of life and nothing seems unhappy. A gentle management and our tree goals might get there just as fast as a spray job. Much better than dead spray circles with a chemical manufactured across the other side of the world. At least this has insects.

The #permaculture ethos of "let nature do the work" isn't wrong and one day the landcare industry may see the futility of fighting nature most of the time and that all exotics are worth destroying, naturalised is a term that's forgotten for some. Careful consideration is always needed.

#gardeningau

Contrasted #successional #trajectories in a #Mediterranean #wetland due to geomorphic- and human-induced #perturbations https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10021-022-00780-7 #IMBEpapers @ElodieBrisset

Abstract: #Ecological #engineering of #degraded #ecosystems often manipulates plants, with positive outcomes for their restoration or ecosystem services production. The importance of soil #biota for #successional plant communities has prompted consideration of direct inoculation (active) or attraction (passive) of soil organisms as a relevant #restoration strategy.