 Dante Rosetti weeping beside his deceased wombat Wombats have been described as the ‘hobbits of the Australian bush’ - living underground, they are content, intelligent, mysterious and unassuming folk. Could JRR Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ have been inspired by the Australian wombat, as he searched for an unassuming hero for his first novel? Coincidentally, wombats were a very popular pet in England in the mid–late 1800’s, so much so that the British declared 1857 ‘The Year of the Wombat.’ The famous English poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti considered wombats 'were the most beautiful of gods creatures' and wept bitterly after the death of his wombat. He wrote this poem: ‘OH how the family affections combat, within this heart, and each hour flings a bomb at my burning soul! Neither from owl nor from bat, can peace be gained until I clasp my wombat.’ It’s very likely that JRR Tolkien, who was born in 1892, would have been aware of this wombat obsession of the British. With this thought in mind, I have included the opening paragraphs of The Hobbit. You can decide if Tolkien’s hobbits were inspired by the unassuming, though at times heroic, Australian wombat:  Wombats, the hobbits of the Australian bush. Artwork: 'Tourmaline the Whale' The (HOBBIT) WOMBAT Chapter 1 An Unexpected Party ‘In a hole in the ground there lived a (hobbit) wombat. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: It was a (hobbit) wombat-hole, and that means spacious comfort. It had a perfectly round ‘door’ like a porthole, which opened on to a tube shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke... The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill... …I suppose (hobbits) wombats need some description nowadays, since they have become rare and shy of the Big People, as they call us. There is little or no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort which helps them disappear quietly and quickly when large stupid folk like you and me come blundering along, making a noise like elephants, which they can hear a mile off. They are inclined to be fat in the stomach, wear no shoes because their feet grow natural leathery soles and thick brown hair like the stuff on their heads. They have clever brown (fingers) paws, good natured faces and a deep (fruity) grunty laugh, especially after dinner, which they have twice a day if they can get it. Now you know enough about (hobbits) wombats to go on with.’  Wombat poo is a cube-shaped territory marker - it doesn't roll off logs and rocks, a good height to warn other wombats. Isn't nature remarkable! Remarkable wombat facts: Conversation starters
 Social life
Photo: Brigitte Kny All you need to know about wombats, in a rhyme  Motherhood & joey
Vital statistics
 Wombat warrens
Photo: Rosie Nicolai The 'wombat boy' 65 years ago in 1960, a 16 year old school-boy produced a piece of natural science that in many ways has never been equalled. Peter John Nicholson was adventurous and loved animals, so during his year in the Victorian high country at Geelong Grammar’s Timbertop campus, he snuck out at night and ventured underground to study the local wombats. He was patient, visiting regularly and often, so the wombats got to know him. Often crawling as far as 21m along wombat burrows, taking measurements, he drew maps of their tunnels. His observations published in 1962 are still referred to by scientist today. His extraordinary story was told on the ABC's Australian Story in March 2002, though disappointingly it is no longer available. The Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat that Peter studied is now almost extinct, with only 400 animals remaining. Wombat’s 'rear' defense
 Brigitte and Karl at their home, once shared with Waldo the wombat Brigitte’s story Brigitte Kny writes wonderful accounts of caring for young wombats. Here are two short extracts from her writing; Caring for her first young wombat named Waldo with her husband Karl in their family home. The challenges of designing a wombat shelter on their farm near Mount Macedon. Ref: Newham & District Landcare newsletter  Waldo at home at Kalora. Photo: Brigitte Kny 'We got our first wombat several years ago from another wildlife shelter that raised him from a tiny orphan till they could not properly accommodate him anymore. Of course we were keen to take him on – wombats are incredibly cute creatures with a HUGE personality and most wildlifers crave to raise one and refuse to share. So Waldo arrived at our house. He was slightly bigger than an “Aussie football” and his weight was around 6 or 7 kilos. We were soooooo exited and had already lovingly set-up the bathroom next to our bedroom so that we were close to our new responsibility, could listen to any distress calls and of course bond with the wombat. What we were NOT told however that wombats like “to bond” around 2 am. That’s when Waldo woke up and decided to explore his new surroundings and wanted to play with his new parents. He charged out of the bathroom, thundered deliberately several times into the mattress, tried to rip chunks out of our doona and attempted to jump onto the bed…’  Wombat shelter at Kolora. Photo: Brigitte Kny ‘Wombats are also called ‘bulldozers of the bush’, an adult wombat weighs around 40 kg. They are very smart, stubborn, strong, tough, playful and individual characters. In the wild they dig burrows, sharpen their ever-growing teeth on logs and their powerful muscular body just pushes through obstacles – however all these normal traits makes having them in the house a rather challenging experience. Designing a suitable outside enclosure was the next challenge. It had to be totally escape proof – meaning dig-proof, without corners which would be potential weak spots and any gate or entrance had to be thoroughly camouflaged (or they would bulldoze through it). Eventually the design took shape: a big oval of corrugated iron dug into the ground 1.2m deep and cladded on the outside with natural timber. The artificial burrow would be a concrete pipe which could be opened eventually to the outside (for future release). Entry to the enclosure would have to be via an A frame ladder.’  Wombat warrens are important fire refuges for other wildlife. Photo: Australian Geographic How wombats benefit other wildlife
Establishing revegetation areas away from creeks plays a vital role in reducing wombat burrowing activity along creek beds. Retaining existing trees, logs and rocks, and establishing new areas of native vegetation, encourages wombats to construct burrows in less fragile areas, reducing the risk of erosion. Keeping wombats healthy Sarcoptic mange is an emerging infectious skin disease affecting wombats. It is caused by a mite (Sarcoptes scabiei) that burrows into their skin, causing inflammation, hair loss and intense itchiness. A resulting secondary infection can kill a wombat. If you are concerned about a particular wombat that appears to be affected by mange, you can contact a wildlife rehabilitation organisation. See the following link: www.wildlifevictoria.org.au/learn/fact-sheets/mange The NSW Environment & heritage department also has a program to combat mange in wombats. See this link to ‘Living with Wombats,’ https://search.app/bBrEVBhC3PGgjBia6 On wombats and hobbits
James Woodford, 'The secret life of wombats' ‘Wombats are the hobbits of the Australian bush, living underground and perceived as idle and unadventurous. They are retiring solo folk, who give the impression of potential unfulfilled – neckless, stubborn, ferocious when cornered, intelligent, cute and mysterious.’
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 Do you yearn for a sensible and impartial world where choices are made for the good of all life, and not just for the benefit of a few very rich and egoistic Homo sapiens? I certainly do. I also yearn for good news stories about the environment and information about how we can move forward step by step in a way that supports all life in the future. I’m excited about the possibility of humans finding a connection once again with nature, in a supportive, non competitive relationship, in both rural and urban Australian environments. In light of these musings, here is an abridged version of an article soon to be published in the Victorian Landcare magazine (edition 89).  Native vegetation occupying as much as 30% of rural properties can be achieved without loss of productivity. Plant and connect Plantations on farms have the potential to be much more than windbreaks and shelter belts. They can provide a significant portion of a rural family’s diversified income while being part of a vegetation network that sustains local biodiversity. They can also be places where farmers connect with wildlife as they maintain and harvest diverse crops of marketable products. On a national scale, if we are to protect and restore our biodiversity assets and sequester substantial volumes of carbon, future farm biodiversity plantations will need to be much wider (50m+) with native vegetation occupying as much as 30% of rural properties. Researchers have shown that this can be achieved without the loss of productivity. These wider plantations are important conservation measures because they suit the spiral foraging patterns of birdlife. They also provide more protected farm shelter, critical to the survival of many of Australia’s iconic wildlife that are presently facing extinction. This vision offers a win-win, where landowners provide for their own needs through improved shelter and a variety of marketable products. This shift in rural landscape strategic planting also ensures the recovery of the flora and fauna that sustain the health and lifestyles of the broader community. ‘Biodiversity influences the health, wealth and resilience of the land. It is not something that is found only in patches of native vegetation, it is all around us.’  Plant diversity is assured by including a minimum of 7 families Sustainable ‘biorich’ design There are a number of important design principles that help build diversity, longevity and resilience into plantations. Here are some general principles;
 Creating vegetation layers mimics nature. (Hover and click to enlarge the image)
‘We came to understand the importance of insects in building the health of ecosystems, and hence the desirability of smaller trees, shrubs and ground-level vegetation to attract those insects, together with small birds. The key appeared to be a continuous energy resource through an uninterrupted and easily accessible nectar supply and good, dense protective cover at shrub level.’  Vegetation links to wetlands multiplies the number of bird species
 Paddock trees planted in line-of-site allows wildlife to migrate
Barwon Ridge Winery ‘The area has been recreated to become both a place of exuberant biodiversity and  A shrub layer of Hop Goodenia under form pruned Spotted Gum It was a warm, sunny Sunday in early spring and I was helping Geoff and Joan Anson form-prune some of their clumps of forestry trees, many of them well over 6m tall in just four years. The layered woodland they had created by grouping indigenous shrubs and understorey next to majestic form-pruned Spotted Gums, Corymbia maculata, and Red Ironbarks, Eucalyptus sideroxylon, was both picturesque and productive. They had allowed convenient access for pruning and harvest by grouping their forestry trees along the edge of a natural access track that snaked its way through the plantation’s interior. They had structured the 4.5 hectare plantation to shelter their award-winning vineyard from the damaging west winds and to link with earlier two and three row boundary plantings. The many small birds that lived in the woodland’s clumps of shrubs formed an integral part of Geoff and Joan’s insect management strategy.
Otway biodynamic farm ‘I am always learning and pursuing my lifelong interest in farming systems that complement and support nature.’  Forestry plantations connect the property to adjacent reserves which enables movement around the property of insectivorous birds Biodynamics is a system of farming that focuses on using natural processes. Developed by Rudolf Steiner in 1924, the central feature of biodynamics is the holistic view of a farm as an organism that is self-sustaining through its self-generated resources. Plant and animal diseases are considered a symptom of a problem with the whole ‘farm organism.’ For Andy Marshall, a second generation cropping and sheep farmer who grew up working outdoors, valuing self-reliance and loving nature, the philosophy and practice of biodynamics was a comfortable fit. Andy and his partner Linda Scott, now practice biodynamics and integrated farming at Gerangamete in Victoria’s Otway Ranges. The farm has very wide adjoining roadside reserves and a neighbouring bush block that is linked with their own mixed biodiversity plantations and agroforestry. After just seven years, their bird count is well over 50 species, many of these live in the adjacent reserves and use his new plantations to move safely around their property eating insects. They have applied their biodynamic philosophy to growing vegetable crops like garlic and vegetable seed, though a large orchard and a chestnut grove are also flourishing. Significant corridors of indigenous plants and forestry species like Blackwood, Acacia malanoxylon, Silky oak, Grevillea robusta and Spotted Gum have been added to provide shelter, maximise biodiversity and to produce high-quality timber. These various components have made their biodynamic farm an exciting and vibrant farm enterprise that continues to evolve.
Sustainable biorich design
Sustainable biorich design can effectively restore biodiversity to rural and urban areas while providing a significant income and the opportunity for people to make a rewarding and emotionally important connection with nature. How to design and plant biorich landscapes is fully described in ‘Recreating the Country. Ten key principles of designing sustainable landscapes.’ When wallaby grasses are seeding, you know it's nearly Christmas‘It’s incredible how tough wallaby grasses are, growing very happily in the most inhospitable conditions including clay. On the Bellarine we have 6 types of wallaby grass and they can be identified by the number of rows and length of hairs on the seed.’ Go glorious native grasses!  Common wallaby grass, with fluffy seed heads and fine leaves, discovered in my local nature strip Like Sophie, I get excited when I discover a surviving remnant patch of native grass. Just this morning, walking along the nature strip on the way to feed my neighbours chooks, growing in an area too dry for exotic grasses, was a beautiful clump of Common Wallaby-grass, Rytidosperma caespitosum. What a delight! Surviving native plants, like these wallaby grasses, provide quiet reassurance that Australian nature is resilient, surviving in places that are completely altered and crudely managed like town and city nature strips.  Common Swamp Wallaby Grass happily growing in water Wallaby grasses are often the last survivors of local plants because they are tough, long lived and opportunistic. If there is somewhere in a lawn or garden where other plants struggle and a bare patch develops, perhaps affected by the roots of a nearby tree, wallaby grass will 'magically' appear – that’s been my experience. By the way, Common Wallaby-grass makes a rustic low maintenance lawn because it forms small 10cm wide, fine-leaf clumps, rarely reaching more than 7cm tall. Its long lived fluffy spring flowers/seed heads are also attractive, growing on thin 15cm straw coloured stems. It can be quite variable, so when you find a remnant patch that you like, use those plants as a source of seed for a lawn or grassland restoration project. As a lawn, Common Wallaby-grass only needs occasional mowing, perhaps just once a year As proof of their toughness, wallaby grasses stay green all year without watering. They are also frost tolerant, recover quickly after fire and grow happily in a variety of well drained clay or sandy soils. If it’s too boggy or swampy then look no further than Common Swamp Wallaby-grass, Amphibromus nervosus. Its leafy tufts grow to 30 cm tall, its flowers and seed heads beautifully displaying at about 1m. Yeek! the botanical name? The general botanical name for wallaby grasses is Rytidosperma which is Greek for wrinkled seed - rhytis (wrinkle) & sperma (seed). When I first started growing native plants in the 1980’s, wallaby grasses were generally known as Danthonia which changed in 1993 to Austrodanthonia. In 2011 the genus changed again to its present tongue twister name of Rytidosperma (pronounced; rit-id-o-sperm-a). Australia has about 30 species of wallaby grasses that are widespread in the temperate parts of each State. They are often seen on roadsides (and nature strips), in open plains country, grassy woodlands and on lightly forested slopes. They are never alone, because a number of different species of wallaby grass usually grow together. For example, the Greater Melbourne area has 19 species, many of these growing side by side in the same patch of remnant grassland. Propagating wallaby grass...  Wallaby grass seed heads ready to harvest  Four species of wallaby grass, cleaned, stored in the fridge, ready for sowing into tubes, trays or the back paddock ...from seed Wallaby grass seed is easy and convenient to collect when it has turned a golden straw colour. Simply cut off the flower heads and store them in a bucket or paper bag for later cleaning. Record when & where the seed was collected and harvest from 20 or more plants to ensure good genetic diversity. If you don’t know its name, take a photo for future reference and to post the photo on iNaturalist (it’s a free app) for identification. Clean the seed by rubbing the flower heads over a garden sieve until most of it falls through leaving the stem and empty husks behind in the sieve. ‘Late spring/early summer is the best time to identify wallaby grass and collect seed as they wave their fluffy straw-coloured heads in the breeze.’  Common Wallaby-grass pricked-out into forestry tubes for future sale. The seed germinates at any time of the year though it needs constant moisture to germinate well. It is a poor competitor at this early stage, so the best results are achieved with a weed free growing environment. The seeds need no pre-treatment for full germination in 7 – 14 days. Seeds can be sown directly into tubes (a small pinch of seed per tube), spread on seedling trays for pricking out later, or direct seeded into gardens and paddocks that need to be kept weed free for several months. The recommended sowing rates for big projects is 1 – 2 kg/ha of cleaned seed (with the stems and husks removed like the seeds shown in zip-lock bags above). Because wallaby grass seed is light, it will blow away in a breeze. So pelletising the seed with clay makes sowing in the field on a large scale more successful and practical. Below are 6 species of wallaby grass seed. The three rows of fine hairs visible on the seeds is unique to each species and is used for identification. I have included some of George Stolfo's line drawings for comparison, scanned from an early edition of Flora of Melbourne. The latest (4th) edition is a great reference for detailed descriptions of 19 species of wallaby grass. Hover over each image for the species name and click to enlarge;             ...by division Established clumps of wallaby grass growing in the garden can be divided in winter like many clumping perennials. The best time for this is in the cool weather when the soil is moist and the plants are dormant. It is a slower method though it does provide certainty of form and size for landscapers, which is desirable when creating a uniform soft boarder in a native garden. Landscaping Wallaby grasses are a useful landscaping plant to create garden edges, as statement clumps, and for creating a contrast with flowering native herbs and shrubs. Landscapers know that ‘vertical foliage pops’ in garden design and with such a variety of wallaby grasses to choose from, they are well suited to most landscaping projects. The icing on the cake is their unique, fluffy seed tufts that last for months, providing a attractive display when most of the other plants are showing signs of stress in the hot summer sun.  Bristly Wallaby-grass in a mixed bathtub planting of local grassland species at the Bellarine Landcare Nursery Farming Wallaby grasses are nutritious for stock, productive and persistent when grazed intermittently or at a low intensity. Researchers have shown that it is possible to maintain native grassland health and diversity by resting grasslands to allow them to recover after grazing or by using a less intensive application of continuous grazing - less animals/ha prevents overgrazing and a large increasing soil nitrogen & phosphorus that will kill native grassland plants. A moderately grazed, diverse native perennial grassland will cope well with drought and respond quickly to rainfall. Perennial grassland plants like wallaby grass, provide the maximum production by extracting nutrients and soil moisture from deep in the soil profile. Revegetation Wallaby grasses need very little maintenance and are particularly useful when used to restore eroded sites or where the soil is poor and shallow. Their toughness makes them ideal for deficient growing conditions where other native grasses and herbs may not survive. They are compatible and supportive of other grassland species and a reliable inclusion in direct seeding mixes or mixed planting with tubestock. To ensure the survival of wallaby grasses in gardens or grasslands, plant clumps of the same species in groups of 20 - 50 plants. This greatly improves pollination and provides a better resource for wildlife. The number of plants in the clumps will vary with the size of the garden - for example, in large gardens, groups of 50 plants is appropriate and looks very impressive. A close plant spacing of 15cm - 30cm helps discourage weeds from invading after the wallaby grasses establish and enhances the survival of the new plants.  The Golden Sun Moth. Photo Julie Cameron The ecology of wallaby grass Having a very nutritious leaf which stays green throughout the year, wallaby grass is important to grazing animals like wallabies and kangaroos. Above the ground, tufts of wallaby grasses provide excellent habitat for skinks, frogs and small mammals. Insects live under the green tufts and the straw thatch that hugs and protects the soil surface. Wallaby grass provides habitat and food for many butterflies and moths, including the White-banded Grass-dart, the Shouldered Brown and the critically endangered Golden Sun Moth. The Golden Sun Moth has a 2 year lifecycle, spending most of its life underground as a caterpillar living on wallaby grass roots. After 2 years and only on a warm dry day they emerge as a beautiful moth to mate and lay eggs. Bizarrely the moth has no mouth and is unable to eat. It dies after mating or within 4 days of emerging from the roots of the wallaby grass. Maintenance
Wallaby grasses need little/no maintenance for a natural look in the garden or in a restored grassland. They respond well to cool burning in spring/autumn and will green up within a few weeks after rain or hand watering. If the seed isn't harvested, it spreads naturally, forming beautiful clumps on bare patches, supporting wildlife and adding an element of surprise to an evolving native garden or grassland. |
'RECREATING the COUNTRY'
Ten key principles for designing sustainable landscapes Second edition Updated & expanded Click on the image below to read more 
Stephen Murphy is an author and ecologist. He has worked as a nurseryman and designer of natural landscapes for over 30 years. He loves the bush, actively supporting Landcare and conservation initiatives throughout Australia
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