THE chair of WA’s branch of the Australian Garden History Society has urged Vincent council not to replant one of Hyde Park’s islands after it’s cleared to eradicate a shot-hole borer infestation.
Vincent announced on Monday that the primary industries and regional development department would be removing around 180 trees from the park’s two islands over the next six weeks to stop the borer’s spread.
The council says it will embark on a three-year restoration program, including planting around 4000 trees and bushes this winter.
But AGHSWA chair John Viska says the clearing could be an opportunity for the council to revisit the park’s history and reinstate the ornamental lakes as they were originally intended.
• John Viska from the Australian Garden History Society says Hyde Park’s western lake wasn’t intended as being jungle-like and has a theory on what went wrong.
“What is very interesting is that the western island was always maintained as lawn, roses and shrubs and it’s only in the last 20 years that it has been covered with trees,” Mr Viska said.
“Originally you could see from one side of the island to the other, which was the aesthetic from the era they were created; ornamental lakes that you could look over.
“The gardeners had a little flat-bottomed boat to go over and mow the lawn.”
Mr Viska has a theory the trees were planted in the 1960s or early 70s after a dredging of the lake that didn’t go to plan.
“I believe they could not transport the dredging material because of the heavy metals which had come from road run-off, so I think it was dumped on the islands.”
Mr Viska thinks some of the island’s limestone walls collapsed under the weight of the fill, and the water level also rose, which may have led to the introduction of the swamp paperbark trees along the edge.
“Ecologically it looks good to plant it back, but historically you are missing an opportunity to restore the lake to its original purpose.”
• Vincent council and the Department of Primary Industries and Rural Development will be removing all the islands’ trees over the next six weeks.
Mr Viska said the restoration works should be run past the WA Heritage Council because Hyde Park is on the state’s heritage register, but he fears they haven’t been an effective watchdog over the last few years.
He said the eastern island had been created as a bird refuge from the late 1890s so replanting it made sense.
Vincent said will would try to keep disruption to the park at a minimum during the six-week clearing program, with work carried out in phases between 7am and 3pm on weekdays.
A licensed animal handler would be present to ensure the safety of wildlife and extra habitat logs installed.
The council’s park manager Sarah Hill says a restoration of the eastern island in 2012 gave her confidence the park could be back to looking its best within a decade.
“We recognise that the islands are a really important habitat for nesting and visiting wildlife, so when we are doing the revegetation, we’ll be planting mature trees, so we get trees as quickly as possible, as well as incorporating log structures to provide nesting structures and sites for the birds,” Ms Hill said.
“The plant species that we’ll be using for the revegetation of the island are plant species that are endemic to the area and specifically the Swan Coastal Plain.
“We’ve also selected species that are favoured food and habitat species for the wildlife, as well as, of course, not incorporating any PSHB host species as part of the Hyde Park lakes restoration project.”
by STEVE GRANT