Tony and Pattianne Gay addressed a longstanding scar on the Wyangala landscape when they undertook an extensive restoration project on their Ledglea property in 2008. The finger like network of erosion gullies on the grazing and cropping land above the Lachlan River (photos 1 and 3) had been discharging sand, silt and nutrients into the river system for well over a century.

Some 12,000 trees and shrubs were planted in July 2008 by Alan McDonald and his team from McDonalds Farm Trees Nursery at Darby’s Falls. The tree lines alongside and above the gullies had been sprayed, ripped to 30 – 40 cm depth and fenced in the previous autumn.

The Species planted included:

Eucalyptus - Red Box, White Box, Long Leaf Box, Yellow Box, Red Stringy Bark and Tumble Down Red Gum, and, Acacias - Hairy Wattle, Western Golden Wattle and Wyalong Wattle.

The subsequent changes in the Ledglea landscape have been remarkable, as the attached photographs taken in 2008 and again in 2014 attest. The locals, and visitors to Wyangala Dam, now talk about the growth of the trees and grass in the gullies rather than soil loss into the Lachlan River system.

The work was supported through funding from the Lachlan Catchment Management Authority and the National Heritage Trust.

patti