Case Study | COMMERCIAL

Avondale Park

Context

SoiLife was brought on board to assist the Tweed Shire Council and Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority to develop an ecological restoration area, Avondale Park, Tweed heads, NSW. The planting was separated into two areas, one area treated with SoiLife Microbes and the other using usual weed spraying and management. The chosen location is a wide area of grass (including African Bristlegrass, Setaria sphacelata and Rhodes Grass, Chloris guayana) as well as various species of trees bordering the grassland. Poor sandy loam soils with low nutrient availability was identified from lab analysis and core samples.

Plants species:

Tree Forest

Soil Type:

Sandy Loam

Location

Tweed Heads, NSW

Challenge

The main challenge at this Project was mindset. For so long the conventional way of herbicides, pesticides and chemical fertilisers have been the norm and used in the community by Council. So providing a biological system in place of the conventional, by supporting the life within the soil, and supporting the plants was a new way of thinking.

Poor soil quality

Weed species dominant

Chemical treatments for management

Goals

1. Improve tree growth rates

2. Reduce maintenance of tree planting area

3. Improve the structure and fertility of the soil

4. Reduce or eliminate the use of chemicals such as herbicides and synthetic fertilisers

SoiLife Results

Two years after planting

Control Area

Conventional methods height of trees: 1.4m average

SoiLife treated

SoiLife trial Height of trees: 2.8m average

Eucalyptus

+ 32%

Increased heights of eucalyptus with 31% increase in caliper diameter

Bottlebrush

+ 28.9%

Increased height of bottlebrush with 10.9% increase in caliper diameter

Paperbark

+ 49.2%

Increased height of paperbark with 39.5% increase in caliper diameter.

Canopy mass

+ 28.5%

Increased canopy heights of the vegetation community

Biomass

+ 21.5%

Increase in biomass as a measure of carbon capture

Dave Gourlay, SoiLife Founder, holding a 2.5m pole to show tree height at five years.

SoiLife treated bioremediation area after 5 years.

“SoiLife proved through replicable methods that using biology and taking care of the soils natural mechanisms will be so much more cost effective and the best way to grow strong healthy plants quickly. Seeing the positive changes within the soil and the increased growth of the plants side-by-side with the usual methods was amazing.”

Adam Abbott, SoiLife
National Operations Manager

Success of the Project

  • The Avondale Park West ecological restoration project provided clear statistically verified evidence on the benefits of using SoiLife in a bioremediation and tree planting program.
  • The SoiLife trial area responded beyond the expectations of the client.
  • The five year maintenance program was reduced to two years.
    • Canopy cover
    • Species density
    • Reduced weed invasion
    • Lower maintenance
  • Increased nutrient cycling through improved soil biology.

The Avondale Park West ecological restoration project provided clear statistically verified evidence on the benefits of using SoiLife in a bioremediation and tree planting program.

The SoiLife trial area responded beyond the expectations of the client.

The five year maintenance program was reduced to two years.

    • Canopy cover
    • Species density
    • Reduced weed invasion
    • Lower maintenance

Increased nutrient cycling through improved soil biology.

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