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.
