The halo technique for bush regeneration

• A technique for bush regeneration that is indigenous plant focussed, not weed focussed.
• Remove exotic weeds just to the drip line of indigenous plants. In the case of grasses, the drip line corresponds to the length of their flower heads. This gives the seeds a chance to fall to open ground to self-seed, tipping the odds ever so slightly in favour of the indigenous grass. This approach requires patience, over time the hope is that the indigenous grass slowly gains ground. It is an acknowledgement of the inherent resilience and strength of the plant, not ‘saving’ it. 
• If you clear weeds that are further around the plant, what is most likely to pop up in these areas is more weeds because their seed bank is already present. Annual exotic weeds also love disturbed ground and availability of light (clearings). 

• Selecting a site:
• Walk the whole site
• Select the area with the ‘best’ or most intact community of indigenous plants, not the most weed infested area

What is the relationship of halo weeding to arts practice?

• There is often an observable ‘boom-bust’ pattern of activity in project initiatives, characterised by initial high energy and resource pull, and burn-out.
• We all love the satisfaction of pulling out big weeds —projects that clear the slate, fast ambitions, ‘new’ ‘restored’ and ‘regenerated’ social landscapes.
• The Halo technique guides practitioners to consider intention, restraint, patience, and pace by encouraging us to:
• Identify and observe things that are already working well (this might be a practice, person or community of people, place, movement). This is essentially your community of practice. 
• Work at the edges of these things, edging outwards.
• Work at the pace of self-propagation, over multiple seasons. 
• Accept that the weeds will grow back, but that by slowly tending to place, over time, you might strengthen the position of the specific thing that you are tending to. 

and some other reflections

The practice-concept of halo weeding shifted my perspective on gardening at home as an indulgent activity. An internal conflict arises —why garden here, a place fenced in and inaccessible to all but a few humans, when I could labour in the commons? 

Halo weeding identifies the home dwelling as a valued place for gardening because it’s a site from which something good can be edged out. It makes sense why I would pick the garden as low hanging fruit to take daily actions to care for Country. Direct observation and regular presence is so important for caretaking.

An important aspect of home gardening is self-seeding at the edges of practice. This is the other part of halo weeding as a practice metaphor that unfolds through friendships, knowledge sharing, seed saving, guerrilla gardening and community work. Not looking inwards to the home garden as a site of self-sufficiency, but interfacing as an important locus of gardening practice. 

I’m wondering about ‘spot weeding' as a way to think about the work of maintaining communities of practice within a dominant capitalist and colonial landscape, where weeds feel choking. Places of resistance and community determination exist throughout these weedy landscapes, how can I help maintain and edge out the fringes of these existent sites of resistance in small but focussed ways? How to be practice focussed, not weed focussed?



Draft, last edited 24.6.26