Everything came together well for our month of planting at Frahns Farm in June: the weather was kind on most of our planting days, we had fabulous groups of volunteers on all days, the caterers were marvellous and the preparation team did a great job of grading, direct seeding and hole-digging.
The atmosphere on each of the planting days was friendly, with enthusiastic groups getting their hands dirty amongst lots of conversation and laughter. It was great to see so many children and families out there, as well as the range of ages involved – a testament to our attempts to make our restoration multi-generational. The excellent food provided by Wild Wood Fired was not only delicious but also plentiful and varied and the morning teas were exceptional, even stretching to scones with home-made jam and cream – a just reward for hard work.
We planted about 37,000 tubestock over 20 hectares and about 6,000 tubestock into the Seed Production Area adjacent to the 2020 revegetation site. We also direct seeded the entire graded area with a mix of native grasses, lilies and forbs, with over 50 kg of seed coming from the Seed Production Area. Tubestock included 8 species of eucalypts, native pine, she-oak, bursarias, 13 wattle species, sennas and many other large shrubs. In the understorey were a variety of creepers and twiners like running postman, convolvulus and old man’s beard, many daisies, chenopods, lilies such as chocolate lily, bulbine lily and twining fringe-lily, and 16 types of native grasses.
The tours of the Seed Production Area and the previous years’ plantings were as popular as last year and gave volunteers a glimpse of what their efforts would result in over the next few years. It also gave planters an opportunity to ask questions about our methods like the grading, weed control, herbivore control, choice of plant species, density of plantings, watering over summer and monitoring of the revegetation so that we can continuously improve our methods and be sure that we are achieving our objectives.
Deputy Premier and Environment Minister, the Hon. Susan Close MP, visited on the middle weekend and ceremoniously opened the gate to the planting area as well as speaking briefly of her support of the project and of Bio-R in general. She appreciated the passion and enthusiasm of volunteers and Bio-R supporters and the science base underpinning our plantings and restoration.
Thanks to all involved, particularly to the hard-working crew behind the scenes who boxed and laid out the plants in the days before planting, and the watering teams who gave all the plants a soaking to ensure their survival.
We encourage all of you who put plants in the ground to follow their progress by visiting the site which is Crown Land and open to the public.
Author: Penny Paton
