K2W Link with Upper Lachlan Landcare are supporting and restoring native plant species in a series of late summer seed collection and propagation workshops. The workshops are aimed at those interested in growing native tubestock on-farm for shelter belts and revegetation or small-scale plantings for a garden setting.

There are many important reasons to plant natives on your property, says Upper Lachlan Landcare coordinator Ruth Aveyard.

“What we plant in our landscape is so important to preserving healthy native ecosystems. By choosing native vegetation you are providing habitat, shelter, and food for wildlife, controlling erosion and protecting the soil, storing carbon, and regulating the climate. All of these things lead to increasing farm productivity and provide us with natural resources,” she says.

These workshops offer practical skills to landholders to re-establish native vegetation on their properties around the Upper Lachlan Shire.

“In the past, deforestation has led to increasingly fragmented areas of habitat, leaving local wildlife vulnerable to extinction and decreasing the richness of plants. By using seed and propagation materials local to the area, we are protecting areas of remnant vegetation essential for the survival of species like the endangered Greater Glider,” Ruth says.

Practical training will be led by the Southern Tablelands members of the Australian Plants Society. At a seed collection workshop on Friday, February 10, participants will learn how to identify plants and the methods of collecting seeds and discover the secrets of the amazing marsupial gliding possums with ecologists Peter and Judy Smith.

The next workshop on Friday, March 17, is aimed at those wanting to learn how to propagate plants using seeds and cuttings. Other topics include the pre-treatment and storing of seeds, the best place and time to collect, and any permits that are required. The workshops are being held at Binda and will begin at 9am, the duration of each workshop is between 2 and 3 hours. Reserve your place with Ruth Aveyard on 0447 242 474 or by emailing coordinator@upperlachlanlandcare.org.au.

The workshops are being supported by the Great Eastern Ranges and WWF-Australia to supply the critical stock needed to support a broader effort to regenerate bushfire affected landscapes in the region.