Recovery Through Seed!

Published 6th May 2022. Written by Beth Greenfield

Watershed Landcare Nursery propagates, grows and distributes up to 10 000 native plants each year. These plants can be ordered and purchased directly by the public or are raised and planted in Landcare revegetation projects across the region. Keep an eye out for the Watershed Landcare Nursery at July’s Mudgee Small Farm Field Days with both farm trees and small garden species on sale.

Growing so many plants requires a substantial seed bank and considerable time and effort to collect seed from native species. This endeavour has been given a significant boost with a Skillset team currently working in partnership with Watershed Landcare to collect seed in the Cox’s Creek area.

Skillset Team Leader David Standfield explains “the team has been mapping flowering species and tracks seed development to ensure we can time our return to collect the seed once it is mature. This means we can provide the Nursery with a wide range of species from large eucalypts down to grasses, all of which play an important role in habitat recovery.”

“Our team not only picks the seed but also dries, cleans and catalogues it so the Nursery can reliably store and grow specific species into the future”.

Interested in seed collection, storage and propagation? Come along to a free workshop on Cox’s Creek Road on Thursday the 19^th of May. This is a great opportunity to also learn more about native flora and fauna in the local area and how it is recovering post-fire. Registration is required for catering purposes.

This project is supported by Watershed Landcare through funding from the Australian Government’s Bushfire Recovery for Wildlife and Habitat Community Grants Program.

For more information on the project or to register your interest in the workshop contact Bethany Greenfield, Project Coordinator, on 0438 090 525 or by email: beth.greenfield@watershedlandcare.com.au