Pinching out & potting up native seedlings is serious business!
Local Landcare volunteers got together recently to pot up hundreds of native seedlings, and thankfully getting your hands dirty is still very popular! The trees, which were potted up at the Tablelands Nursery, will help replace lost trees in and around dieback affected areas across the Monaro.
Both the Upper Snowy Landcare and Upper Murrumbidgee Landcare networks got behind the planting crew and the Tablelands Nursery not only provided an exceptional venue they also donated funds collected on the day to the dieback cause.
Landcare groups on the Monaro are focusing their efforts on the extensive dieback phenomenon, covering a 5,000 sq km in the region and occurring since around 2005. The dieback is influenced by many factors but was most likely initiated by the decade long drought which ultimately led to thousands of trees being defoliated by the Eucalypt weevil resulting in wide-spread tree death.
Trees that are dying are the Eucalyptus viminalis (Ribbon Gum/ Mana Gum) – a most majestic and extremely beautiful tree that provides many resource values – such as native species habitat, ribbony bark for nest building, is a key Koala food tree and shelter for both native and domestic stock.
Potting up the tiny trees that will become 30 metres tall beyond our lifetime is one part of the Dieback project that Landcare is working on, in addition to planting sites, research and attracting funding. Activities such as the potting up days are a great chance to get together with an enthusiastic group of locals and enjoy some very interesting discussions.
