Our work to revegetate and rehabilitate the site

Our site was abandoned for many years before it was considered as a possible location for garden around 2006. Before that, it was an industrial site. This allowed weeds to get established but also allowed some remnant native flora to survive as well.

Since we took over the site, a lot of work and research has been done. Different areas of the site have used a range of approaches to help restore the environment and provide a place for shelter for wildlife.

We plant mostly drooping sheoaks Allocasuarina verticillata on site to help maintain their diversity, for their wonderful visuals and acoustics (come to the weekly market to sit and listen to the wind sigh through their leaves), and as a long-term solution to weeds, which is happening now with some of our mature plantings from about 10 years ago.

Often mistaken for conifers like pines, sheoaks are an ancient group of flowering plants. Like conifers their pollen is spread by wind rather than insects, and many species are dioecious which means they have separate male and female plants. Sheoaks were once widespread in southwest Victoria.

They were used in many ways by First Nations peoples, including tool and weapon making. Cones were sometimes soaked in water to give it a lemony tang, sucking on leaves/needles could stave off thirst, and water was often found in old hollows

Pond

Our pond provides water throughout the year for many resident and visiting animals.

Native frogs lay their eggs in the fringing vegetation, including the Striped Marsh Frog. Their tadpoles share their living space with water beetles and bugs, tiny clams, snails and aquatic worms.

The small native fern Azolla can dominate the pond at some times of the year, at others the tiny native water plant Lemna, or duckweed, is more obvious.

Our work to revegetate and rehabilitate the site

Pond

Our pond provides water throughout the year for many resident and visiting animals.

Native frogs lay their eggs in the fringing vegetation, including the Striped Marsh Frog. Their tadpoles share their living space with water beetles and bugs, tiny clams, snails and aquatic worms.

The small native fern Azolla can dominate the pond at some times of the year, at others the tiny native water plant Lemna, or duckweed, is more obvious.

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