We have an area in the northwest corner of our site where we would like to establish a small, mixed native grassland interspersed with some native shrubs and small trees. This picture shows some of the area, with Wannon Water to the left and the pine trees in the background in Albert Park.
In recent years we have begun planting some shrubs and trees. With support from a Wannon Water Ripple Effect grant we are now ready to move on to the mixed grassland species - grasses and forbs.
What is a forb?
Forbs are herbaceous plants, which means they do not have woody stems, that are not grasses, and while there are many well-known invasive forb species like dandelions and clovers, there are also plenty of native forbs. Many of them are threatened species.
We are looking for members and other volunteers to get involved with:
Propagating native grasses and forbs - contact Rob at grow@wcg3280.org.au. This will be happening through February
Planting sessions with native grasses and forbs in our northwest corner during March and April.
Longer term maintenance of the native vegetation area in our northwest corner, and maybe also the extensive plantings in the quarry walls.
We have started propagating some of the plants for this round of plantings, we are about to start more, and others will be purchased from local nurseries. The next phase will be clearing feral grasses from multiple areas in our planting zone, and then planting out seedlings in autumn.
Our local project is now part of a much bigger initiative, with plans being developed to create some biodiversity corridors linking areas with pre-existing native plantings - so called "biolink" corridors. Some of the key pre-existing areas include the foreshore area, Albert Park, the Russell's Creek reserve, and Tozer Reserve. Our little area will be one step along the way.
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