April 19th 2015 -To plant or not to plant, that’s the question – even when it’s really cold!

Posted on 29 April, 2015 by Connecting Country

Anthony Battersby, the farm manager at ‘Shadwell’ in Elphinstone, kindly hosted the third workshop in our Autumn Biodiversity Workshop series -‘To Plant or Not To Plant”. Hardy participants braved the cold and visited three sites on the property where habitat restoration work is being undertaken part of managing the Black Angus beef production on the property.

Anthony outlined the work he has overseen over the last fifteen years, talking about motivations, successes and challenges in planting indigenous tubestock for wind breaks. Many thanks to Anthony for his time and generosity in sharing his experiences and insights with the workshop participants throughout the day.

Our second presenter on the day, Marion Da Costa from Dunolly, drew on ample experience in restoration though her efforts in returning her bare paddock into a grassy woodland. Marion has written a book titled My Place: Bare Paddock to Bush and gave a presentation which covered the story of this experience. Marion highlighted the importance of observing, planning, working gradually, weed control and making observations.

Throughout the day Jarrod Coote, Connecting Country’s Connecting Landscapes co-ordinator, provided his insights about revegetation and other restoration techniques. He also gave a final presentation about direct seeding, planting equipment options and rabbit control techniques.

Thanks to Anthony, Marion and Jarrod for their contribution to an informative and practical workshop. Thanks also to Jules Walsh and Chris Timewell for driving the buses and Shane Carey for the fantastic photos and our work experience student Courtney Rosedale for her help on the day.

Anthony shares his knowledge

Two herds braving the cold!

Marion responds to questions

For further references and reading on various techniques for restoration please visit our webpage (click here).

A new revegetation topic has been established on the Discussion Forum so that the conversation and questions can continue. If you are not already a registered Forum user, you follow this step by step guide to join (click here). Or you can simply view the forum (click here).