A small nursery team kicked off this year’s Climate Ready Revegetation growing season. The group put together the seed mixes which be grown into thousands of plants, grasses and trees in five nurseries across the region. These plants will end up being a part of various projects aimed at increasing habitat connectivity, providing shelter for livestock, habitat for native animal and increase the vegetative biodiversity across the region.
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The climate ready seed is a selection of species which are expected to thrive in both the current climate in the Yass valley region as well as expected hotter climates (hotter wetter or hotter drier).
The seed is sourced from a number of different locations (provenance) including locally sourced seed which is mixed together to provide genetic diversity and potential adaptability in different climatic conditions. Geographic spread of the seed ranges from northern NSW through into Victoria. The Climate Ready Revegetation project has 40 species which will be grown this year and each species has an average of five provenance in each mix.
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All of this seed is germination tested by volunteers prior to being allocated to the nurseries to ensure seed viability and the best chance of growing them successfully. The seed will go on to be treated as needed. Some seeds benefit from being watered in with smoke water, acacia seeds are often scarified (shaken in a jar with sand paper ) and then treated with hot water overnight before sowing; other seeds need to be kept in the fridge before sowing; some seeds benefit from sowing during Spring and Summer while others need to be sown in Autumn.
If you’d like to get involved get in touch with your local Landcare group and see any volunteer opportunities they may have coming up.
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Curious to know what each of the seeds in this picture will grow into? Answer below . . .
Top Left: Acacia melanoxolon - Blackwood Wattle
Top Centre: Allocasuarina littoralis - Black Sheoak
Top Right: Eucalyptus melliodora - Yellow Box
Middle Left: Brachychiton poptneus - Kurrajong
Middle Centre: Cassinia longifolia - shiny Cassinia
Middle Right: Dodoncea viscosa - narrow leafed hop bush
Bottom Right: Daviesia mimosoides - narrow leaf bitter pea
Bottom Centre: Calistemon sieberi - river bottle brush
Bottom Right: Hardenbergia Voliencia - purple coral pea or sarsaparilla
Written by Sarah McGrath, YAN Coordinator
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This project has been assisted by the NSW Government through its Environmental Trust. Landcare Australia Michael King grants enable us to purchase seed from diverse provenances.