Each year, numerous landholders embark on a journey to revegetate their local landscapes with 'climate-ready' tubestock, grown from carefully sourced seeds by dedicated volunteers at the YAN Landcare nurseries.

 

Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting two different landholders to check out their 2024 plantings and explore the many and various factors that influence whether their plants are thriving or struggling.

 

   

 

They were enjoyable and fascinating conversations, and a powerful reminder that we are all deeply intertwined with our local environment; even our seemingly small decisions and actions can dramatically shape local ecological outcomes.

 

These landholders were among the first to commit to monitoring their plantings over the next few years. Each year they will take a couple of photos and check the survival of their plantings. This will be vital feedback for our hard-working nursery volunteers, and it will help us refine our approach, ensuring we're growing the right species and providing the best possible information to everyone receiving plants. If you would like to monitor your plantings from this year, please get in touch!

 

      

 

Some of the strong messages from the visits included:

- Tree guards are really important, even when there are no livestock! Kangaroos and other wildlife can eat and trample both plants and small tree guards. There was a very noticeable difference in survival between those plants that were protected, and those that weren’t. Sturdy cardboard, corflute and/or wire guards can all be appropriate depending on your situation.

- Visit your plantings. Take delight in your hard work and the difference you’re making. Remember that even small adjustments to tree guards, or noticing when extra water is needed, can pay off in the long run.

- A bit of extra water can go a long way. If there is a hot dry spring and/or summer following planting, young plants may need a top up of water.

- Plant the right species in the right landscape position. Some species tolerate wet feet, others need excellent drainage, etc. You will see the best results when you do a bit of planning, drawing on information in the Murrumbateman Landcare planting guide or similar resources.

- Complement remnant vegetation. We can supercharge our plantings by placing them strategically near existing native vegetation. For instance, you can plant close enough to remnants to provide excellent habitat for native animals, while being mindful not to negatively impact mature trees by planting too close.

- Ripping on the contour. If you’re planting a lot of tubestock, ripping can make it easy to plant and help plants get established.

- Even a small number of well positioned plants can make a big difference. It only takes a few plants to provide food, shade and shelter to animals travelling through a landscape.

 

      

 

At one property, we were treated to a magical sight: two scarlet robins and a golden whistler feeding right next to the new plantings. It wasn't hard to imagine these spectacular birds making full use of their new habitat in just a few years' time.

 

Written by Sonya Duus, Climate Ready Revegetation Project Officer

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The Climate Ready Revegetation 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.

We’re thrilled to share some wonderful news for the Yass Landcare Nursery and the broader Yass community. After many years relying solely on limited tank water, the Yass Landcare Nursery has now been granted access to town water, with water bills waived, thanks to the recent support of Yass Valley Council.

 

This change marks a huge step forward for the nursery, which produces 3,000–4,000 native plants each year for revegetation projects across the district. Until now, the dedicated team of volunteers who run the nursery have had to make do with rainwater collected from tanks. During dry periods, this often wasn’t enough to keep plants alive and healthy, limiting the nursery’s ability to meet demand and support local environmental restoration efforts.

 

   

 

Access to town water—used only when absolutely essential, means that our volunteers can continue growing a healthy and diverse range of native plants year-round, even in times of drought. This ensures we can keep supporting revegetation, habitat restoration, and other projects both big and small across the Yass Valley.

 

 

The announcement was celebrated this week with a visit to the nursery by The Hon. Ron Hoenig MP Minister for Local Govenrment,  The Hon. Wendy Tuckerman MP Member for Goulburn, and Mayor Jasmin Jones. The visit was a valuable opportunity to showcase the nursery’s role in the community and discuss the infrastructure and support needed to keep this special place thriving. One practical issue identified during the visit was the need to repair the community centre guttering, which will improve the efficiency of rainwater collection for the tanks.

 

   

 

The recent Council decision to waive water bills and allow essential use of town water can be found in the July 24 Council meeting agenda (Item 8.6), a strong demonstration of Council’s support for grassroots environmental community groups.

 

We’d like to say a huge thank you to all of our incredible volunteers, whose ongoing care, advocacy, and commitment have made this possible. Your hard work and persistence are helping to grow a greener, healthier Yass Valley—literally.

 

Want to get involved?

We’re always looking for more hands to help. Join us for our regular nursery working bees on the second and fourth Saturday of each month, or come along to our National Tree Day celebration on Saturday 26 July, where we’ll be planting around the nursery grounds.

 

For more information about Yass Landcare and how you can get involved, visit our YAN website or follow us on Facebook.

 

Written by Sarah McGrath, YAN Local Coordinator

 

A perfect sunny winter’s afternoon brought together a group of keen landholders for the BirdLife Pest and Threats Workshop, eager to learn how to better support the birdlife in our region. A healthy bird population is a sign of a biodiverse, resilient landscape — and there are plenty of practical ways we can all help.

 

   

 

The silent threat of rodenticides

Shirali Dave from BirdLife Australia highlighted the devastating impact of second-generation rodenticides — products like RatSak and Talon — on native predators such as owls, eagles, falcons and quolls. These poisons accumulate in the bodies of rodents, which are then eaten by native wildlife, leading to secondary poisoning and death.

 

   

 

The good news? Safer alternatives exist. Traditional traps, newer electric traps, and first-generation rodenticides that work faster (and break down quicker) all reduce the risk to wildlife. You can read more about these options here.

 

Want to take action? Write to your Minister and email your council to help get dangerous rodenticides out of our community.

Watch: Learn about rodenticide poisoning (2.5 min video)
Watch: Night Calling – The story of Owl-Friendly Margaret River (35 min)

 

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Noisy miners, cats, and other challenges

Paul Russell from BirdLife Australia explored how native (but pest) species like the noisy miner are impacting woodland birds. These aggressive birds thrive in open, nectar-rich landscapes, chasing off smaller species.

 

   

 

Paul’s advice?

• Plant dense, spiky mid-storey shrubs to provide shelter for small birds.
• Choose native species with smaller flowers (like correas, small grevilleas, and hakeas) to discourage noisy miners.

Paul also spoke about the toll cats — both feral and domestic,  take on native wildlife. Pet owners can help by keeping cats in enclosed runs. Advocating for cat containment and curfews at a local level is another positive step.

 

      

Protection, food and nesting material plants

 

Foxes: a shared challenge

Leah Samson from Gunning District Landcare painted a sobering picture of fox populations in our region — an estimated 4.7 foxes per square kilometre around Yass. Foxes prey on native species and livestock and are difficult for any one landholder to control. 

The message was clear: landholders working together through coordinated programs like the integrated pest management initiative ‘Feral Fighters’ can reduce the populations of foxes and other feral animals. By coordinating the management of feral pests such as foxes, pigs, rabbits across neighbours landholders can make a real difference. If your area doesn’t yet have a feral control program, now’s the time to connect with your neighbours, Landcare group, or Local Land Services team.

 

    

 

Mess is best!

To wrap up the afternoon, Alison Elvin led participants on a guided walk, showcasing habitat features that support birdlife. From fallen logs and rocks to rough grasses and dense shrubs — all these messy bits of the landscape provide shelter, food, nesting materials and even medicines for birds.

 

   

 

Alison encouraged everyone to think about creating layers of vegetation and habitat stepping stones across properties — small patches of trees, shrubs, or even old fence posts every 70 metres can give birds refuge from predators.

 

      

 

A big thanks to Kate & Jeremy Wilson who opened up their property for the afternoon and provided the wonderfully rich environment filled with birdlife. A perfect place to host the discussion and thanks to all the landholders who attended.

 

         

 

Find more resources:

• Bird-friendly planting list (BirdLife ACT-Yass Birds on Farms)
• Vegetation stepping stones
• Birds on Farms: The 5 Key Features of Woodland Bird Habitat (webinar recording)
• Download the Owl Friendly Garden Poster

Interested in a site-specific habitat restoration plan? Contact Shirali and Paul at [email protected]

 

Written by Sarah McGrath, YAN local coordinator

 

 

Planting is a powerful action—a tangible way to invest in the future well-being of people and the environment. That’s why it’s worth doing well, especially in this era of climate change when plants face increasing environmental hardships from warmer conditions, more frequent extreme heat days, longer dry periods, more intense downpours, and so on.

 

   

 

When we give plants the best chance of surviving, they can work their magic in contributing to biodiversity, carbon sequestration, shelter, aesthetics, and all the other benefits that come from revegetation and restoration.

But how exactly do we give plants the best chance of success?

 

      

 

Murrumbateman Landcare Group has an excellent online guide, covering considerations at the stages of planning through to preparation, planting and monitoring. Planting ‘climate ready’ plants is in keeping with the latest scientific advice and are available from YAN nurseries.

 

   

 

There’s also an important Q&A session coming up at 7pm on Thursday,17^th July in Murrumbateman. This is your chance to discuss the nuts and bolts of good planting and other Landcare topics with an expert panel of ecologists. You're invited to submit questions in advance!

 

One of the key planting principles is matching each species to its preferred location in the landscape. Planting a riparian species on a rocky ridgeline is an obvious no-no. But there are plenty of ways we can fine-tune our species selection and site placement to improve survival and long-term success.

 

We encourage everyone to access YAN’s climate ready plants, explore the Murrumbateman planting guide, and attend the Q&A to dive deeper into these practical strategies—to take your planting efforts to the next level.

 

   

 

Written by Sonya Duus, Project Officer, YAN Climate Climate Ready Revegetation Project [email protected]

 

The Climate Ready Revegetation 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.