Trees were added to an already wonderful family atmosphere where a great community of people gathered to watch Osborne and the RWW Giants play football.

Nestled in the front of the club house at Osborne, Landcare was part of the local National Tree Day Give away. The initiative was all about biodiversity and getting native endemic plants back into the landscape with 120 native plants given away, not just trees but shrubs and grasses as well.

Armed with the new ‘South West Slopes Revegetation Guide’, Kathy Tenison, our local Landcare Coordinator, joined in the fun of country footy. A great number of people came and joined Kathy, Elizabeth and Grace (from Eastern Riverina Landcare) for conversations about improving the landscape on farms, small blocks and house blocks.  

People thumbed through the revegetation guide to find the correct planting pages for Lockart, Osborne, The Rock, Urana and Yerong Creek. Many took photos of the relevant pages for their area. The landforms of the Urangeline area near Lockhart are mainly creeklines and plains with low hills. The revegetation guide is a great resource, as it shows the types of plants that would have been growing on the various landscapes originally. It helps identify plants that are endemic to that region’s soil and topography to improve the habitat for the woodland birds, reptiles and mammals that live in the area.

There were a great range of plants on offer suitable for most areas and participants carefully selected the ones that most suited their landscape and soil. It was amazing to hear how many people are well into their journey of restoration. Many have fenced off small pieces of paradise where they can plant a beautiful biodiverse patch to improve the landscape for future generations. Loads of kids also enjoyed the activity colouring booklets given out to entertain themselves on a wet and windy weekend.

Don’t worry if you missed out, you can find the ‘South West Slopes Revegetation Guide’  online. https://revegetation.org.au/

Farming football and free trees was a great match. Thanks, Osborne!

Thank you so much to the Lockhart Shire Council for funding the plants. The Wagga Nursery for providing the plants and to Elizabeth Madden and Grace Marwood from Eastern Riverina Landcare for their wonderful help in organizing the event.