Community Growers Deliver a Second Successful Season for the Southern Tablelands Tree Start Growers Network
The Southern Tablelands Tree Start Growers Network has celebrated the conclusion of its second successful growing season, with local volunteers once again making a significant contribution to native revegetation efforts across the region.
Launched in 2024, the grassroots program brings together local volunteers to grow native seedlings from home. Now in its second year, the Network has continued to build momentum, delivering strong outcomes for Landcare Groups and local landscapes.
During the 2025–26 growing season, more than 80 volunteer growers took part across an area spanning from Cooma to Goulburn, Oallen to Rosedale. Thanks to their dedication, over 10,000 native tubestock have already been returned, with hundreds more currently in the hands of landholders ready to start planting this autumn. This milestone reflects the growing strength of the Network and the commitment of local community members to have a go at growing native tubestock from seed in their backyards.
The Growers Network is delivered in partnership by Upper Shoalhaven Landcare Council, Upper Murrumbidgee Landcare Network and Wagtail Natives Nursery. Together, they provide native propagation kits and support volunteer growers across the Queanbeyan–Palerang and northern Snowy Monaro regions. The goal is to grow the next generation and help build a reliable supply of locally grown native plants for revegetation projects.
The 2025-26 growing season recently concluded with the annual 'March Tubestock Round Up'. Thousands of plants were collected back from growers in Bungendore, Cooma, Braidwood and Michelago and delivered to the Landcare Nursery Hub at Aurelia Metals’ Dargues site in Majors Creek.
On Tuesday 31 March, 22 volunteers gathered for a Working Bee at the Nursery Hub to stocktake and prepare plants for redistribution. Over the course of the day, volunteers unpacked 530 propagation kits, sorted and counted more than 10,000 tubestock, assembled nursery benches, processed hundreds of recycled pots and soil, as well as loading nearly 1,000 plants, stakes and guards for delivery to planting sites across the Upper Murrumbidgee catchment.
The Working Bee was incredibly productive and made possible through the continued support of Aurelia Metals at it Dargues site. Their lease agreement with Landcare allows for the use of the former geology shed as a regional hub for propagation efforts, including installation of polytunnel and storage for all the Growers Network supplies.
With the polytunnel now full, volunteer growers can enjoy a well‑earned winter break! Landcare's preparations now begin for the program to recommence in September, with expressions of interest for the 2026-27 growing season to open in July. Could you take care of 200 native seedlings perhaps?
The program is proudly co‑funded by the NSW Government Environment Trust and Koala Strategy, Mary MacKillop Today Highways and Byways, and the Landscape Resilience Program of the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife.
