YAN Nursery Managers network
Nursery managers within YAN working together to sow and grow regional climate ready plants
Collaborations - NSWLP-031-004
The issue
There are four Landcare native plant nurseries within the Yass Area Network. Each nursery has their own funding model which suits the needs or operational history of the Landcare Group.
From 2021 we are all growing a common range of plants from the Box Gum Grassy Woodland Community under our Climate Ready seed sourcing model. Our plants are grown for three key landscape regions Grassy woodland lower slopes; Dry sclerophyll forests, poor soils and ridges; Damp and poorly drained sites including stream banks and depressions. Our plant list will be adjusted over time pending access to quality seed. During 2021 we had several instances of poor seed germination thus from 2022 we will be germination testing each packet of seed before large scale sowing - the availability of four nursery managers makes this task achievable.
The solution
We started this network during COVID and we continue to maintain contact through zoom meetings as that suits our busy lifestyles. We are frank with each other as to what worked in each Landcare nursery and what didn't. As a group we have visited a number of not for profit and private sector nursery sites to learn about potting mixtures, watering options and plant germination techniques.
We are also sharing plant resources to meet project deliverables. One example arose when the Bango Bowning-Bookham nursery team who had recently installed a hot house, where able to sow and grow Eucalyptus preferred by Koalas during the winter of 2021. Those plants were especially grown for our neighbouring Gunning Landcare Network Mates of Mundandoon Project.
The impact
Plant volume created through the four Landcare nurseries located within Murrumbateman, Yass and Bango and Wattle Valley sites within Bowning-Bookhman enabled us to progress the 'Climate Ready' project details are available in a separate YAN case study. We are growing at least 20,000 native plants a year across our network which we see as a positive contribution to reducing our carbon footprint. We acknowledge that there are many great Landcare native plant nurseries within NSW. We monitor their progress via Facebook entries and are keen to make contact with Landcare nursery volunteers who are keen to share native plant growing and planting experiences with us.
Learnings
Collaboration and being open to sharing learnings
Need to develop reliable seed collector networks
Key facts
- Four Landcare nurseries within YAN, are located at Murrumbateman, Yass, and Bango and Wattle Valley home based sites within Bowning-Bookham.