Yass Area Network of Landcare Groups Inc

Yass Landcare Community Nursery

Volunteers grow and sow native plants for the Yass Valley

Yass Landcare Community Nursery

Volunteers grow and sow native plants for the Yass Valley

Collaborations

The issue

A small group of Yass Landcare volunteers come together twice a month to sow and grow native plants which currently grow in the Box Gum grassy woodland community of the Yass Valley.  Native seed has traditionally been purchased from Greening Australia Canberra office with some locally collected seed from landholder properties. 

Plants grown at the Yass Landcare nursery during 2021 were grown for:

  • Bemboka property owners who were affected by 2019-20 bush fires.  A Michael King Landcare Australia bushfire recovery grant funded the growing of 3000 plants from seed sourced from the Bega seed savers group; 
  • over 600 Eucalypts were grown for a paddock project which is now in its second year.  Funding for this was provided from SE LLS Yass office. 
  • Yass Landcare Community nursery grew Eucalyptus melliodora Yellow Box within the YAN Climate Ready project.  Seed and potting mix was provided, however each nursery provided pots and labour to sow and grow trial plants;  
  • funding from the SOS Superb Parrot project enabled the procurement of additional growing tables which were critical to enable the growing of this years project plants;
  • Approval to extend our nursery site was required and obtained from Yass Valley Council to enable all of these projects to progress during the 2020-2021 sowing and growing season. 
  • Additional native plants within the Box Gum Grassy woodland community were grown for plant sales to the wider community.  

The solution

Growing and hardening off native plants locally, enriches local plant genetics. Moving from local seed provenance to seed sourced from provenances which the Yass Valley is expected to reflect in 2050 is being progressed through the four YAN Landcare nurseries via the YAN Climate Ready project.  We expect that over time our locally grown plants will have more diverse and robust genetics which will enable our locally grown plants to survive and thrive in a changing climate. 

We are self-funding the acquisition and installation of a hot house through plant sales, such infrastructure will significantly increase our growing season.

The impact

Yass Landcare has established a comprehensive set of nursery infrastructure made possible through foundation grants and donations from local supporting businesses.   We also work on maintaining a good relationship with the Yass Valley Council who own the land that our nursery is situated on.

We look for grants which support our sowing and growing requirements.  However, plant sales are enabling us to retain some independence to expand both our infrastructure and plant list.  

 

Key facts

  • Yass Landcare Community Nursery is 4 seasons old
  • We grew approximately 8000 native plants in 2021
  • We doubled our nursery footprint in 2020 to accommodate project requirements
  • We are co-located with the Yass Men's shed and are working with them to establish a community garden