Looking At Landcare (3/2/2022) – Plan Your Planting Projects Now!

Hi Landcarer’s

The cooler temperatures this week seem to bring on thoughts of planting and new projects.

If you have been planning a tree planting project for 2022, now is the time to get you start planning your preparation.

Autumn and into winter in our area are the optimal times for planting. After the shortages of trees and shrubs during the drought, suppliers seem to be once again well stocked in preparation for the season ahead.

We are fortunate to once again be working with the Forbes Riverside Garden with our planting projects, utilising seed that has been collected by Landcare. The garden is open every week day and Saturday and their volunteers would be happy to assist with your enquiry.

If you have a property plan, you have probably already identified areas that would be suited to planting.

In your planning you need to factor in where your existing natural assets are, so that you can establish how they can be improved and enhanced. Are you hoping to increase the biodiversity of your land? Is your priority providing shelterbelts for livestock protection? Chances are you can probably achieve both!

Recent research suggests that planting wider and denser shelterbelts are the most effective to achieve both. Obviously connectivity of plantings promotes the movement of bird species more safely.

In the lead up to planting, spraying for weeds (or any other method that you can use) is essential. This can just be spot spraying in the tree placement.

Depending on the machinery that you have available, some people rip their planting lines, others do independent hole placement. Depending on the area, you may not need to do this and planting may be easy enough just with a spade or Hamilton Tree Planter.

Mulch! The most successful of our plantings have been mulched heavily. This is fantastic for weed suppression and, depending on what mulch you use, can also have wonderful nutritional benefits for the tubestock. If you haven’t received regular rain, you need to be prepared for back up watering.

At this stage Central West Lachlan Landcare are proceeding with National Tree Day events in Forbes (on 30 July) and Parkes (on 31 July). I look forward to telling you more about our sites in the months ahead, and the reasons why we have chosen these sites.

We are still in the early stages of planning and site preparation, but are hoping to also host a BBQ as had been the tradition of NTD events in the past.
Forbes: https://treeday.planetark.org/site/10026050