The first half of my work experience hours were with Friends of Grasslands a community-based group that is dedicated to the conservation of natural temperate grassy ecosystems in south-eastern Australia. I spent my time with them at Stirling Park, located in Yarralumla.

Stirling Park has a rich and deeply fascinating history of European settlement and Indigenous value for both Canberra and Australia more broadly. The area was one of the first settlements in Canberra, which was known as Westlake the suburb was established in 1923. Along with surrounding hills that hold scarred trees and hilltop meeting places that have a deep connection and meaning to Indigenous History and Culture of Ngunnawal Country and Canberra.

The work we completed was on Haines Creek that runs through the old suburb and along these significant hilltops. 

The Creek had been inundated with Vinca major, Blue periwinkle a non-native weed that had engulfed the creek bed and left no chance of survival for any native shrub underneath.

However, after many years of trying and failing to kill off the weed with pesticide the right combinations of pesticides was finally figured out and successfully killed off the species.

While culling off the species is fantastic it now leaves bare ground around the river bed. This bare ground can leave space and fertile soil for either the Vinca major, blue periwinkle to grow back or for other species that may be considered to be weeds to grow right back in its place.

Hence why myself and the other group members spent the day tube stocking seedling of

River Tussock (Poa Labillardieri), Spiny-headed Mat Rush (Lomandra longifolia) and Tall Mat Rush (Carex appressa) along the creek and up the embankments. Doing this will hopefully allow for these native species to take back control of the Creek bed and restore it back to its native state.

The other half of my work experience was at Greening Australia Nursery in Aranda, Canberra. The Hundreds of seedlings we had planted at Haines Creek had all been provided by Greening Australia. Due to this, I was interested in the beginning stages of how this process occurs.

Thus having done the planting stage with Friends of Grasslands it was time to understand the earlier stages of conservation and flora restoration.

The Nursery here in Canberra plants and raises its own seeds into seedlings along with purchasing developed seedlings from other growers and distributing them through their well known channel, that being the brand Greening Australia.

While my job for the day was certainly not the most stimulating, pulling seedlings out of trays of 50 and moving them to Greening Australia’s trays of 20 for sale. It allowed me to see the large amount of labour, time, water and other materials that need to go into the entire process of flora conservation and restoration, right from the seed to the planting stage with Friends of Grasslands.

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