Some of our tree planting partners are quietly racking up whole forests. G.J. Gardner Homes is one of our strongest supporters, having planted 56,000 trees with us over the past 8 years. That impressive number comes as a result of G.J. Gardner planting 15 trees for every home it builds in Tasmania and Victoria. And as a well-established building company with a reputation for quality and reliability, it is a popular choice.

The team of volunteers from Tambo Bluff Landcare Coastcare

G.J. Gardner prides itself on being a practical, hands-on family affair, and in past years staff have happily got down and dirty and planted their trees themselves. This year, of course, everything is a bit different, and volunteer groups are managing the actual roots-in-ground part of the process with small numbers of their own volunteers. To keep the local connection, all trees are planted near the offices managing the builds, between 200-900 trees for every district. Local Landcare groups work out the best trees for the job – usually indigenous natives – and source the seedlings. The seedlings themselves are often grown by local independent nurseries who have collected seed from the region by hand (with the proper licensing, of course).

G.J. Gardner’s core business is building homes. Safe, secure places for families to grow and thrive for many years to come. We love that alongside this G.J. Gardner is planting forests, which is very much the same thing – safe, secure places for fauna and flora to grow and thrive for many years to come.

Michael Ellett from G.J. Gardner Homes East Gippsland is a generous supporter of local community groups and their tree planting projects. This year Michael and his team purchased 270 native plants trees for Tambo Bluff Landcare Coastcare in East Gippsland.

We finally completed the 2020 project to get all of our 270 plant selection planted over a period of months. Couples and individuals went out (in line with COVID restrictions) to get the job done. Due to the restrictions Michael and his staff from G.J.Gardner were unable to assist and were sorely missed. We look forward to their participation again in 2021. Our final push was done when some of the COVID rules were relaxed and a group of 10 members worked planting and spreading mulch.

The past four years, our sponsored partnership with GJ Gardner Homes and Fifteen Trees has seen in excess of 1000 indigenous trees, shrubs and grasses being planted resulting in increased habitat and biodiversity.

What was once a 100 year old farm and is now the subdivision of Tambo Bluff, East Gippsland, includes approximately 40 hectares of public open space. The vision of past and present residents since 1993 is for an ecologically sustainable, integrated landscape of residential housing and indigenous bushland (including remnant rain forest gullies, fresh water lagoons, and Lake King foreshore habitats).

Alan Maloney | Secretary | Tambo Bluff Landcare Coastcare

If you are also interested in how your business and Fifteen Trees could work together, contact Melinda at <[email protected]> and ask for a no obligation proposal.

Writer – Sarah Hart.

Sarah is an artist whose passions include the stories and experiences of women and narrative driven creative work. Her aim is to delight, to reveal glimpses of everyday beauty, and to celebrate flights of the ordinary. Sarah works across a range of media, with an abiding interest in pen and ink, mixed media and the human form. You can find Sarah here.