Andrew Womersley from G. J. Gardner Homes Warrnambool is a generous supporter of local community groups and their tree planting projects. This year, Andrew and his team purchased 525 trees for the Hopkins Falls Landcare Group. This brings their total tree tally to 5,400 trees.

G.J. Gardner prides itself on being a practical, hands-on family affair, and take pride in supporting their local community with their revegetation projects. Working with their local nurseries, Landcare groups determine the best tree species for the project. The seedlings themselves are grown by local independent nurseries who have collected seed from the region. The sites that have been planted in the past have included nature reserves, parklands, roadsides, school grounds, riverbanks & rural properties.

Seven (7) family members of the Emeny and Adams families from Hopkins Falls Landcare Group, planted the trees at 2 sites – Cudgee (Kirrae Wurrung Country) and Wangoom (Gunditjmara Country), over the course of late winter and early spring.  The trees were species local to the area and the original vegetation community, namely River Red Gums, Blackwoods, Prickly moses, Wooly tea-tree, Poa and Carex grass and She-oaks.

Both sites fall within the Victorian Volcanic Plain bioregion, within a heavily cleared landscape. The Cudgee site contains some of the very few remaining remnant trees in the area – two mature river red gums, one with hollows. Fencing the area helps protect these as well as returning further vegetation cover and biodiversity.

The project site continues the previous revegetation works along the Hopkins river and in Wangoom, and contributes to the broader Hopkins Falls Landcare group vision of ‘Fall to Forest’, which aims to increase wildlife corridors between the Hopkins Falls and Framlingham Forest and restore some of the riverside vegetation that was cleared over 100 years ago and protect and enhance the habitat of the species that live there. These species include platypus, koala, wallabies, waterbirds and woodland birds.

The project focused on planting the cleared river bank above the floodplain, up to 70m from the river. It also fenced off important rocky habitat for local reptiles, which include Copperhead snakes, White’s skink, Blotched Bluetongues, Southern Grass skink, and the Southern water skink.

The trees provided by GJ Gardiner Homes will return some of the diversity that was lost in this area, as well as creating and extending habitat corridors. These habitat corridors will be critical for the local populations of koalas and swamp wallabies that have been steadily moving back into this area through previous revegetation work. We have also seen kingfishers for the first time in the last 12 months – the Sacred Kingfisher and Kookaburras. Neither have been seen in this area for 50-100 years.

Thank you so much to G.J. Gardner Homes and Fifteen Trees for providing the trees for our project! This site will contribute to critically important habitat for local animals and threatened species. We couldn’t have been able to do it without your valued contribution.

Jenny Emeny | Member | Hopkins Falls Landcare Group

The trees and shrubs will contribute to the habitat complexity in this area, proving much needed habitat and cover for the local species. This includes shade for river dwelling species, including the threatened platypus and river blackfish. As the trees grow, they will drop branches into the river, adding to instream habitat as well as beside the river. In turn, there should be an increase also the diversity of bird species who visit including the Great Egrets, Blue-winged Parrots, Whistling kites, Brown Goshawks, Red-rumped Parrots, Sulphur Crested Cockatoos, Black Swans, Yellow Robins and Galahs.

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 Homes 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.

Thank you also to the team from Warrnambool for the additional funding for tree guards. These guards help protect the new seedlings and gives them protection from grazers, in particular rabbits and kangaroos. Inside the plastic sleeves, the microclimate created protects the seedlings from harsh UV, drifting sand, frost, and wind. Once the seedlings survive their first summer and get the opportunity to develop a strong taproot, their chances of survival skyrockets.

If you would like to know more about sponsoring community tree planting projects and how we can assist you in becoming a more sustainable business, please contact Colleen at <[email protected]>.

Writer: Colleen B. Filippa

With a background in Environmental Science, Colleen is the Founding Director of Fifteen Trees. In 2009, after 20 years in primary, secondary and tertiary education institutions, Colleen left the classroom to start the company. Fifteen Trees is a social enterprise assisting individuals and companies to reduce their carbon footprint by supporting community groups such as Landcare, schools and environmental networks.

Seven (7) family members of the Emeny and Adams families from Hopkins Falls Landcare Group, planted the trees at 2 sites – Cudgee (Kirrae Wurrung Country) and Wangoom (Gunditjmara Country), over the course of late winter and early spring.  The trees were species local to the area and the original vegetation community, namely River Red Gums, Blackwoods, Prickly moses, Wooly tea-tree, Poa and Carex grass and She-oaks.

Both sites fall within the Victorian Volcanic Plain bioregion, within a heavily cleared landscape. The Cudgee site contains some of the very few remaining remnant trees in the area – two mature river red gums, one with hollows. Fencing the area helps protect these as well as returning further vegetation cover and biodiversity.

The project site continues the previous revegetation works along the Hopkins river and in Wangoom, and contributes to the broader Hopkins Falls Landcare group vision of ‘Fall to Forest’, which aims to increase wildlife corridors between the Hopkins Falls and Framlingham Forest. The vision aims to restore some of the riverside vegetation that was cleared over 100 years ago and protect and enhance the habitat of the species that live there. These species include platypus, koala, wallabies, waterbirds and woodland birds.

The project focused on planting the cleared river bank above the floodplain, up to 70m from the river. It also fenced off important rocky habitat for local reptiles, which include Copperhead snakes, White’s skink, Blotched Bluetongues, Southern Grass skink, and the Southern water skink.

The trees provided GJ Gardiner Homes will return some of the diversity that was lost in this area, as well as creating and extending habitat corridors. These habitat corridors will be critical for the local populations of koalas and swamp wallabies that have been steadily moving back into this area through previous revegetation work. We have also seen kingfishers for the first time in the last 12 months – the Sacred Kingfisher and Kookaburras. Neither have been seen in this area for 50-100 years.

The trees and shrubs will contribute to the habitat complexity in this area, proving much needed habitat and cover for the local species. This includes shade for river dwelling species, including the threatened platypus and river blackfish. As the trees grow, they will drop branches into the river, adding to instream habitat as well as beside the river. In turn, there should be an increase also the diversity of bird species who visit including the Great Egrets, Blue-winged Parrots, Whistling kites, Brown Goshawks, Red-rumped Parrots, Sulphur Crested Cockatoos, Black Swans, Yellow Robins and Galahs.

Thank you so much to GJ Gardiner Homes and Fifteen Trees for providing the trees for our project! This site will contribute to critically important habitat for local animals and threatened species. We couldn’t have been able to do it without your valued contribution.

Jenny Emeny | Member | Hopkins Falls Landcare Group