Rob McMaster and the team from G.J. Gardner Homes Ballarat are generous supporters of local community groups and their tree planting projects. This year, they purchased 555 native plants trees (plus tree guards) for the Napoleon’s Enfield Landcare Group.

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. Thank you to Robert and the team for helping us support community groups such as Napoleons Enfield Landcare who protect and enhance our rural reserves.

In the heart of Wadawurrung Country in Central Victoria, between Union Jack Creek and Yarmlok Plain, the landscape at Scotchmans Lead Reserve in Napoleons is telling a story of recovery. The Napoleons and Enfield Landcare Group (NELG) have been working this ground for years, patiently restoring the riparian zone – the strips of native vegetation that line our creeks, rivers and wetlands, and rank among the most ecologically vital habitat in the country.

What gold mining and decades of neglect stripped bare is coming back. Frogs, rakali, echidnas, koalas, wallabies and possums have returned to a site that once had little to offer them. Dragonflies and bees move through an under-storey that is growing season by season. Bird species have climbed from just six (6)  recorded in 2010 to more than forty (40) today. This is perhaps the clearest measure of an ecosystem finding its feet again. Kangaroos graze the reserve. Birds of prey ride the thermals overhead. Beneath the emerging canopy, a woodland of manna gums and swamp gums is reasserting itself, with native shrubs and grasses filling in the gaps below.

The most recent planting of eucalypts, acacias, banksias and hakeas on the overlooking escarpment will anchor the soil, shade the creek, shelter fish and platypus, and buffer the landscape against erosion, flood damage and strong winds as the trees mature.

A track now follows the creek, open to anyone who wants to walk alongside this restoration in progress. It’s the kind of place that shows you what this country looked like before European settlement — and what it can look like again, given time and enough willing hands.

Thank you G.J. Gardner Ballarat 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.