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.

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 300-900 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.

Scott Doughty and Judy Corcoran from G.J. Gardner Homes Mornington are generous supporters of local community groups and their tree planting projects. This year Scott, Judy and their team purchased 210 native plants trees for Tanti Creek Friends and their project at Stratton’s Lane.

Strattons Lane is a popular urban walkway in the seaside town of Mornington near Melbourne. It is heavily used and crosses Tanti Creek at a particularly picturesque spot. However the laneway itself is rather bare, with no garden beds or vegetation. Tanti Creek Friends (TCF) is working with the Mornington Peninsula Shire to make the area more attractive by converting several lawn areas along the path to native gardens.

On July 7th 2020, TCF volunteers, Judy Corcoran and Scott from the Mornington G. J. Gardner and Hannah Brown from the Mornington Peninsula Shire gathered for a social distancing planting at the west end of Strattons Lane. We planted tubestock that included Chocolate Lilies, Goodenia geniculatum, Wattle Lomandra and Wallaby Grass.

The Chocolate Lilies are particular interesting. Not only do the purple flowers have a rich chocolate scent that attracts bees, moths and butterflies but the asparagus-related plants have an edible tuber. Bush tucker that includes dessert!

Thank you to Judy and Scott for your generous contribution.

Marty Lenard | President | Tanti Creek Friends

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.