Cobbledick Reserve planting 15July2017 On a sunny winter’s Saturday morning 15th July 2017 Darren Wright, Open Spaces Engagement Officer, and Sal Hussein both from the City of Wyndham, Frances Overmars of Pinkerton Landcare and Environment Group, and community volunteers conducted environmental restoration work at Cobbledicks Ford Reserve.

We took ten boxes of Weeping Grass (Microlaena stipoides) and Common Tussock grass (Poa labillardierei) to a section of the flood plain which has been exposed to soil removal in the past, leaving behind a mass of weeds. We planted 500 native gasses in all!

While trees and shrubs have been previously planted in past vegetation restoration works there is now an urgent need to restore the understory and ground cover. The ground cover species include native grasses which are necessary to stabilise the soil during flooding and whose seeds provide a food source for the small native birds. With this complementary ground cover planting we are well supported by the City of Wyndham staff when restoring the ecological balance to this section of the Reserve.

Site preparation included weed control by Doug Hay and his team from the City of Wyndham. And jute matting has been laid over soil that had been hardened by 4 WD vehicles on the river bank, with the aim of retaining moisture in the soil. This matting contains numerous slits to facilitate planting.

The morning began with digging holes and filling them with water. This was necessary due to the dry conditions. Regular Pinkerton Landcare and Environment Group volunteer Michael Denyer, from Bacchus Marsh, helped dig the holes, filled water buckets and laid out the grass tubes in the area to be planted. We were then joined by Narpinder Kaur and members of the Dera Sacha Sauda community, as well as several young families from Wyndham. The tempo increased as more people arrived and we all busily planted. The children enjoyed participating too judging by the amount of healthy mud they gathered along the way!

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We had a break for morning tea and a chat in the morning sunshine, and then returned to finish the planting by noon. It was a wonderful community effort. Thank you very much to everyone involved.

Anyone interested in joining us in various activities at the Reserve, such as Platypus eDNA testing, seed collection, planting, Community Days and Clean Up Australia day should contact Daryl Akers or Frances Overmars. Some of these activities are supported by the City of Wyndham, and others are supported by Melbourne Water.

For details contact Frances Overmars, (Ecological Restoration Co-ordinator) on 9784 1294 or Daryl Akers, (Secretary) on 0438 277 252, of Pinkerton Landcare and Environment Group or check our website www.pinkertonforest.com