Ocean Grove residents turn nature strips into native habitat

NATURE strips across Ocean Grove have received a makeover through Geelong and District Rotary and Ocean Grove Coastcare’s recent replanting initiative.

Thirteen households took part in the project, with more than 30 volunteers from Ocean Grove Rotary and Ocean Grove Coastcare helping prepare and plant the nature strips.

One of the participating households belonged to Ocean Grove Coastcare founding member and former president Jaclyne Scally.

Scally and her husband had been planning to plant out their nature strip for some time, and the program provided the motivation they needed.

“This was an opportunity just to have that extra bit of structure and resources and a bit of a timeline to work towards,” she said.

“I think any opportunity to revegetate areas, particularly urban spaces as well, is really important,” she said.

“Nature strips are kind of these barren monocultures of lawn, and they’re just prime opportunities to recreate some habitat in the spaces that we live.”

Scally also involved her children, along with her sister’s and friend’s children, in planting the nature strip.

She hopes the project will help create a lasting legacy of caring for the environment.

“I think it’s really important for young kids to connect with the soil, to connect with nature through actually doing the activities,” Scally said.

“You can’t care for something or protect something if you haven’t experienced nature. It’s very hard to want to care for it or protect it.”

Throughout the process, Scally has also developed new relationships with with neighbours who were interested in the transformation of her nature strip.

One neighbour, Ben Korff, also joined the project after a conversation with Scally.

“We have very much destroyed our indigenous landscapes around here in most parts of Australia, and we should do what we can to reinstate that,” he said.

As the gardens mature, they will provide a range of benefits, including creating wildlife corridors and reducing carbon emissions associated with mowing and maintaining grassed nature strips.

The project used plants grown locally by the Bellarine Landcare Nursery, which were carefully selected by a Rotary expert.

Guidelines for residents wanting to replant their own nature strips are available on the City of Greater Geelong website.

While this year’s project has closed, expressions of interest for the 2027 program can be made by emailing [email protected]