Free plants to give properties a green boost

THOUSANDS of native tube stock plants are being distributed free to Moorabool Shire residents as part of the municipality’s annual native plant giveaway event.

The giveaway began on Thursday and continues until tomorrow (Saturday 16 May) at the Ballan Library courtyard, and is an official part of the inaugural Autumn Moorabool Landcare Festival.

The theme of the festival event will focus on revegetation and property planning and will feature guest speakers Helena Lindorff and Janine Duffy.

Lindorff lives locally on the edge of the Brisbane Ranges National Park and has over 25 years of experience in revegetation, 15 years of which was as the Grow West coordinator.

She recently helped tailor the Healthy Hectares guide to the Moorabool region, which is a ‘how to’ of property management and which she will be presenting on.

Duffy, meanwhile, also lives locally on the edge of the Brisbane Ranges and is president of the Koala Clancy Foundation.

She has a wealth of experience in hands-on revegetation with a focus on large-scale restoration and creating habitat for wildlife, in particular koalas.

Duffy will be presenting on her revegetation experiences locally, the koala planting guide she has developed with Melbourne Water, and new revegetation techniques they have been trialling.

But the plant giveaway will be of particular interest to people keen on giving their backyards a green boost.

People who have registered can collect up to five native tube stock plants from a range including grasses and daisies, small shrubs, medium-sized trees, and large trees, with all seeds collected from within the shire.

The festival runs from 10am to 2.30pm tomorrow, while plants can be collected between 10am and 4pm today and tomorrow.

Moorabool Catchment Landcare Group Landcare coordinator Jackson Cass said the giveaway had been very successful last year and in 2024.

“All of the plants were given away; they’ve got I think three to 4,000 plants to give away this year,” he said.

“All of them end up given away to residents and if they happen to have some left over, they get distributed to local Landcare groups for use in their own revegetation and restoration activities.

“I definitely encourage people to get involved.”

Cass said residents living in a peri-urban environment might want to increase vegetation on their property while those in rural areas might want to boost the number of gum trees on their properties to attract koalas and birds that nest in them.

“So there is an opportunity regardless of your property size to take something away from the day,” he said.

Information about the giveaway is available at moorabool.vic.gov.au/Waste-and-environment