Article by Maddie Steel

Photo above: Maddie Steel planting the first red gum on the wetland site 

The Barrabool Hills Ephemeral Wetland has successfully been planted. Rather a little sentence for the mammoth undertaking that the project proved to be and the effort it required. Ten hectares and ten thousand plants are simply numbers written on a page until you arrive on the site and see an expanse of low-lying, muddy and waterlogged ground in front of you and seemingly endless trays of grasses. None of these factors demoralised the amazing friends, family, neighbours and very much-appreciated random extras, who braved the elements to contribute a huge 300 hours of volunteering

Logistically, the site provided some challenges. The original plan of access for volunteers via Mt Pollock Road became inaccessible due to bogging potential by the start of planting. The farm machinery sheds became the new meeting point, with a tractor and trailer transformed into a rather agricultural version of a ‘mega-taxi’. Despite delaying the planting each Sunday with its slow (but safe) crawl to the other end of the property, the drive to the site and consequent mud splattering became a highlight every weekend.

Outside of the specific Sunday planting days, there was also the laborious hours of measuring and marking the tussock circles (a stake in the middle, followed by a piece of string 2.5m long circling the stake with spray paint, creating our 5m diameter circle), hand spraying the circle, as well as marking and spraying each individual red gum location to be planted in groups of 5 around the perimeter of the site. With very few straight lines or expanses of sprayed areas, the preparation was labour intensive, often in howling winds and driving rain for Kaye, Jim, Trevor, Tim, and Maddie who completed these ‘behind the scenes’ preparation hours prior to the planting days.

With only one Sunday cancelled due to the arctic weather predictions, the weather was generally extremely kind when it most counted, and finally stacking the entirety of the planter boxes was incredibly satisfying. No doubt, all involved will eagerly follow the progress of the wetland growth, eventually being worth every minute, frozen finger and water-soaked boot.