It’s taken a lot of effort to get your seedlings ready for planting- now it’s time to plant them at your planting site…

Before You Start Planting

On the Day

Start a Working Group

Decide who will be involved in running your revegetation program.  As well as teaching and maintenance staff, encourage students to join.  this may be students from one class or from different grades (for example, sustainability leaders for each year level).  They can help build excitement and promote the program within the school community, which helps to support the long-term sustainability of the program.

Reach out to parents and local community members who might have expertise in gardening or native plants. This can include your local ‘Friends of’ group.  They can provide valuable support and resources and help out on planting day.  Many hands make light work!

Promote

Some ideas to promote your project include:

We can provide you with logos and other promotional materials to promote your project and to help raise funds – just get in touch.

It’s time to grow your own seedlings!

We use different collection and propagation methods for seeds and cuttings. We recommend that you visit your site to collect seeds at cuttings during either Summer, Autumn and/or Spring (not Winter).  Your Flora Files have information on the best time for seed and cutting collection for the plants on your site.

As well as growing your own plants, you may also wish order extra native plants from specialist native plant nursery. You can order plants up to 12 months in advance (for example, if you would like to order a rare native plant), although a few months ahead is usually enough time.

Please see here and here for a list of suppliers in your local area. We can also help you with your plant order – just get in touch!

Learning how to identify our native plants and wildlife often takes a lot of practice.  You can start to learn to identify some common mammals, birds, reptiles, frogs and insects in and around your planting site using these online resources and apps.

You can also find links to some of the native plants found within your local area.

Watering

Place leaf litter and mulch around your seedlings to prevent water loss and weeds. Plants should be watered to ensure that most of them survive their first Summer.

Unless there is a dry spell straight after planting (in which case water every few days), your seedlings can generally be left to themselves until it begins to warm up in early Summer.

Water your seedling once a week or as needed (i.e. if they are drooping, yellow leaves, generally looking stressed) over Summer until the weather cools in Autumn. Plants should not need to be hand watered after this point.

You may wish to set up a watering roster, especially over the Summer school holidays.

Weed competition is one of the most serious threats to the success of your planting site. The better weeds are controlled the better your seedlings will grow and get established.  As time goes on and more native plants get established, there will be less area for weeds to grow and less effort to control weeds.

It’s important to visit your planting site to check on weeds after planting. Your planting area should be kept free of weeds for at least the first few years after planting.

Some weeds can be removed easily by pulling them out by hand, but others (e.g. those with bulbs or long taproots) may need to be dug out.  Students can either use a spade or small gardening fork to remove them. It’s always easier to weed after rain when the soil is softer. Try not to disturb the soil too much while weeding.  Other weeds may require spraying with chemicals.  It’s best to contact a professional weed contractor for this.

Hand weeding is a great chance to learn some common weeds – you will soon start noticing them everywhere!

Watering

Place leaf litter and mulch around your seedlings to prevent water loss and weeds. Plants should be watered to ensure that most of them survive their first Summer.

Unless there is a dry spell straight after planting (in which case water every few days), your seedlings can generally be left to themselves until it begins to warm up in early Summer.

Water your seedling once a week or as needed (i.e. if they are drooping, yellow leaves, generally looking stressed) over Summer until the weather cools in Autumn. Plants should not need to be hand watered after this point.

You may wish to set up a watering roster, especially over the Summer school holidays.

Weed competition is one of the most serious threats to the success of your planting site. The better weeds are controlled the better your seedlings will grow and get established.  As time goes on and more native plants get established, there will be less area for weeds to grow and less effort to control weeds.

It’s important to visit your planting site to check on weeds after planting. Your planting area should be kept free of weeds for at least the first few years after planting.

Some weeds can be removed easily by pulling them out by hand, but others (e.g. those with bulbs or long taproots) may need to be dug out.  Students can either use a spade or small gardening fork to remove them. It’s always easier to weed after rain when the soil is softer. Try not to disturb the soil too much while weeding.  Other weeds may require spraying with chemicals.  It’s best to contact a professional weed contractor for this.

Hand weeding is a great chance to learn some common weeds – you will soon start noticing them everywhere!

Taking A Cutting

Potting Up

Before you Start

Growing you plants from seed collected at your revegetation site means that these plants will be really well suited to local environmental conditions.  You can collect seed from your revegetation site and other nearby bush sites (although you may need a permit for this).

It’s easy and fun to grow your own plants for revegetation – no green thumb required! Growing your own plants from seed is also low- cost. That said, growing your own plants from seed will take longer, and you are unlikely to have a 100% success rate.

How do I Collect My Seeds?

Plants are just like people – they are all different. Some plants have seed all year round, while other such as grasses usually seed during Summer.

Your Flora Files will show you which plants can be grown from seed, and when to collect them. Here are some instructions and tips on how to collect seeds.

Student Activity

Growing Your Seed

Looking After Your Seeds

Flora Files

One of our botanists has already visited your revegetation site to collect information on the plants that are there (what is known as a “baseline survey”).

This helps to determine which plant types are best for revegetation. It also provides a record of what was on the site before you start planting, so that you compare what was at your site pre-planting compared to three or five years after planting, and so on.

There’s so much to learn about our native plants! Click here to learn more about the native plants that are growing at your planting site, and the best plants to grow and plant yourself.