Native Seed Collection

A very informative day learning about collecting native seeds and propagation - a topic that definitely requires more than one day’s workshop but inspired the imagination of what we can do in creating habitat at Walawaani Way Conservation Burial

This is Merryn Carey. She is the ‘go-to woman’ in the area for anything about native seeds and propagation. The Walawaani Way Regeneration team were there to listen to some of Merryn’s incredible local knowledge.

Hosted by Far South Coast Landcare Association Native Seedbank

It’s always lovely spending time with someone who has an incredible passion for something - Merryn Carey is definitely one of those people. Deb, Josh and I were lucky to spend a day listening and learning about propagating native plants and trees from the South Coast. Merryn also heads up the South Coast Seed Bank which is an asset for now and in the future. Her daughter Heather was also a great presenter and also very knowledgable and we found amusement in her stories from her childhood as her passionate and committed mother would collect seeds - including pulling the family car to the side of the road, hopping out with a cordless vacuum cleaner and hoovering up some fluffy seeds on a tree (seemingly the best way to do it but not obvious reasonings by the cars passing by!)

Merryn started the workshop with a mention of species that are more fire resistant - the black summer fires of 2019 saw many plants and animals perish in the vicious fire and a huge disappointment to people who had spent so long regenerating the land. Interestingly, despite the indiscriminate nature of these fires, when Merryn looked at the map of these fires, she found that the rainforest gully areas were least burnt… the fire seemed to just “go around them” and move towards the dryer areas. I love the idea of re-creating rainforest areas at Walawaani Way - the ideal areas are those in creeks or gullies with access to lots of water and we’d need to plant a huge variety of all different species to keep it alive and thriving which includes the larger canopy trees to keep shade for the smaller species such as the ferns. It’s the biodiversity that keeps these rainforest areas thriving and co-existing together. It will be nice to create cooler areas for families when they visit the site so they can pull out their picnic in the shade while remembering their loved one.

Heather Anderson - showing us the Banksia Pods. How do you know when the seeds are ready for collection? This is one of the easier species to know as the pores open up. You simply put the pods in a bucket and give it a good shake! … and you’ll be left with the seeds for propagation!

Some fleshy seeds are much harder to get - a blender is the answer! Put the fleshy part in the blender with water and then use gold pans to sieve the seeds out.. not a quick task as you move the goo into the next finer gold pan!

Merryn constantly keeps her eyes peeled to the particular trees of interest or rarity in the area that she wants to collect seeds from.

“Often it’s when the eucalyptus are flowering, she says.. but not always…. and you get to understand the different species and when they are ripe for collecting seeds… Some trees can be confusing - there may only be one branch of a eucalyptus tree that has seeds ripe for picking, and the other branches nearby have immature seeds and not near ready for collecting, that’s for another visit.” she says.

What I learnt was:

I am relieved to think that there are the Merryn and Heathers of the world who are experts in doing this and have the huge knowledge of South Coast Native plants that takes a lifetime to accumulate. They have a wholesale nursery and will be able to help us out with some of the plants we need for the regeneration which will be amazing. Supposedly sourcing native flora species is not easy, and requires a lot forward planning! (I’d better get cracking!)

It’s a lovely idea to think that if you find and fall in love with a magnificent tree - that you can be instrumental in helping that species gene pool continue on - through seed collecting and propagation.

Merryn talking to the very attentive class. We all felt very privileged to be there - learning from the best!

The mix of what you put the seeds into is a different mix of what you put the seedlings into (I’ll need a re-fresher on this bit when I come to do it :)

Hands-on! We enjoyed the opportunity to do two activities outside - pick native seeds of our choice and plant them in tubes and also re-plant some small saplings. We were able to take them home. Good success rate so far of my ones.. only one of the 20 saplings as perished… I’m ensuring they are watered every day and allowed to bask in the magical morning sun!

Some of the local residents of Cobargo and surrounding areas who attended the workshop - some had very advanced knowledge beyond their own gardens and it was great to hear some of their thoughts and experience - One lady worked for a commercial forestry company and she was able to do plant 1000 seedlings in one hour!

Thank you also to Luke Hamilton who helped put the event together for the Far South Coast Landcare Association