An influx of people moving into the Macedon Ranges from the city has brought with it a new flurry of interest in growing local, native plants on properties big and small.
Tully Sumner is the co-owner of Grow Locals, a Woodend project focused on educating people about the use of indigenous plants, growing natives especially for properties in the region.
He says he’s seen an uptick in people getting in touch about what they can do on their land to enhance local ecology and attract native species.
“A lot of people are moving from small blocks in the city and then they are ending up on more than a few acres and they’re at a loss on how to manage larger tracts of land,” he said.
“We’ve been doing that work for quite a while, so we’re conscious of how you can make it productive, and reduce bushfire risk too. There’s a lot of people who haven’t had to deal with that before.”
He said focusing efforts on native plant species comes back to conserving habitat.
“We’re going through pretty unprecedented levels of species decline… Koalas are the best example in the macedon ranges. They used to be quite frequent, but you barely see any around,” he said.
“You’re also planting stuff that’s evolved to the native, local conditions, so you’re watering will be less, they’re also quite adapted to the frost which can be fairly severe in the exposed parts of the ranges.”
Elsie Lange
