8 July 2024
Over the weekend the Ararat and Stawell archers planted over 300 native plants into our brand new 'field course' in the Great Western Rec Reserve. The new target course weaves through a beautiful patch of remnant grassy woodland that runs alongside our main shooting field.
The Ararat and Stawell Archery Club sits within the Great Western Racecourse Recreational Reserve. Right next to the main shooting field is a small area of remnant grassy woodland which has been protected by the racecourse and archery club for years. As a result, it has an abundance of native wild flowers, as we showed off to the community at our wildflower walk last spring. But the site still has a notable lack a 'midstory' - of small flowering shrubs and subtrees. This midstory is an important part of woodland habitats, creating habitat for insects and small mammals and birds to forage among. We saw the potential for a great win-win for the habitat and for the club in planting some new midstory plants. Not only could we enhance the native habitat, but we could also ensure the site gets regular monitoring and care into the future by creating a beautiful 'field course' where archers can weave between native plants to practice their skills.
Before putting in any new native species, it is always important to conduct good weed control. This helps ensure the success of later native plantings! We surveyed the site last spring and while most of the site is actually very weed free, we identified a few weeds that were starting to creep into the site, threatening the beautiful high quality native grassland. One of the main weeds of concern was sweet briar. So over the summer, the Project Platypus field crew made a couple weed control visits to clean things up. This will help us make sure the remnant grassland has a nice big weed free buffer zone protecting it!
With the weeds controlled, and rain forecast on the horizon, it was planting time! 11 club members spent a 3 hour morning planting 10 different shrub and small tree species, including Hakea, Totem Poles, Scarlet bottlebrush, and Bitter Peas. There was still frost on the ground when we got started, but soon enough the cold gave way to a gloriously sunny day.
The club members can't wait to watch the new shrubs grow and bloom! They will not only provide habitat and food for native animals, they will also create beautiful 'obstacles' for the archers to weave between as they practice on our new field course. As club president Doug Devlin put it, "we will look back for years as the plants grow!"
Thanks to all the club members who came and helped out, and to the Victorian Landcare Grants for funding the project!
Elia Pirtle
Landcare Facilitator and Communications Officer