Dear Readers,
Please do not assume that the lack of blog
posts here lately is in any way a sign of a paucity of progress. The opposite in
fact is the case and any evidence of slackness only comes from yours truly and
not our very active committee.
So, what indeed has been happening?
Our Drouin Tree Walks Booklet
The information for ten walks has been
prepared and checked. The walks have been trialed by several members. Helen
Timbury Design, (Helen on Facebook),
has started the design work and gratefully, Drouin Bendigo Bank and the Baw Baw
Shire have contributed funds toward the production. Further funding to complete
this project is imminent and work on fine tuning some of the data is underway.
Gardivalia Tree Walks
As part of the Gardivalia Festival that is
currently in progress, The Friends of Drouin’s Trees has conducted one walk to
date. Twelve passionate souls braved some fairly miserable weather but we
enjoyed some of Drouin’s magnificent trees, parks and wetlands. Poetry was
read, trees were measured, history was related, policy explained, wildlife
spotted, etc.
Two further walks are planned – Town
Centre, Thursday 20th October, meet at the Drouin Railway Station
car park at 11am, and McNeilly Wetlands, Friday 27th October, meet
at McNeilly Wetlands at 9am. If you would like join in the fun, meet some of
these passionate, (tragic?), tree people, or simply find out more, please email
Judy, (thegablesatdcsidotnetdotau) or Peter,
(heyfieldwaresatwidebanddotnetdotau).
Working Bees
Our group has the support of the Baw Baw
Shire to conduct some ‘low level’ working bees around the town. Presently we
are concentrating on simply tidying up some areas by picking up rubbish and
pulling a few obvious weeds. Our list of sites continues to grow – just like some
of the weeds!
On-Site Meetings
On several occasions we have met with
gardens/environmental staff from Baw Baw Shire and tree removal contractors to
discuss the treatment of some vulnerable trees. These discussions have given us
the opportunity to provide an alternative view to the complete removal of some
of our wonderful specimens. As a result, some diseased trees or ‘high-risk’
trees have been converted to habitat trees rather than be cut down. This
involves pruning or trimming to remove dangerous branches and to stabilize the
tree. In some cases the tree is girdled with a chainsaw to stop further growth
and the process of chain sawing extra hollows into the remaining trunk is being
conducted.
Recently, three large giants in Binbeal Rd
were treated in this way. Though now no longer alive, these three giants are
still contributing to the environment and at least one possum and one duck
family are grateful for that! (Photos by Gippy Tree Services)
Asset Mapping
The many hundreds of trees that The Friends
of Drouin’s Trees have suggested as being significant have been identified,
measured and GPS located in order to be placed on a Baw Baw Shire list of
assets. Being listed in this way will hopefully provide some level of
protection and preservation in the future - single trees, lines of trees and
‘polygons’ of trees have been identified.
Many other tasks, large and small are in
hand, being attended to or waiting time for completion. Hopefully this summary
gives some idea of the work being done. I’m reminded of the Michael Caine
quote, “Be like a duck, all serene on the surface, paddling like h…
underneath”.
No comments:
Post a Comment