By: Michael Fox

A beautiful sunny morning and thirty-three community volunteers gathered to plant two hundred and fifty local natives for the next stage of the Mt Gravatt Showgrounds Wildflower Walk.

Christine Dewar, Environmental Scientist, has designed the methodology for building an urban forest restoring the Regional Ecosystems that originally covered the Showgrounds and surrounding areas.

Christine used information from our Botanist Ann Moran and Queensland Herbarium to develop a plant list for the forest. Community nurseries are the best source of local natives so we visited SOWN Save Our Waterways Now, Paten Park Nursery and B4C Bulimba Creek Catchment Coordinating Committee. Local natives are vital because 80% of butterfly caterpillars cannot feed on plants from other parts of Australia.

Good site preparation is vital part of creating an urban forest. To avoid using herbicides and maximise efficiency our methodology is to use a thick layer of cardboard to cover the grass rather than digging it out. First step is a sprinkling of Bactivate which is like a probiotic for soil. Second is a thick layer of used cardboard to suppress regrowth of the grass and weeds. Next is a thick layer (approximately 15cm) of mulch which is a mix of forest mulch and used sawdust from the animal display at the annual show. The benefits of mulch for the urban forest are: weed control, water retention, manage erosion and most importantly keeps the ground cool promoting the mirco-biology (health) of the soil.