Growing Native Plants - Thriving Southland Catchment Groups
On the evening of 21 April, twenty five keen catchment folk attended a “Growing Native Plants” Workshop with Chris and Brian. A traditionally “outside” workshop became an indoor talk as daylight faded into night. Before that a quick guided walk around the created ponds and restoration area set the scene. Poppy Hardie, a Thriving Southland Coordinator organised the event and introduced Chris and Brian and then everyone introduced themselves, their catchment group and what they wanted to take away from the evening. Dipton, Otamita, Three Rivers (Mokoreta, Mimihau and Mataura), Waiwera (South Otago), Catchment Groups were represented plus others. Brian talked about some important principles of plant identification, the importance and reasons for sourcing plants locally and using “Southland Natives” for restoration projects. Emphasis was placed on Right Plant for Right Place in relation to successful planting projects. The profile drawings from the Community Nursery website and recommended plant lists were used as a guide. Chris concentrated on the seed collection, seed preparation and sowing also using the website resources to help assist people. Thriving Southland supplied supper and this was followed by a short hands on session looing at seeds and plants.
Thanks to Thriving Southland for facilitating the workshop and introducing us to a new group of plant enthusiasts. The talk is available here with links to various parts of the website. It was a lot to take in over a short period of time so we are happy to run more hands-on sessions on particular topics if there is interest. Just email Chris to request a workshop session at
A copy of the talk is available here
Posted: 23 April 2021