A community nursery that is run by the Understorey Network experienced a sudden demand for local Tasmanian plants in 2023. The weekly, volunteer-run nursery had so much interest in their small operation, which was facing closure last year, that it has since hired a new nursery manager. 

Situated in Glenorchy, a northern suburb of Hobart, the nursery opens every Monday and is supported by twelve dedicated volunteers who support customers with advice on the right location and proper care needed to help their new native plants flourish.  

Ruth Mollison, Understorey Network president and volunteer, told the ABC that people are really starting to appreciate Tasmanian plants and valuing the environment. The nursery produces about 20,000 tube stock plants a year that are not only used domestically in local gardens but have also been planted as part of re-vegetation programs.  

As an island state, Tasmania offers the unique opportunity to build habitat to help preserve Australian species threatened on the mainland by introduced animals, like foxes.  

“It’s a refuge and a haven for threatened species,” said Adam Holmstrom from Glebe Hill Landcare.

His team have been working with students at Howrah Primary School on the banks of the Derwent River in Tasmania to build a wildlife corridor for the eastern barred bandicoot (Perameles gunnii) and the southern brown bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus) that have made a home at the school. 

Teachers and the local council have pitched in to assist the group put 450 plants into the ground to build the plant cover essential for these eco engineers to feel safe while conducting their important role in digging through soil, improving its condition and dispersing fungal spores through their faeces, which in turn help the plants flourish.  

A grant from Planet Ark’s Seedling Bank awarded as part of the Schools Tree Day activities enabled the planting of 120 additional plants to broaden the wilderness corridor at the school. 

Inspired to plant natives in your area? Here’s how to get involved: 

• Get your hands dirty at an event to celebrate National Tree Day

• Join the gardening responsibly movement and choose low risk plants to help build habitat for local wildlife 

• Learn more from an Australian Native Plants Society in your state 

• Donate to the Seedling Bank 

Planet Ark does not take responsibility for the accuracy of the original information and encourages readers to check the references before using this information for their own purposes.