Working Bees & Projects
Depending upon the season, working bees may involve seed collection, searching for plants, planting, installing and maintaining plant guards, weeding or brush cutting.
Working bees are held from time to time on Sundays from 10.00am - midday. We meet on the Gilmour Park Retarding Basin dam wall.
Parking is available on New Rd.
If you are able to attend, if possible, please email [email protected] so we can plan for numbers.
Morning tea will be provided.
Please bring hats, sunscreen and protective clothing/gloves.
The date of our next working bee has not been set. Please check here for updates.
August 2025 Planting Day
On 15 August, members of our group joined with Knox Council's biodiversity team in a working bee on Ferny Creek. The target area forms part of a revegetation project that began after the reserve was created over ten years ago. The revegetation has been done by Melbourne Water, Knox Council, Friends of the Glenfern Green Wedge, and the Knox Environment Society. However, over the past few years, significant damage has been done to the reserve through illegal slashing, felling and lopping of trees and shrubs, and suspected poisoning. The working bee on 15 August was a first attempt to start to re-plant some of these damaged areas. The rehabilitation promises to be a slow and difficult process. Thank you to our members who attended the working bee at short notice.
On 15 August, members of our group joined with Knox Council's biodiversity team in a working bee on Ferny Creek. The target area forms part of a revegetation project that began after the reserve was created over ten years ago. The revegetation has been done by Melbourne Water, Knox Council, Friends of the Glenfern Green Wedge, and the Knox Environment Society. However, over the past few years, significant damage has been done to the reserve through illegal slashing, felling and lopping of trees and shrubs, and suspected poisoning. The working bee on 15 August was a first attempt to start to re-plant some of these damaged areas. The rehabilitation promises to be a slow and difficult process. Thank you to our members who attended the working bee at short notice.
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May 2024 Working BeeThanks to all who helped at the working bee on Sunday 12 May. Beautiful weather after recent rain made for perfect planting conditions. Amongst many other species planted behind the fence near the creek, was the rare Philydrum lanuginosum (Woolly Waterlily).
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Philydrum lanuginosum (Woolly Waterlily)
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Other Working Bee photos
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Projects
Talk by Mycologist, Ema Corro, 30 March, 2025
On 30th March, our group was treated to a fascinating talk by mycologist Ema Corro. Knox Council organised the event in conjunction with our group as part of the annual City Nature Challenge. The talk took place on Ferny Creek in Upper Ferntree Gully and attracted twenty participants. The fungi that we discovered included Salmon Gum, Spectacular Rustgill (or ‘Laughing Gym’), Bracket, and Turkey Tail mushrooms as well as lichens and mosses. One of the children attending the talk discovered a very interesting sample of slime, and Ema shared with us the amazing story of acellular slime moulds. She recommended the book ‘Where the Slime Mould Creeps’ by Sarah Lloyd, which is now on our ‘must-read’ list!
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Bracket Fungi Spectacular Rustgill or 'Laughing Gym'
Bird Nesting, Fencing Project, Gilmour Park Retarding Basin 2023 -
We are very pleased to have completed the fencing project along Ferny Creek and the Gilmour Park Retarding Basin. The purpose of the fence is to protect the many birds around the lake that nest and dwell at ground level and are at increased risk of disturbance and predation. Over Autumn this year, we will focus on weeding and revegetating the area. This will include a rare plant, the beautiful Woolly Waterlily, Philydrum lanuginosum, which has been propagated especially for us by the Knox Environment Society. This plant would once have been found along waterways in our area but is currently known at only one site in Melbourne.
This fencing project was made possible by grants from Melbourne Water and Knox Council, and we are very grateful for their support. It has taken us three years to complete this project, beginning with the first steps of the grant application process through to sourcing a fencing contractor and completing the fence, followed by weeding and planting.
This fencing project was made possible by grants from Melbourne Water and Knox Council, and we are very grateful for their support. It has taken us three years to complete this project, beginning with the first steps of the grant application process through to sourcing a fencing contractor and completing the fence, followed by weeding and planting.
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