By Violet Li
Tamara Bush has been frustrated to see most of the trees the community planted last year are now dead at Troops Creek Wetland in Narre Warren North.
She believed the Casey Council should prepare and maintain them better.
On 28 July 2023, Casey Council held its Create Canopy for Casey tree planting event to commemorate National Tree Day at Troops Creek Wetland in Narre Warren North. Around 280 residents planted approximately 10,000 trees and shrubs on the day. Tamara, who helped plant trees on the day, has been watching closely ever since. Having lived in the area for more than a decade, she found the tree-planting meaningful as the wetland could use more shades in the hot summer and trees could potentially block off the noise from the freeway.
Fast forward six months, she discovered that the survival rate was disappointingly low, with only 10 per cent estimated. It was rare to find a surviving one among thriving grass.
She said there was no mulch, no weed mat, and the council could have poisoned all the grass.
“Three things they could have done. They did nothing,” she said.
“Last year’s July was very wet. There was water everywhere. And then August barely had any rain. So, by the end of August, some of the plants were dying, which was unusual. It was unusually warm and dry.
“Then this grass started to grow in September and October. A couple of months after, the council came out and put some of these tree guards around with not even a tenth of the plants.
“Some of the tree guards over plants are already gone. Already dead. It’s just for looks.”
Tamara also noticed that in the two weeks after the plantings, purple swamp hens came out and picked plants out.
“Council people came out and then put them back in. All the damage was pretty much replanted back in, but it wasn’t raining, so a lot of them died,” she said.
“That really wasn’t anyone’s fault, but it should have been stronger borders and preparation before they were planted.
“It’s hard to maintain 10,000 trees in a remote spot. It’s not your backyard. So what you got to do you got to prepare it properly in the first place.”
When inquired, City of Casey manager Sustainability and Waste Michael Jansen said: “Following our planting events, Council engages a contractor to undertake weed control and occasional watering — this generally results in an 80 per cent success rate.
“Unfortunately, Purple Swamp Hens pulled out and destroyed many of the plants at the Troops Creek planting last year and while these plants were replanted, some did not survive. We have installed stakes and guards to protect the remaining plants, which we will maintain over three years.
“While stakes and maps were provided to the site owner of Troops Creek — Melbourne Water — unfortunately some areas were slashed. Council plans to plant additional plants in autumn.”
