TINformation July 2011
National Tree Day
Trees provide a wealth of eco-services in cities. They purify the air, sequester carbon to slow global warming, create shade for humans and habitat for birds. If you love trees as much as we do, come and join us on National Tree Day.
9 am - 12 noon Sunday 31 July at Corroba Oval Stockton
A family adventure outing in the making. You could ferry to Stockton, bike to the oval, plant a tree, and enjoy our barbecue. Bring your family and friends and plant trees to create shade for humans, habitat for birds and capture carbon to slow global warming.
TIN is supervising this planting as part of Newcastle City Council's Living Streets and Place-making programs. It aims to add to the City’s urban forest canopy cover, strengthen and stabilise the coastal strip and protect Stockton from extreme wind and storm events. You can register at http://treeday.planetark.org/site/48953 or just turn up on the day.
9.30 am – 12 noon Thursday 28 July at Reay Park Dudley (off Tumut Street)
Come and join this mid-week opportunity to add to the greater greening glory. The Landcare 4 Youth project will be supporting the local community and children to plant thousands of trees, shrubs and groundcovers as a fire retardant barrier to protect the recently regenerated rainforest. There will be a BBQ lunch. RSVP for catering purposes to the Landcare Resource Centre 4921 0392.
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Membership Renewal
The Winter Solstice signifies the time when days lengthen and TIN membership renewals are due. This is the first year where all memberships get reinstated with the financial year.
Your membership supports TIN as a ‘profit-for-purpose’ organisation improving biodiversity and vegetation cover in the Hunter. TIN provides environmental and social services, engaging volunteers in Landcaring on the coast and propagating local provenance plants.
We currently have 278 members and would love to see you renew your membership. Our membership options have changed. We now offer Standard ($20) and Concession ($15) rates which include five complementary tubestock to help you do your bit to maintain biodiversity in the region. Another option is the Counter Carbon Membership ($55) which provides 17 plants to assist in counteracting your car’s annual carbon emissions.
Renewing your membership has never been easier. Simply click here, fill out the form, attach a cheque or money order and post it to Trees in Newcastle to receive your new membership card and benefits.
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In the Nursery at TIN
Winter is finally here and I think the plants slowed right down in their growing cycle. We remain busy potting-up for late spring orders and for plants that will take m
uch longer to mature for autumn orders.
The Nursery is compiling orders daily for National Tree Day and soon we will be isolating discounted plants for our Open Day on Saturday the 10th of September.
We will have the following special species available for your late spring/ early summer orders this year:
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Blandfordia grandiflora- Christmas Bells
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Doryanthes excelsa-Gymea Lily
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Xanthorrhoea latifolia- Grass tree
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Cordyline stricta-Cordyline
Ceratopetalum gummiferum- NSW Christmas Bush
Hymenosporum flavum- Native Frangipani
We have a variety of Banksia, Melaleuca, Eucalyptus, Callistemon as well as a variety of vines, rainforest and riparian species and pea flower species, ready to plant now. We hope to see you in the nursery to wake up some plants from the winter torpor and take them home. We have some great half price specials and free plants in need of a home as well.
Happy July, Barb Nanshe (Nursery Manager)
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Volunteering at TIN
If you’d like to lend a hand caring for the land TIN has a variety of projects that can break up your day and provide things to learn and interesting people to meet.
If learning bush regeneration skills and being physical appeals then TIN’s Landcare projects at Merewether Beach, Shepherds Hill and King 
Edward Park are for you. Newcastle City Council has funded TIN for one day each week to maintain work undertaken since 2004 connecting the vegetated coastal corridor. See the Events page on TIN’s website for details.
We are looking for 10 people to participate in a seed collection program funded by an NRMA Community Grant. If you’d like to become part of TIN’s Seed Collection Crew and learn about seed collection and storage call Ngaire Southwell, TIN’s Volunteer Coordinator, phone 49691500.
TIN’s nursery provides variety and camaraderie Tuesday- Friday for those who would like to meet new people and help us grow native plants for Landcare projects. Full induction sessions are held the second Wednesday each month. For more info -click here.
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Education at TIN
Landcare 4 Youth (L4Y)
The Landcare 4 Youth team has been busy producing resources to assist youth groups with their on-ground projects. L4Y is about to expand its support into the Newcastle and Port Stephens areas thanks to funding from Hunter Water’s Community Grants.
Visit the Landcare 4 Youth section of TIN’s website to find Tools 4 Schools. Guides for gathering resources and getting grants are available for download as well as safe work method guides for weeding, planting and working outdoors.
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TIN News
Grants make gains
It’s been a while since the TINfo newsletter graced your inbox. As you can see it has a new 21st century look that matches our new website. This is just one of many improvements made possible by grants in 2010-11.
A Hunter-Central Rivers CMA Network Assistance grant enabled us to give TIN’s educational resources and website a makeover. As part of this project we reviewed the popular “ TIN Topics” fact sheets and created a Resource Library where you can download the full range of TIN’s education materials on subjects including habitat gardening, Landcare and nursery management. The site also features a plant catalogue, Tools 4 Schools, and a series of movies that demonstrate best practice techniques.
Visit www.treesinnewcatle.org.au to explore our site. While you’re at it, we invite you to “like” our Facebook group and visit our YouTube channel by clicking on the icon on our web site’s home-page. We’d love to know what you think!
We used a NSW Community Building Partnership grant to extend work space for propagating plants, create more shade for our nursery volunteers, increase storage space, install a water tank and refurbish the office. Sincerest thanks to the State Government for providing the means to enhance both TIN’s volunteer activity spaces and the staff facilities. Thanks also to all the volunteers who contributed to the project, rearranging, constructing and painting the new spaces.
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Bush Regeneration at TIN
Weeding Wonders at Wanda
Wanda Wetlands at Salamander Bay, Port Stephens is a picture-perfect wetland with a long history of community care. Aboriginal elder Carol Ridgeway-Bisset worked with the local Landcare group and Port Stephens Council to secure a Caring for Country grant to return the wetlands to its former glory. TIN was engaged to do the work, and put together a crew of qualified women bush regenerators to fulfil Aboriginal protocols for the site.
Wanda Wetlands suffers from common problems in urban bushland - backyard escapes and green waste dumping. TIN’s crew have spent hours trying to contain Wandering Jew and bagging up Cocos Palm seedlings that had been dumped, most likely from a neighbour’s garden across the road. The project is a reminder that if you live near bushland, you can help protect biodiversity by replacing invasive plants with local natives and disposing of green waste responsibly.
Other weeds we have dealt with include Morning Glory that has been smothering the understorey. Morning Glory is listed as a threatening ecological process. Our all-girl crew have been meticulously tracing this destructive weed back to its roots then scraping and poisoning with a glyphosate/brush-off brew to halt future growth.
The Wanda Wetlands project has been full of surprises as well. We have spotted ground orchids, flourishing ferns, graceful Gahnia groves and well established canopy trees, making the project a great day out for the Bush Regenerators (and there’s always a tick or two to take home so the memory often lingers.)
More Bushy bits
TIN commenced two new projects for Newcastle City Council last month. The Bush Regeneration crew is rehabilitating the weedy disturbed edges and creeks in George McGregor reserve. The results are very encouraging with a strong mix of natives present, including the threatened species Tetratheca juncea. Next time you drive along McCaffrey Drive and notice something looks different, it may the lovely local natives appearing as weeds are removed.
A broad scale weed removal, erosion control and planting project for Shortland-Wallsend Landcare has also kept the team busy. The project extends previous riparian work along Crawchie Creek in Shortland. You can judge how serious a blackberry infestation is if you find a family size trampoline concealed within it. The Landcare group will be planting thousands of plants over the next 12 months to facilitate re-establishment of local vegetation.
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Events at TIN
TIN’s Open Day 9 am – 12 noon Saturday 10th September
The annual celebration of TIN’s incorporation will see the gates swing open again for the beginning of regular weekend trading over the warmer months. The Open Day will also be a combined community event with the Newcastle Community Arts Centre, exhibiting the MATES collection by local artists. The Open Day will feature workshops and demonstrations, children’s activities, plant bargains and an opportunity to catch up with like-minded TIN folk.
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Committee Corner
Business Development
The TIN Committee has been reviewing the strategic direction and structure of the organisation to ensure the best fit between our mission and operations. Over its 21 year history TIN has evolved from a grass-roots community group to a profit-for-purpose organisation with over 25 employees in three business units. The Committee has engaged Dalton Business Systems to facilitate a development process that will ensure TIN is sustainable into the future. We look forward to maintaining our position as a leading provider of bush regeneration, native plants and environmental education in the Hunter.
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