From 9.30 to 11.30am on Saturday 27 October, Judy Christie will lead a ‘Habitat gardening walk and talk’ in John Street Reserve (corner of John St and St James Ave) organised by the City of Sydney, who will also be giving away native flora for planting in home gardens.

The Society’s sixth annual Spring Bird Survey will be held from 6.45am on Sunday 28 October commencing in Paddy Gray Reserve, Hereford St and will be led by Judy Christie. Afterwards we will gather for breakfast at 8am at Esca, a café in Glebe Point Rd. All members of the Society and their friends are welcome to attend. Please wear walking shoes, bring your binoculars and phone camera, and telephone Judy (0437 693 372) if you are coming.

Ten people attended a planting day organised by the Friends of Orphan School Creek Bushcare Group on Saturday 24 September. In John Street Reserve, the temporary fencing installed by the City to protect newly established grass has been removed and there has been no further damage to the turf. The plantings in Paddy Gray Reserve on National Tree Day (Sunday, 29th July 2018) are doing well in the main with only a couple of plants lost so far. Watering has been regularly carried out by the City’s contractors, CityWide, with some extra help from Bryan Herden and the recent rain should really help. Robert Hannan passed on some extra Lomandras that were not required elsewhere and most of these are also settling in well.

The Glebe Palmerston and Surrounds Landcare Group continues to have at least monthly working bees and new members have joined the Group. The City has provided cardboard covers to help protect the newly planted flora. The Group planted Lomandra provided by Robert Hannan. There has been no news on either the Group’s grant application to the City or the issue of insurance cover for volunteer workers. The Group’s Action Plan, and also that for the Orphan School Creek Group, will not be signed until the insurance is provided. It was decided that the Nerium oleander along the northern boundary of the upper and lower parts of the park be retained, but that native flora be in-fill planted and the oleanders pruned as necessary.

The Ferry Road Bushcare Group are doing lots of hand watering, including of mature Lomandra provided by a neighbour and planted in William Carlton and Ernest Pederson Parks. The Group reports that

Jon and Chris from CityWide are working in the gardens each Thursday and it has been refreshing to have such enthusiastic and interested staff who are talking about the issues and working with us. We have even had discussions about future strategies including pruning, mulching and planting. We are still in shock and so excited. Working in the parks has actually brought enjoyment back into what we are doing.

On a more negative note, eight Kapok trees (Ceiba speciosa) planted 15 months ago in the round garden bed at Bicentennial Park were removed in the week of National Tree Day. In Glebe’s early days the trees’ seed pod casings were used for the stuffing of mattresses and pillows. Vandals are reckless and random in their actions but this was a systematic removal of young trees. The irony of removing these trees during this important week has been compounded by the fact that they have not been replaced.