On Saturday 4th May, Greater Sydney Landcare’s Creating Canopies team held a planting day at Pat O’Conner Reserve in Canterbury, in partnership with the City of Canterbury Bankstown.
From full bookings, 36 volunteers joined us to plant 1,500 native trees and shrubs on the day. These plants will grow to 3 metres and above to create cooling canopy cover for the future, helping to reduce urban heat.
Thank you to the volunteers who planted with Greater Sydney Landcare’s Creating Canopies project at Pat O’Conner Reserve in Canterbury. 
Thank you to the volunteers who planted with Greater Sydney Landcare’s Creating Canopies project at Pat O’Conner Reserve in Canterbury. 
Thank you to the volunteers who planted with Greater Sydney Landcare’s Creating Canopies project at Pat O’Conner Reserve in Canterbury.
Creating Canopies Project Manager Danielle Packer, Project Officer Alicia Harb-Akins, and Bush Regenerator Rhiannon Beaton ran the day.
“While the weather forecast predicted rain, luckily for us it didn’t eventuate on the day,” said Ms Packer. “It was muddy though, and boy did we all get our hands dirty! It was a great day with lots of families and their kids helping to get the 1,500 trees in the ground.”
The volunteers planted native shrubs like the Dodonaea triquetra (hop bush), Kunzea ambigua (tick bush), Acacias (wattles), Breynia oblongifolia (coffee bush), and trees including Angophoras and Eucalyptus (gum trees), Melaleucas and others appropriate to this area.
“Pat O’Connor Reserve is a popular walking space, and we hope these trees will provide much needed shade for visitors and increase the bird life in the area. A lot of what we planted were flowering shrubs such as Acacias, and also large canopy Eucalyptus trees,” Ms Packer said.
“The volunteers planted all 1500 trees in 1 hour and 40 minutes! That’s a record we think. The nice soft and wet soil definitely made it easier,” said Ms Packer.
Volunteers included members of the We Are One volunteering group and a member of the Mudcrabs, a local group of Cooks River Eco Volunteers.
“Everyone was in great spirits, and we are very thankful for the volunteers who did come along on the day, even though it wasn’t bright and sunny. Thank you for all your hard work and for helping us get it done so quickly! We never whinge about finishing a planting early,” Ms Packer said.
Thank you to the City of Canterbury Bankstown for volunteering the Pat O’Conner Reserve for native plants, and thank you all the legends who came along despite a wet and windy weekend to put the plants in the ground. We couldn’t have done it without you!
Volunteer for Bushcare in Canterbury-Bankstown
If you’d like to contribute to environmental efforts in the Canterbury-Bankstown LGA, you can become a Bushcare volunteer and regenerate bushland. No experience is necessary as training is provided.
Corporate Volunteering with Greater Sydney Landcare
Find out more about Corporate Volunteering with Greater Sydney Landcare here. Be sure to download our Corporate Volunteering Info Pack.
Get Involved in Creating Canopies
If you’d like to find out how to get free trees planted on your land, visit our Register Your Site for Trees page.
Come along and plant trees with Creating Canopies. Find out what events we have coming up on Greater Sydney Landcare’s Eventbrite page.
About Creating Canopies
Landcare NSW and Greater Sydney Landcare are planting 200,000 trees as part of the Greening our City program to help reduce urban heat in Greater Sydney. Proudly funded by the NSW Government.
