On Saturday 23rd March, Greater Sydney Landcare was excited to host the first Creating Canopies community planting of 2024.
A whopping 55 volunteers came out to join us to plant 2,300 canopy trees and shrubs. The location was a private property in Richmond Lowlands in the Hawkesbury Local Government Area.
March 23 was also National Eucalypt Day, so it was fantastic way to celebrate this iconic Australian plant that provides great habitat for our native species as well as shade and cooling for all.
Thank you to the landowner Narelle for volunteering her property as a home for all these new trees, which will help to reduce urban heat in Greater Sydney.
Thank you to the We Are One volunteer group for coming and planting with us once again! 🙂 Photo: We Are One. 
We loved having you planting with us again We Are One. Photo: We Are One. 
Happy planters installing 2,300 native trees and shrubs to create canopy cover, shade and cooling for the future. Photo: We Are One.
Welcome Back Tree Friends!
We were thrilled to see many volunteers who had planted with us before (some many times!) returning to help out once again.
Anna Grogan and friends attended plantings with us last year and we were pleased they joined us once again in Richmond Lowlands. Anna said: “A big thank you to Bryce, Esteban, and the team for organising another wonderful planting event. Looking forward to the next one!”
Volunteer group We Are One also once again came along in great numbers – and we love to see it! Losalini, Event Co-ordinator for We Are One said: “The supervisors on the day were amazing! They simplified the process for everyone ensuring our first time volunteers were well supported during the event.”
Thank you to our volunteers for coming planting, as always, and we look forward to planting with you all again soon.
Over 50 volunteers joined Greater Sydney Landcare to plant 2,300 native trees and shrubs. Photo: Anna Grogan. 
Thank you to all the volunteers who came along and made this day such a blast. Photo: Anna Grogan. 
These trees and shrubs will grow to 3 metres and above to provide shade and cooling, as well as habitat as they grow. Photo: Anna Grogan.
What Did the Volunteers Think of the Day?
100% of volunteers who gave feedback on the day rated it as ‘excellent’, and strongly agreed that the event was well organised, staff were helpful on the day and that the catering met their expectations.
When asked what they thought of the event, volunteers said:
- “Very fun, good exercise, and feels good on the soul to be doing something that helps the environment.”
- “Great. Win-win-win, (1) for land owner, getting trees planted for free on their property (2) for the volunteers , a productive day contributing and socialising, (3) for the government & tax payer, improving natural environment as well as getting people outdoors to volunteer.”
- “It was another lovely experience which was organised well, and had very supportive and informative staff.”
When asked what their favourite part of the event was, volunteers responded:
- “Meeting lovely and like-minded people who love nature!”
- “The demo’s and the planting.”
- “Meeting interesting folks, planting trees.”
- “The food.”
- “I love to plant the new trees and bushes. Digging in the dirt in a beautiful location is truly amazing.”
When asked what they learned about the natural environment, volunteers responded:
- “I learned how tree hollows are formed :)”
- “Plants need to be planted below or on soil level to be well rooted.”
- “I learnt about the plants that we planted.”
Volunteers also said, “There’s also a lot of birds in the area and we even saw a flock of white-faced herons!” and “Bryce and the team were really lovely and took time to carefully explain everything so it was a great and productive day.”
Volunteer for Bushcare in Hawkesbury LGA
If you’d like to contribute to environmental efforts in the Hawkesbury LGA, you can become a Bushcare volunteer and regenerate bushland. No experience is necessary as training is provided.
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.
Find out more about Corporate Volunteering with Greater Sydney Landcare here. Be sure to download our Corporate Volunteering Info Pack.
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.
