On Wednesday 15th May 2024, Greater Sydney Landcare’s Creating Canopies project hosted a planting at Hawkesbury Riding Club in Clarendon.
11 volunteers showed up and gave their time to plant 500 native trees and shrubs. These plants will grow to create a midstorey underneath the existing canopy trees.
Thank you to the volunteers who planted 500 native trees and shrubs at Hawkesbury Riding Club in May 2024. 
Thank you to the volunteers who planted 500 native trees and shrubs at Hawkesbury Riding Club in May 2024. 
Thank you to the volunteers who planted 500 native trees and shrubs at Hawkesbury Riding Club in May 2024.
This day had a very local feel as most of the volunteers were members of the club or closely involved with it.
The volunteers planted small trees like Melaleucas and shrubs including Australian Indigo (Indigofera australis), Hop Bush (Dodonaea triquetra), Silky Hakea (Hakea sericea), Willow Bottlebrush (Callistemon salignus) and Narrow-leaved Bottlebrush (Callistemon linearis).
Creating Canopies Project Manager Danielle Packer and Project Officer Alicia Harb-Akins led the day.
Locally native plants including Melaleucas and Callistemons were installed to increase shade here in the future. 
Locally native plants including Melaleucas and Callistemons were installed to increase shade here in the future. 
Locally native plants including Melaleucas and Callistemons were installed to increase shade here in the future.
“There are not many trees in this area at all, so the lack of shade creates very hot temperatures for the horses and their riders. These trees will be very much appreciated once they have grown,” said Ms Packer.
“This event was meant to go ahead last weekend but with all the rain, it had to be cancelled and rescheduled for a weekday.”
“All of the trees were put in soft soil from the previous rain and guarded. We hope the recent rain will give these young trees a great head start in life and that they grow really well as a result.”
Wet weather may have postponed the original planting day, but hopefully aided the longevity of this planting in the long term. 
Wet weather may have postponed the original planting day, but hopefully aided the longevity of this planting in the long term. 
Wet weather may have postponed the original planting day, but hopefully aided the longevity of this planting in the long term.
“A lot of what we planted were flowering shrubs, so this will encourage more pollinators to visit this area and provide food for local birds too,” Ms Packer said.
Thank you to the Hawkesbury Riding Club for volunteering your site for trees once again and to the volunteers for making this planting happen.
Volunteer for Bushcare in the Hawkesbury
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.
