Red Hill Regeneration Group

The Red Hill Regenerators invite you to our next working bee which will be held on Sunday 2 July 2017 at 9am

Last month we started to remove a large patch of Cootamundra Wattle regrowth. With the help from ranger Phil and his chainsaw we cut and stacked about six truck loads of cuttings.  Half of these were transported to our tubestock planting site and were used at our planting event on 18 June to give some protection from being damaged by kangaroos.  The remaining cuttings will be moved to the planting site to finish the job.

But there is still more to do! So this month we plan to return to the Cootamundra patch and finish the job.

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Sunday 25 June 2017, 9:30am

Red Hill Nature Reserve

Meet near Red Hill Carpark: the large carpark off Mugga Way (near Francis Street)

This will be the last foray for the year, and we will start up again next year for autumn (for the peak fungi season). Those of you who took on the role of photographer at the last foray, don’t forget to send them to this email address.

You are welcome to attend and to bring any friends and family as these are free events open to the public. Forays will be cancelled if it rains – feel free to contact me or check our facebook site to confirm. (more…)

The Red Hill Regenerators invite you to a tree planting event which will be held on Sunday 18 June 2017 at 9am

We will be planting 200 tube stock seedlings on Red Hill as part of our continuing effort to restore and ‘shrub up’ the landscape.  Our tree planting started in 2011 along the ridge above Hughes and continued in two locations at the south end of the reserve. This planting will provide some infill in the area above Hughes. See location.
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The Red Hill Regenerators invite you to our next working bee which will be held on Sunday 4 June 2017 at 9am

We have now finished our work removing deciduous woody weeds until they start growing again next spring.

This month we plan to remove a patch of Cootamundra Wattle regrowth and use the cuttings to protect our tube stock plantings (on Sunday 18 June) from being damaged by kangaroos.
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Red Hill is one of the most prominent peaks and nature reserves in Canberra. But do you know how it got its name?

The site has been nominated for an ACT heritage listing for the red flowering plants which were established in the area 100 years ago by horticulturalist Charles Weston, under instruction from Walter Burley Griffin.

One of the Red Hill Regenerators volunteers Michael Mulvaney told ABC Radio Canberra breakfast host Dan Bourchier about how Red Hill got its name and its famous plants. More…

Photo by Trish Munro

Photo by Trish Munro

The ACT Parks and Conservation Service has installed a visitor seat on Red Hill in recognition of the volunteer work undertaken over the last quarter century by the Red Hill Regeneration Group. The seat has been installed in a beautiful viewing location about 100m south of the Davidson’s Trig. We hope that all visitors to Red Hill Nature Reserve will enjoy the seat, the view and the managed environment.

Owing to the unavailability of the organisers of the 17 May 2017 mid week working bee, it has been cancelled. The next working bee will be held on World Environment Day on Sunday 4 June 2017.

2017 is one hundred years since Charles Weston was instructed by Walter Burley Griffin to commence planting red flowering pants on Red Hill. Thousands of callistemon, grevillea and Darling Pea were planted between 1917 and 1920. Many hundreds have survived and have spread across the hill.

In this centenary year, the Red Hill Regenerators have sought to celebrate these historic plantings by nominating then for listing by the ACT Heritage Council, to include these plants on the ACT heritage register, thereby providing recognition and protection of this direct historical connection to the Burley Griffin legacy.

• More about the historic red flowering plants.

The ACT Heritage Council nomination documents:

• Letter from the President, Red Hill Regenerators, to the Chair ACT Heritage Council
• Nomination form
• Statement of significance as required by the nomination form
• Letter of support from the ‘land owner’, the ACT Parks and Conservation Service
• Letters of support for the nomination from other organisations

The Heritage Council advised on 15 May 2017 that the application was accepted for consideration at its meeting on 1 June 2017

from ‘The Conversation’ 4 May 2017

Urban bushland has health benefits beyond being a great place to go for a walk. It filters our air and water, helps cities avoid extremes in temperatures, and is linked to lower rates of chronic disease.But these and other health benefits are virtually never accounted for in local and state land development processes.Urban planners need to consider these health benefits when making decisions about the future of our cities. More…