Tiny Forrest Tree Planting Day

On Sunday 8 December the Students for Sustainability and around 30 volunteers helped plant 62 native plants for Darwin High’s very own Tiny Forest. A big thank you to all the volunteers who turned up to help on planting day. It was a huge success and thanks to all the preparation beforehand we finished planting in around 1.5 hours and were able to distribute the two huge mulch piles between the plants and paths.It was a great morning with over 30 volunteers – many hands made light work. Big thanks to Anja Zimmermann, Emily Raso from Landcare NT, Territory Native Plants, City of Darwin, Paradise Group NT, Darwin Airport Development Group, former student Mikaela Caldwell and Steve Caldwell for their support. A special shout out also thanks to DHS teacher Anne Myerscough for her support.

By DHS Alumni and Committee Member, Mikaela

A big thank you to all the volunteers who turned up to help on planting day. It was a huge success and thanks to all the preparation beforehand we finished planting in around 1.5 hours and were able to distribute the two huge mulch piles between the plants and paths.

We were very grateful to Paradise Landscaping and the Airport Development Group who donated and dropped off all the mulch on Friday 6/12. A big thank you also to Darwin City Council for the 70-plant voucher they provided for us to use at the Territory Native Plant sale in Riyala.

Anja, Mikaela and Amelia enjoyed plant shopping on Saturday 30/11 and had the opportunity to taste test some of the bush tucker they will be growing, hold a python, listen to a talk by the NT’s first native plant book author Chris Brock and go on a guided walk by legendary naturalist Ian Morris.

The Students for Sustainability members volunteered so much of their time to help with the preparation, digging, planting and mulching. All their help is what made this project possible. On Saturday 7/12 Anja, Amelia, Maddie, Mikaela and Steve helped prepare the site by spray painting the utility lines, paths and holes, as well as digging all the holes using the digger.

As the trees and undergrowth develop, this space will become a shady and peaceful haven for Darwin High School students to enjoy. The Food and Hospitality classes will be able to utilise the lemongrass, red bush apple and other fresh native bush tucker in their cooking. While Earth and Environmental Science students can undertake new heatmapping scans to see the wonderful cooling effects of our Tiny Forest. In the future, Indigenous Studies students may even be able to celebrate NAIDOC week within its calming environment. It will be a space to connect with nature and will hopefully be utilised by many future DHS students.