After the first nine months of activity under the umbrella of the ACT Urban Services Volunteer Program, our small team of volunteers has expended over 40 hours of volunteer time in ivy removal and other activities in the English Garden section of Weston Park, Yarralumla.
Our team consists of volunteers led by the Rotary Club of Canberra, with support from Canberra Sundowners, Canberra-Sunrise, Murrumbidgee Canberra and one volunteer from the Australian Garden History Society. We are hopeful to recruit more volunteers from the community and other Rotary Clubs in 2024.
Our ‘ivy league’ fill a bag on a Sunday afternoon in September 2023
This small but significant project serves as a model by which volunteers from different Rotary clubs can come together to work on removal of invasives such as ivies and revegetation of the gardens.
Our volunteers also have the benefit of some free forest therapy, including under magnificent trees planted as far back as the 1920s, the decade during which the Rotary of Club of Canberra was first established.
Removal of ivies is hard work (particularly Hedera canariensis) and our weeding sessions last for about 90 minutes with breaks. It is vital however to keep certain valuable trees and shrubs from being smothered by them.
Over the course of spring in 2023, we were able to identify more trees and shrubs as the flowering season commenced. These findings will help embellish our public tours in future, given that we have already identified most of the camellias and rhododendrons with the assistance of experts.
Newly identified Rhododendrons in 2023 include ‘Ivery’s Scarlet’ (left) and Sappho (right)
We trialled an inaugural tour on 22 October 2023, which was attended by 24 participants. More tours, which would include both heritage and horticultural aspects, are a likely in September, October and November 2024 and will provide scope for promoting Rotary to Weston Park’s many visitors.
During early 2024, we are also are planting Floriade bulbs acquired in 2023, and some grape hyacinths donated by a Murrumbidgee Canberra member.
Thomas Charles George Weston (1866-1935), the visionary who transformed the landscape of Canberra and region in the first half of the 20th century.
Another key feature of these tours is to showcase the legacy of Charles Weston (1866-1935), the horticulturist and forester who transformed the landscape of Canberra and region by supervising the planting of over a million trees. As a biography of Weston is pending this year by Canberra writer Robert Macklin, this could provide further impetus to our project.
Future dates planned for activity include Sunday 8 September, Sunday 13 October and Sunday 10 November, starting 1.30 pm. If you would like to find out more about our project, feel free to contact myself on sutick@iimetro.com.au or 0421972287.
Dr Stephen Utick PHF
Environmental Team Leader Rotary District 9705
Convenor, Friends of Weston Park Nursery Heritage
Visiting Curator Theaceae, Greater Sydney Botanic Gardens