PROFILE: AUSTRALIAN ECOSYSTEMS
Australian Ecosystems: The perfect breeding ground for future leaders By Brendan Condon, Australian Ecosystems In April, Australian Ecosystems received the 2020 Employer of the Year Award for Nurseries, from Holmesglen TAFE. Discover why their nursery is the perfect breeding ground for future horticultural leaders. Australian Ecosystems is a multi-pronged organisation that provides full-scale landscaping services including a nursery, construction and maintenance arms, and residential design services. The crown jewel of our operations is our nursery, which has been working for 23 years to preserve and propagate native and locally indigenous plants for the Greater Melbourne region. Initially focusing on providing aquatic plants for wetlands to improve the ecology of Port Philip Bay, Australian Ecosystems now grows millions of plants per year including aquatic and terrestrial native plants; as well as more recently branching out into ornamental and landscape lines for residential landscapers. Despite this diversity, we stay true to our roots in ecological restoration, and have very skilled staff that are passionate about plants that are locally indigenous to the areas we work in. Our seed collection teams gather seed from multiple populations across Victoria, which enables us to grow plants to the provenance of the site they will be planted in. This allows us to help preserve the genetic diversity within species and ensures that the plants we send out will be ultimately suited to their final environment. At Australian Ecosystems, we have a strong environmental ethos that is cultivated within our nursery, and spreads throughout all arms of our operation. We have reduced our plastic waste by developing our own 200cc and 600cc reusable trays, which hold multiple plants in a rigid tray that can be recycled if broken.
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GROUNDSWELL MAY 2021
Our plants are used in ecological conservation projects, from rainforest reforestation to restoration of waterways and habitats for Koalas, water birds, frogs, and more. We also participate in trials, growing on native species that have historically been tricky to cultivate commercially. Our nursery grows plants using recycled water from Melbourne Water’s Eastern Treatment Plant. As we are a vertically integrated landscaping company, staff get the satisfaction of seeing plants they have raised from seed make their way to eventual planting by our construction and maintenance teams in sustainable landscapes across Victoria. We all share in and celebrate our various projects, particularly more high-profile ones such as sustainable housing estate The Cape in Cape Paterson, and our work on future rooftop farm in the CBD, Melbourne Skyfarm. Passing down and sharing information and techniques for plant propagation and cultivation is vital to ensure healthy environments into the future. This is increasingly important as remnant native vegetation is continually reducing, and biodiversity in cities and rural areas faces increasing threats due to climate change. As such, we are passionate about educating the next generation of horticulturalists, through our relationships with institutions such as Holmesglen TAFE. We aim to develop future leaders in horticulture by providing ‘hands-on’ training from our highly qualified and experienced staff. Visiting students appreciate that they can see the full lifecycle of plants at our nursery, from seed collection, to cleaning and storage, to growing on into a final product.
