You may have noticed the Black Gum Reserve between Woodend Tennis Club and Jeffreys Street, is looking wonderful. Planted seedlings are flourishing, insects and birds are fluttering about, and fungi are producing healthy soil, while the woodchips and lack of mowing are enabling natives to self-propagate. The area is teeming with life!

As with many of our green spaces in Woodend, the current state is the result of contributions from many individuals and groups over a considerable period.

Many hands over many years

Back in 2010, Woodend Scouts adopted the central “Scout Billabong” and joined Woodend Landcare to clear weeds and install 800 understorey plants in 2010 and 2013. Woodend Landcare’s Thursday Crew have undertaken annual work at the Scout Billabong since 2014.

On 9 June 2021 ferocious winds decimated many mature Black Gum (Eucalyptus aggregata) trees. Black Gum is listed as “threatened” in Victoria, and Woodend is the only place in Victoria where they grow, so protecting remnant mature trees is critical. Other than the revegetated Scout Billabong, the site was simply remnant Black Gum trees in mown ‘paddocks’.

In 2022, the Woodend Five Mile Creek Master Plan identified the area and protection of the remnant Black Gums as a high priority.

In 2023, Woodend Landcare joined with Macedon Ranges Shire Council (MRSC) and Woodend 1st Scouts to revegetate large sections throughout the site to help protect the remaining old trees as part of the Black Gum Biolink Project. MRSC staff prepared seven areas for revegetation within the 8,400m2 (2 acre) area. Come Sept 2023, the first seedlings were planted by MRSC and Scouts.

Woodend Landcare obtained funding from Bendigo Bank and MRSC to step-up the project. Two thousand indigenous seedlings were planted over four working bees between October 2024 and May 2025. Over 50 people from Landcare, Scouts, MRSC and the wider community contributed around 200 hours of volunteer effort.

Since 2024 the Thursday Crew have regularly tended to the site – watering seedlings during dry periods, fixing/removing plant guards, hand pulling weeds, dealing with fallen limbs and spreading wood chips.

In October 2024, Woodend Landcare volunteers were filmed at the site for Postcards, the travel and lifestyle tv show. This screening highlighted the importance of the work undertaken by volunteers to protect Black Gums.

On 26 April 2026, approximately three years after efforts started transforming the site, 24 volunteers of all ages spread woodchips on the last two beds around the Scout Billabong, weeded and planted another 120 seedlings. Finally, the bulk of the mulching and planting was complete (for now!). An amazing effort by all involved since 2023!

What’s next?

As with all things in nature, this site will continue to change. Intense hand weeding will continue until the reintroduced natives are big enough to fend for themselves against the invasive weeds, then only general maintenance will be required. The planted natives will grow, die and new species will be planted to suit the new microhabitats, further increasing the biodiversity.

Compared to before Woodend Landcare and associated groups started caring for this site, now the old remnant Black Gum trees are protected, and the biodiversity is exponentially greater. There are spaces not just for people, but a myriad of insects, birds and other animals to enjoy and thrive.