Ordering seedlings for your project requires some careful planning. CFF’s Helena Bowler has outlined her key tips to ensuring this is a success.
When should I start ordering seedlings?
There are two main timing factors you should take into account when planning your seedling order:
- Nursery capacity: Nurseries only have a certain amount of space available for growing each season, so it is important you reserve space ahead of time. We suggest contacting your local nurseries to get an indication of when they are likely to book up.
- Propagation time: Seedlings take time to grow, so you will need to ensure they have enough time to reach planting maturity before you want to plant them. Again, contact your local nurseries, as they are suitably qualified to give advice on this.
We recommend engaging nurseries during the early stages of the design and planning stage of your project. However, under the Reforestation by Environmental or Mallee Plantings method (the EP method), there are constraints around when you can actually order seedlings. You must ensure your project application documentation has been successfully submitted before you place your seedling order or reserve nursery space. You are permitted to make a partial or refundable payment to the secure your seedlings, but final payment cannot be made until you have received your project approval.
Which species should I choose?
The EP method is designed to issue Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) for the planting and maintenance of a new forest of native species. This may be a combination of native species that naturally occur in or around your project area, or you may choose to specialise your planting to only include mallee species (to qualify for a mallee planting your project area must not receive more than 600mm of annual rain).
One of the first steps in designing your project is to have an expert forester complete a site inspection of your project area. With CFF’s partnership model, we are able to connect you with experts across Australia who know your local area like the back of their hand. They’re the ones who can provide you with on-ground advice with regards to planting design and give you the best foundation for a successful planting.
Your forester will be able to provide a list of recommended species for your planting. It’s CFF’s job to check this list and ensure that is compliant with the methodology. Key things we look out for include:
- Whether the species suggested are native to the local area
- Whether they are/can be sourced from seeds within the natural distribution of the species, and has consideration been given to whether they are suitable to the biophysical characteristics (i.e. climate, altitude) of the area
- Will these species be resilient to a changing climate? Your project is a long-term commitment and choosing species suited to expected climatic conditions may help ensure you maintain forest potential throughout the 25 or 100 year permanence period
- Does the species mix consider the composition of the local vegetation communities (i.e. if the intact remnant vegetation in the area has a mixture of trees and shrubs, does the project planting replicate this?)
- Will the species and density of the planting meet forest cover requirements? This should contain a suitable number of species that exceed 2m at maturity, at a sufficient density to have canopy cover over 20% of the planted area.
How many trees should I plant?
When your forester provides their site inspection report, they will provide the list of recommended species along with the recommended number of stems. This takes into consideration the type of plant (e.g. tree or shrub) and the level of biodiversity your project area is likely to be able to support. Depending on the goals of your project, you may choose to increase or decrease the number and variety of plants you’re planting with a higher number and variety often representing a more biodiverse (and ecologically sound) planting. However, as a minimum you must ensure that 200 stems per hectare are planted.
How do I order my seedlings?
Once you know how many seedlings you need and which species you’ll be planting, we can help to connect you with reputable nurseries who are able to fulfill large orders. Depending on how large your project is, you may need to spread your order over a couple of nurseries.
You will need to confirm with the nursery if they will need to organise seed collection for your species or if they already have the seed in stock. Either way, it is a requirement of the EP method that the seed is sourced from the local provenance of the species (i.e. it is collected from within the natural distribution of the species). This can sometimes present challenges, but we can support you to work through this with your chosen nursery and ensure that the seedlings being propagated are compliant.
After organising the seed and confirming the order, most nurseries will require a deposit for them to start growing your seedlings.
Things to organise while my seedlings are growing
Depending on your planting timeline, you may have a few months or more between finalising your seedling order and planting your project. During this time, we recommend getting on top of the rest of your planting plans including (but not limited to):
- Organising the planting contractors (either with the forester who completed your site inspection or through another group).
- Determining what inputs your planting will need e.g. fertiliser, post-planting watering, tree guards etc.
- Finalise site-preparation plans and in some cases start site preparation as soon as possible (either with a contractor or yourself). This may include herbicide use to reduce weed load and/or mechanical ground preparation.
- Will you be including any direct seeding in your mix? If so, organise the seed required and planting method with your forester and/or planting contractor
The CFF is here to help you every step of the way on your carbon farming journey. We have a network of trusted suppliers and we can help you build a support team of experts to establish your carbon project.
