South Surrey Park, Surrey Hills, Australia

On the last Sunday in October five intrepid volunteers braved a cold, wet and windy start to plant about 330 grasses and tussocks into very wet soil to extend the existing creekside plantation near Union Road. This Sunday 27 November we’ll return to the Union Road end of the Park for our final Sunday of the year, a general weed, prune and tidy up. Wear suitable clothes including sturdy water resistant footwear, gardening gloves and sunhat, bring a raincoat in case of forecast rain, and stay afterwards for free drinks, bickies and a chat. As usual Tuesday Toilers have been busy removing uteloads of weeds and rubbish plus planting more grasses, tussocks and groundcovers at various sites: about 130 seedlings below Union Road, a similar number on the Riversdale Road bank, and 80 below the Scout Hall. Join us around 10 am any Tuesday near the pond below Union Road before we move to that day’s worksite. Afterwards we generally lunch at Café Biscotti, backing onto the Park at 929 R...

On the last Sunday in September seventeen keen volunteers, including several family groups, enjoyed a warm and dry spring morning to plant about 400 seedlings into surprisingly dry soil near the creek below the Scout Hall. Special thanks to City of Boroondara employees who gave up their Sunday mornings for our Park. Peter delivered a ute load of plants and coordinated the morning’s work while Pepe prepared one of his legendary barbecues (even though he did forget the vegieburgers). This Sunday 30 October we’ll work below Union Road to extend the existing creekside plantation. Wear suitable clothes including sturdy footwear, gardening gloves and sunhat, bring a raincoat in case of forecast rain, and stay afterwards for free drinks, bickies and a chat. As usual Tuesday Toilers have been busy removing uteloads of weeds and rubbish plus planting more trees, shrubs, grasses and groundcovers at various sites. Join us around 10 am any Tuesday near the pond below Union Road before we mo...

On the last Sunday in July, nearly 100 volunteers from the local community plus various schools, Scouts, etc congregated in Glen Iris to plant about 1800 seedlings along Gardiners Creek before enjoying a delicious barbecue courtesy of City of Boroondara and Friends of Gardiners Creek. This Sunday 28 August we’ll be back in our own Park, helping City of Boroondara to plant the Bonner Street nature strip, behind the Riversdale Road Scout Hall, from 10 am. Wear suitable clothes including sturdy footwear, gardening gloves and sunhat, and stay afterwards for free drinks, bickies and a chat. Tuesday Toilers have been particularly busy this month, planting more trees and shrubs along the Riversdale Road bank plus removing uteloads of weeds and rubble from a future plantation site below the end of Anderson Street. Join us around 10 am any Tuesday near the pond below Union Road before we move to that day’s worksite. If you don’t find us initially, wander down the creek and we’ll catch up ...

On the last Sunday in June , seven keen volunteers enjoyed a mild winter morning to plant about 350 more seedlings in the mulch upstream of the little bridge plus around the corner near the end of Lille Street. This Sunday 31 July we’ve been invited by the City of Boroondara to their official National Tree Day planting in Nettleton Reserve, Glen Iris , between Gardiners Parade/Dawson Drive and Gardiners Creek, Melway 59 K 7. Be there in time to start planting at 10 am, and stay for a free barbecue lunch around midday. Wear suitable clothes including sturdy footwear, workgloves and sunhat, and bring a raincoat in case of forecast rain. Register at www.treeday.planetark.org/site/50233 , www.boroondara.vic.gov.au or contact City of Boroondara Parks & Gardens on 9278 4595. Tuesday Toilers are always very busy pruning, removing vast quantities of weeds, spreading ute loads of mulch, collecting litter, and planting yet more seedlings. Join us around 10 am any Tuesday near the p...

On the last Sunday in May , eleven keen volunteers, including a couple of youngsters, weeded around established plants then planted about 150 more seedlings along the edge of the big plantation below Delta Street. This Sunday 26 June will be similar work but at a different site, weeding and planting the floodplain above the little bridge. Please join us from 10 am, wearing suitable clothes including sturdy footwear, workgloves and sunhat, and bring a raincoat in case of forecast rain. Stay afterwards for free drinks and bickies. Tuesday Toilers have also been very busy pruning, removing vast quantities of weeds, spreading ute loads of mulch, collecting litter, and even planting a couple of hundred seedlings. A couple of Tuesdays ago we were joined by fifteen Strathcona year 9 horticulture students, who planted about 200 seedlings in the mulched floodplain where we plan to work this Sunday. Join us around 10 am any Tuesday near the pond below Union Road before we move to that da...

Next working bee - Sunday 1 May 2011, 10 am to midday Bring family, friends and other willing workers Help weed and tidy the creekline below Union Road Wear sensible work clothes including sun hat, sturdy water-resistant footwear and workgloves, and bring a raincoat in case of forecast rain. Stay afterwards for free drinks, bickies and a chat. News On the last Sunday in November last year, ten keen volunteers threw off their post election hangovers to brave a mild morning between forecast occasional showers.  Congratulations to keen Sunday toiler Rob Clark re-elected with an increased margin. We mulched a new area to plant next year then collected several bags of weeds and litter from along the creek. That’s it for Sundays in 2010, but we’ll return on Sunday 1 May 2011, then the last Sunday monthly till November 2011. A week later four of us enjoyed the annual City of Boroondara Parks & Gardens joint Advisory Committee & Friends Group's Christ...

Friends of South Surrey Park (Inc.) Sunday 26 September, 10 am to midday Bring family, friends and other willing workers to help Extend the old plantation below Union Road Wear sensible work clothes including sun hat, workgloves and sturdy footwear,  and bring a raincoat in case of forecast rain Stay afterwards for free drinks, bickies and a chat FRIENDS    OF    SOUTH    SURREY    PARK    NEWS – SEPTEMBER    2010 On Sunday 29 August fourteen volunteers, including local Box Hill MLA Rob Clark, enjoyed a pleasantly warm morning to plant about 600 seedlings. Even at the end of the wettest winter for years, the clay bank behind the Riversdale Road shops carpark was surprisingly dry, but got a good soaking with 11 mm rain a few days later.    This  Sunday 26 September,  we’ll plant more seedlings in a more hospitable site, near the creek below Union Road. Join us from 10 am, wearing suitable clothes ...

Welcome to the post election edition of FSSP news, written as we still don’t know whether South Surrey Park will be moving forward, sideways, or backwards, or standing up for real action against great big new taxes, wasteful debts, and flotillas of boats full of illegals heading up Back Creek towards Surrey Hills. On Sunday 25 July eleven volunteers, including two children, enjoyed another cool start for a very productive morning. We planted about 850 seedlings, generously donated by the City of Boroondara, to extend the National Tree Day plantation below the Scout Hall. Local state politician and regular volunteer Rob Clark brought along Josh Frydenberg, Liberal candidate for the federal seat of Kooyong, who also worked very hard. Congratulations to Josh for a convincing victory on Saturday, and we look forward to working with him as our local member. This Sunday 29 August we’ve got about 1000 seedlings to extend the existing plantation behind the Riversdale Road shops. Join us fr...

Last week we began the twelfth year of formal FSSP activities with our Annual General Meeting at the Surrey Hills Neighbourhood Centre Cottage. The existing committee was re-elected unopposed, then we were entertained and informed by guest speaker Geoff Lay with his brilliant photographs of fascinating fungi. Thanks Geoff for helping us to appreciate the beauty of these amazing organisms, and their importance in our environment, and inspiring us to learn more about them. Monthly working bees will commence at 10 am this Sunday 29 April, with some weeding, planting and tidying along the creek below Union Road, then continue on our usual last Sunday of the month. Please join us from 10 am for a couple of hours of easy work. Bring family, friends and other willing workers. Wear sturdy footwear and sunhat. Bring a raincoat, workgloves and enthusiasm. Stay afterwards for free drinks and bickies. Our provisional calendar for the rest of this year is: 27 May - more creekside ...