Project Description
Grassland Resurrection – Connecting Knowledge, Research & Management Forum
8 May, 2026. Fitzroy Town Hall, Melbourne, Victoria
John Delpratt
John is an Honorary Fellow with the University of Melbourne. He lectured in plant production, seed technology and weed management at the University’s Burnley Campus for more than three decades. In retirement, John advises on native grassland restoration research at the University and is Project Officer with the Woorndoo Chatsworth Landcare Group. The Landcare Group restores diverse native grassland by direct sowing on rural road reserves within the Moyne Shire in south-west Victoria.
Native grassland restoration in south-west Victoria
The contribution of a local Landcare group to the principles and practices of diverse native grassland restoration on public land – specifically road reserves – in an area recognised for its high quality but seriously threatened remnants of Natural Temperate Grassland. From seed production to on-ground restoration, reconnecting fragmented remnants and broader community engagement. (Community engagement through hosting student and community visits and an annual forum, Community Day.)
Questions from the Forum
- How many grassland species have you ever grown seed for? How many have you yet to grow seed for?
- We grow approx. 60 species for seed in our various containerised seed production areas. Many produce copious seed in cultivation. A few produce very little seed. We retain these for producing tube stock (for supplementary plantings) by cuttings or division from genetically diverse collections.
- Do some species you introduce in your scrapes just not recruit?
- Yes – and others at unacceptably low rates – more work to be done in this area. However, our experience is that if enough diversity is sown under the right conditions, we achieve a good mix of grasses, daisies and a few species from other plant families. Which species show up (and spread) in abundance can vary with site conditions.
- Do you/are you able to work with the Eastern Maar TOC to gain more support and collaboration?
- We have an established relationship with Eastern Maar – but no joint projects at this stage.
- One of their student groups from South West TAFE, Warrnambool planted a Microseris walteri (Murnong) experiment for us in 2024 and we plan to share Murnong seed with them.
- What type of direct seeder was used?
- We use an air seeded developed by David Franklin at Chatsworth. It is a modified turf aerator with a seed hopper, capable of sowing chaffy seed at a specified rate. It is based on Paul Gibson Roy’s initial design.
- Roadsides are so vulnerable. Way can we do to better protect them?
- We sometimes use a light fence to define our sites, but this does not directly protect them. We experience occasional deliberate damage, but nothing catastrophic, so far. Our more recent work is focussed on repairing areas of damage within native grassland so that these areas can be repaired before they succumb to exotic species invasions, as happens now.
- What is the ideal amount of grass seed to spread over an area? For example how much seed per acre will give the best results?
- This depends heavily on site conditions and how rich the chaffy seed mix is (we don’t generally sow pure seed). Typically, we sow 2 to 3 g/m2 (20 – 30 kg/ha) of a mix of grasses that will include mainly Kangaroo Grass and Wallaby Grasses (for our area in south west Vic) as part of a grass/forb mix.
- Are any of the restored roadsides protected via a planning overlay such as a vegetation protection overlay?
- It is unlikely restored grassland qualifies but I will check our Shire rules.
- Once the roadsides are restored, are they protected in any way? What helps prevent a farmer ploughing up the roadside?
- Is activity is not legal unless a permit is obtained. Enforcement is the bigger issue.
- Was there any species that naturally regenerated after scalping?
- Cropped roadsides generally have no native species persisting in the above-ground plant community. However, we see non-sown species that recruit from very fine spore and seed that return to sites quite quickly (moss, liverworts, lichens, Sun Dew, Onion and Sun Orchids), whether from the soil or wind. When we reconnect remnants, working in areas dominated by exotic species, we sometimes find rhizomatous species such as Dianella, Eryngium and Lobelia regenerating from underground buds.
- How do you pick which species to sow in restored grasslands outside of the dominant grasses?
- We have a suite of species in our seed production area and a few we collect under permit, from local remnants. These have been chosen, either for their record of success in our restorations, their capacity to produce a lot of seed, or both. The collection includes a number of species that are considered rare.
- What is a grass spa?
- Apologies for reverting to acronyms! Seed Production Area – either in containers (most of our forbs) or in-ground (most of our grasses). Our aim is to produce seed, while maintaining much of the genetic diversity of the source population/s. We avoid using the term ‘Seed Orchard’. It is a forestry/horticultural term that usually implies the maintenance of specific genetic traits important for those industries.
- Offsets, are generally crap and underwhelming…. How do you mitigate the shitness of offsets ?
- It seems you are not a fan of offsets! We are not in the offset area. Restorations do not qualify at present – and should probably be kept as a separate category, anyway. I don’t think restorations should ever be used to offset the destruction of a remnant. Restorations should be used to rapidly expand functioning, diverse native grassland and to reconnect and repair fragmented and damaged remnants.
