Tarrawanna Tiny Forest celebrates one year growth

THE Tarrawanna Tiny Forest is having its first birthday.

The Tiny Forest, located in Harrigan Park, was planted a year ago with the help of students from Tarrawanna Public School.

The Tiny Forest is made up of 350 native plant species commonly found in the area such as eucalypts, wattles, palms, tea trees and grasses all propagated from local sources at Wollongong Botanic Garden Nursery.

Wollongong City Council, Curator Botanic Garden Felicity Skoberne said the interesting fact about this forest is how fast it grows. Even though it was only planted a year ago, the plants are already towering over the students who helped plant them.

The massive growth spurt is thanks to the unique gardening techniques that Wollongong City Council staff employed when designing the Tiny Forest.

“Tiny Forests is a Wollongong Botanic Garden initiative! We think about it as a way to expand the garden’s greenery outside and into the city,” Ms Skoberne said.

“Each Tiny Forest is roughly the footprint of a half a tennis court. You’d think that having such a small space would limit growth, but instead it’s the exact opposite. By packing the plants so tightly together when we first planted them, we’re encouraging the plants to compete with each other for sunlight and water. This battle for resources is what encourages the super-fast growth.

“You can’t see it but under the soil the roots spread out and connect via symbiotic fungi forming this robust network that can share nutrients and as the canopy forms, shade out and limit weeds from growing.”

Besides Tarrawanna, Council has planted three Tiny Forests and you can visit them at Wollongong Botanic Garden, Keiraville and at ‘The Green Patch’, corner of Western Avenue and Cleveland Road, Dapto.

Wollongong Acting Lord Mayor Tania Brown said that Tiny Forests were a big bang for your buck when it came to improving access to green spaces in suburbs.

“These multi-layered forests create 30 times more green surface area than a normal grass lawn. What’s especially great about these forests is that they can thrive in busy, polluted, and built-up areas,” Cr Brown said.

“For this project, we’ve targeted suburbs which have low density levels of tree cover as well as created a knowledge-building version in the Wollongong Botanic Garden so people who visit this space can learn more about Tiny Forests. We know that trees provide shade, cool the air, absorb carbon dioxide, and restore local biodiversity.

“At the same time, the Tiny Forests projects have been positive experiences for local community members, in particular the students and schools who have helped Council plant and care for the forests.”

Learn more about Tiny Forests and check out the full plant lists for each location. Read more about Council’s Community Greening program.

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