Intensive Seed Production

Adventurous visitors might encounter fenced off areas within the Euroa Arboretum. Inside are low rolling mounds with plants growing on top. These are the Intensive Seed Production areas. Plants here ‘pop’ their seed and are swept up on the black plastic and collected in bulk. The Euroa Arboretum has led the way in the revegetation industry with this design. Wildflowers are also grown in custom-designed boxes in the nursery area for seed collection purposes. The Euroa Arboretum has several intensive Seed Production Areas (SPAs).  These aim to increase the genetic diversity and resilience of rare plants in our environment.

The ISPAs are designed in a way that make the seed produced from these plants easy to collect.  Each ISPA is covered with heavy-duty, UV-resistant plastic weave.  As the seed falls, it can be collected off this cover – even be sweeping it into a pile.

From this seed, the Euroa Arboretum ISPAs are aiming to reintroduce genetically-resilient plants back into their natural environment.

In Spring 2014 we began harvesting seed from the  ‘Daisy’ seed production area. Daisies and similar flora are grown in wooden trays. The seed is harvested with a vacuum cleaner. The Daisy boxes are getting a rebuild in 2024 and also a rebuild of  ISPA has been completed as it needed a total refresh after ten years.

The rebuild of the Euroa Arboretum Intensive Seed Production Area was a massive task undertaken by the Bush Crew.. Species that went in were Pultenaea pedunculata (matted bush pea), Pultenaea largiflorens (twiggy bush pea), Dillwynia serecia (showy parrot pea), and Daviesia latifolia (hop bitter pea). Further species will be planted next year.

To future proof our natural environment we need to produce, collect and store indigenous seed so it is available when we need it.