About the Tree Scheme

The Tree Scheme provides subsidised tubestock and propagation materials to Trees For Life members who are undertaking revegetation projects in rural areas. Since 1981, 29.5 million plants have been grown in South Australia.

Tree Scheme participants have a choice of two options:

Option One: Grow your own
Receive seed and materials to propagate up to 1,000 seedlings to grow at home

Option Two: Volunteer grown
A fellow Trees For Life member will volunteer time and resources to grow up to 500 seedlings at their home to support your revegetation work

Orders open on 1 May each year and close on 31 July

This subsidised scheme is only open to members, so to order you must hold a current full financial membership to cover the period you are receiving member benefit.

We recommend you take out a multiyear membership because your revegetation will take a number of successive years of growing and planting to be successful.

Cost

There is no per seedling cost but to order you must pay a small material and supply fee. The fee does not cover the cost of the materials provided to you. This cost is subsidised by the program sponsor SA Water and by other Trees For Life members through donations, subscriptions and time volunteered.

Size of order

Each box contains 50 seedlings. We recommend you order 6 boxes (300 plants) at most when placing your first order. The maximum order is 1,000 seedlings for Grow your Own and 500 seedlings for Volunteer Grown.

How you are subsidised

Each year we receive around 1,500 orders covering over 1,400 variations on plant species and provenance zones. Once orders have closed our seed volunteers collect the required seed from an area close to where you will plant. Seedbank volunteers sort the collected seed and allocate to orders. Our volunteer distribution depot managers coordinate the materials needed to meet the orders and prepare them for collection. Other volunteers assist at depots on distribution day. If you have requested a volunteer to assist you, that volunteer will devote six months of their time and resources to help you meet your revegetation goals.

What growers need

Commitment

This is a job that requires consistent commitment from you for 6 months over the growing period plus the time needed to get the plants into the ground.

Time

Allow plenty of time. It takes about 1 hour to fill 1 box of tubes. The growing season starts in late November, a busy time for many people. You need to start on time for the best results. Once tubes are filled and the seed sown, they need to be watered daily until autumn. You need to keep an eye out for problems with germination or pests and allow time for weed control, transplanting and thinning.

Water

You need an adequate supply of reasonable quality water. Some bore water and saline water may not be suitable. If you can grow vegetable seedlings it should be suitable.

Temporary shade and then full sun

You need shade to allow the seed to germinate, and then full sun to allow the seedlings to grow strong and robust. The ideal situation is to set up your bench in full sun and put 50% density shade cloth over it until germination is complete.

Space and a raised bench

Six boxes take up 1 square metre. You will need a bench of comfortable working height to keep seedlings away from slugs, soil borne diseases and pets. A few bricks on the ground are not good enough.

To manage your health

Full boxes of soil weigh about 12kg when dry and more when wet. Most people can lift them but if you have back problems or difficulty lifting, you will need reliable help. Masks are supplied for use when working with soil.

Transport

We run distribution depots at locations across SA. You will need transport to collect your materials.