Shannon and Nicole
Prior to getting involved with the Peer Group Mentoring Project I had had some contact with Bob. Bob had taken us under his wing, so to speak, which had been helpful. However I didn’t want to ask too much of him, so when the opportunity came along to participate in the Mentoring Project and to have input from several people it seemed like a good idea. Besides, we were at the point where we wanted to firm up our plans and start a substantial amount of tree
planting in 2016 – so the timing was just right.
We were feeling a bit nervous about planting more trees because the results of our pilot program the previous year had been disappointing. A combination of damage from roos, poor quality of seedlings and inadequate weed control had resulted in fairly low survival.
There wasn’t really a defined start to our participation in the Mentoring Project. As mentioned, we already had lines of communication open with Bob. However a site visit was eventually set and Bob, Cath and Byron came and we walked around and discussed our ideas and theirs.
Cath helped us consider some new concepts for the property such as; open spaces, functional areas and visual corridors. We also discussed options for tree species, sources of superior seed and roading requirements to harvest trees in the future. A few weeks later we received a report which documented the range of ideas and options discussed during the site visit. During the following weeks we had a useful email conversation on various topics and plans.
The main thing that’s come out of it for us has been clarifying the risks and how to minimize them. Without the mentoring group we would have been much more anxious about proceeding with our plans.
The mentoring exercise has also enabled us to sort out several quite specific aspects such as; tree species to plant and a seedling order with a recommended nursery. And it’s comforting to know that when we have questions we have people with experience and information to talk to. It’s a brilliant program.
Prior to getting involved with the Peer Group Mentoring Project I had had some contact with Bob. Bob had taken us under his wing, so to speak, which had been helpful. However I didn’t want to ask too much of him, so when the opportunity came along to participate in the Mentoring Project and to have input from several people it seemed like a good idea. Besides, we were at the point where we wanted to firm up our plans and start a substantial amount of tree
planting in 2016 – so the timing was just right.
We were feeling a bit nervous about planting more trees because the results of our pilot program the previous year had been disappointing. A combination of damage from roos, poor quality of seedlings and inadequate weed control had resulted in fairly low survival.
There wasn’t really a defined start to our participation in the Mentoring Project. As mentioned, we already had lines of communication open with Bob. However a site visit was eventually set and Bob, Cath and Byron came and we walked around and discussed our ideas and theirs.
Cath helped us consider some new concepts for the property such as; open spaces, functional areas and visual corridors. We also discussed options for tree species, sources of superior seed and roading requirements to harvest trees in the future. A few weeks later we received a report which documented the range of ideas and options discussed during the site visit. During the following weeks we had a useful email conversation on various topics and plans.
The main thing that’s come out of it for us has been clarifying the risks and how to minimize them. Without the mentoring group we would have been much more anxious about proceeding with our plans.
The mentoring exercise has also enabled us to sort out several quite specific aspects such as; tree species to plant and a seedling order with a recommended nursery. And it’s comforting to know that when we have questions we have people with experience and information to talk to. It’s a brilliant program.