We couldn’t have asked for a nicer afternoon to host our Piesse Lake afternoon tea and information session. The glorious afternoon brought out 35 (or more!) delightful people who were keen to learn about the plans for Piesse Lake.



The Shire of Katanning contracted SERCUL to create a Master Plan for Piesse Lake, to guide them through the transformation from man-made water body to fully-functioning naturalised water body.



Then, in close consultation, the Shire of Katanning, Katanning Landcare, and Steve Blyth (Blyth Tree Farm) put together a three year planting plan. The first phase will be the most dramatic, taking the shoreline from barren to vegetated about 5 metres up from the waters edge.



It will also see the installation of the large rain garden with waterfalls. Around 20,000 seedlings will be planted this winter alone, and all by the Katanning community!   This weekend’s information session was all about how we plan to make it happen. First we introduced our Volunteer Captains. Volunteer Captains will help guide everyone through the planting process, organise the plants for the day, make sure everyone has signed in and out, and so on. Your Piesse Lake Volunteer Captains are:
  • Bev Lockley
  • Christine Molinari
  • Ilias Shaw
  • Katie Rigg
  • Marissah Kruger
  • Matt Collis
  • Mazita Omar
Bev talked everyone through the shoreline planting process. Areas of 10 metres long (along the shoreline) and 5 metres deep (up from the waters edge) will be pegged out. Ideally, groups of 4 to 5 people will work in each 10×5 metre plot.



There will be 5 ‘layers’ of plants going in:
  • reeds
  • trees
  • shrubs over 1 metre
  • shrubs under 1 metre
  • groundcover
A set of buckets and trays will be set out by the Volunteer Captains for the planters to keep it all organised. (In other words, you don’t have to know the first thing about plants, you just have to be willing to dig a few holes and follow the plan!)



Each plot will be planted in a similar fashion.
  • First the reeds, which will be in trays at the shoreline, need to be planted in a 2 metre band along the shore line – with a few just getting wet (but not fully submerged)
  • 8 trees per plot will be provided in the orange bucket. These should be planted in groups of 2 to 4 plants
  • Then the tall shrubs – provided in the red bucket – should be planted in clusters of like-with-like. This is to give great habitat for birds, a big show of flowering colour, and to ensure that we can see through to the water
  • Shrubs under 1 metre – purple buckets – can be planted across the area
  • Goundcovers will be provided in the black bucket and a tray of plants that look a lot like reeds, but are for the dry areas. These plants can all get popped in through the rest of the area.
You can come and do 1 plot, or do many plots, depending on how fast the plantings go! Bev also took the group down to look at the Rain Garden (or Swale), which will first get rocks and cascading pools installed, then it will be planted out with reeds and other beautiful plants. This will make this old storm drain a beautiful creekline and will be green almost year ’round!



It will also clean and filter the water before it is deposited into Piesse Lake. The existing rain garden just around the corner from this one, though smaller, is a great example of how beautifully they work. (And here’s a quick post on how to make your own.) Finally, we enjoyed a lovely afternoon tea, with this beautiful cake made by Hajar and Maryam.



We sang “Happy Birthday Piesse Lake”, as Bev and the girls cut the cake because we don’t have a theme song, but if there are any creative, musical souls out there who want to make up a jingle, or rhyme, or ‘club song’ for spirit at Piesse Lake, we’d love to hear from you!



To get involved, come along to a planting day. And we encourage you to bring friends, family, and co-workers. Come as part of your school, church group, sporting team or service club! Activity Dates: All dates Sundays, all times 2-4pm, unless otherwise stated/arranged
  • 14 May – Existing Garden Maintenance
  • 28 May – Existing Garden Maintenance
  • 11 June – Swale/Rain Garden – create waterfalls
  • 25 June – Swale/Rain Garden – planting
  • 9 July – South Shore Planting 1
  • 23 July – South Shore Planting 2
  • 13 Aug – South Shore Planting 3
  • 27 Aug – North Shore Planting


Everyone will be required to fill in a Volunteer Registration Form – download it from HERE and complete one for each member of your family that will be coming. Parents, please sign for your children under 16 years of age. (This only needs to be completed once.) For more information, or to register, please call Katanning Landcare on 9821 4327 or email hello@katanninglandcare.org.au We look forward to working with you all to Build a Better Community!