In 2000, to celebrate Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s 75th birthday, Tasmanian Sai volunteers planted 75 trees on their property to create a wildlife corridor along a cleared creek bed and surrounding slopes. The following year, 76 trees were planted, and the following two years, 77 and 78 trees were planted, effectively completing the corridor. All the trees were local species and grew, reaching a height of 15 meters or more.
The corridor is a safe connecting route between habitat areas and screens off the plantation. About 25 Sai devotees, including children, have participated in the project, rejoicing as they watched the trees grow over the years. To reduce reliance on the need for aftercare, native species were selected to create a thriving and suitable habitat for the local wildlife.
Various shrub species were also planted to provide lower-level coverage. As the years passed, natural growth and self-seeded saplings of trees established a greater ground cover. Planting was done in early spring to take advantage of good soil moisture from winter and spring rains, allowing the plants to develop a good root system and rapid growth before the summer dry period. No artificial watering was possible, but few trees were lost during the formative years.
Initially, all plants were protected with stakes, which have been recycled and are still used in the garden today.
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