For over 40 years after the building of Nativity Church, this north facing area had been a desolate weed infested dry land with feral olive pockets in Summer turning to a partial moss bog in Winter. In mid 2022 after an initial application, Nativity Church received a significant grant from the Green Adelaide Board as part of the third tranche of Grassroots Grants in November 2022. In conjunction with the School of the Nativity, the concept was to provide an educational experience for young and old along a small path winding through a garden planted with native grasses, shrubs, bushes and trees to attract local birds and other wildlife. In keeping with the development of the parish’s web presence, QR signage was produced to link to the website describing the morphology of the plants, their scientific and common names, other features and how they would have been used traditionally by the First Nation’s Kaurna peoples of this area.
Work proceeded slowly to initially poison weeds and olive trees, and picked up pace with the appointment of contractors Premium Gardens who in September 2023 developed this beautiful path. This was followed by a community planting day on the weekend of 23 September including the placement of irrigation tubing with some follow up work over the next few weeks. Unfortunately 2024 brought a severe drought to South Australia and while most plants have been able to survive, their growth has been subdued.