Which Plant Where?

To uncover the real-world performance of the plants that will thrive in a more varied and uncertain future means we need to test them in the field.

A 'Which Plant Where?' living lab is based at Hawkesbury campus and is a selection of common landscape trees and shrubs growing in Richmond’s often-harsh climate conditions.

To learn more about the network of 'Which Plant Where?' living labs, visit www.whichplantwhere.com.au (opens in a new window)

According to the Australian National University’s Climate Visualisations, Richmond average temperatures in December through to February are now 5 degrees Celsius above long-term averages. Residents in the Hawkesbury-Nepean region have sweltered through some extremes of heat in recent years with the highest temperature on record of 46.3 degrees recorded at Hawkesbury in January 2018. You can imagine the impact this is having on newly-planted trees and shrubs.

'Which Plant Where' at Hawkesbury aims to determine how plantings of different species and varying structure (e.g. canopy height and density) differ in terms of the biodiversity they support. With some plots planted as tree and shrub mixes and some plots just as trees or shrubs, we can learn about how plants interact as they grow and how this influences both the plants themselves and the insects and other animals they attract as pollinators, feeders or residents.

The best landscapes are diverse landscapes, so this living lab provides a way to evaluate the role of different climatic conditions on the performance of our selected plant species. It also studies how plant species interact to support essential biodiversity within the urban landscape. That helps everyone put the right plants in the right place, for a greener future.