Outdoor Classroom
The Outdoor Classroom is located on the Queanbeyan River adjacent to Glebe Park on Thorpe Ave. Built in 2004 it provides an educational space, connecting school children and the community with nature.
Queanbeyan Landcare hopes to address emerging riverbank instability with dense planting of local grasses, small shrubs and trees.
2026
Caltrop appeared once again in February but was largely removed by hand by Queanbeyan Landcare members.
2025
Adapting to Dry Conditions
Throughout 2025 regular maintenance has continued with outbreaks of Caltrop and Purslane being managed through hands-on removal.
Lindsay Peak who lives nearby has continued to look after this site outside the organised volunteer working groups. He has started replanting with a selection of native plants that he collects from local propagators or nurseries.
From Tom Baker he collected a 20 pack comprising (roughly) 3 Poa labilliarierei, 5 Melaleuca parvistaminea, 3 Carex sp, 2 River Lomatia, 3 Acacia sp and 4 Lomandra.
The latter part of 2025 brought new challenges, with dry conditions making watering a priority. On occasion water was carried from the river up the slope to sustain the plants, more recently the pump purchased a few years ago has been very useful and much appreciated.
Here are just some of the plants selected that are suited to this site:
2024
Expansion and Challenges
In 2024, regular weeding and planting continued, with Lindsay Peak taking a leading role in ongoing site care and planting further across the site. Volunteers met to assist with the new planting and removing persistent weeds like Fumitory, Mallow and suckering Elms. Despite some setbacks—such as the loss of many Carex plants—the group identified Lomandra as a particularly successful species and organised the purchase of 40 additional plants. Tree guards were be used to aid establishment of these new plants.
2023
Growth and Maintenance
Early in 2023, volunteers returned to complete the planting, spread mulch, and water the site. Regular maintenance became the focus, with several community members expressing interest in ongoing care. Notably, a weed outbreak of Caltrop was swiftly managed thanks to the vigilance of both former Landcare members and local volunteers. The site also benefited from additional mulch deliveries. Wildlife sightings—including a platypus, a Flame Robin and a resident Water Dragon—highlighted the positive impact on local biodiversity. Throughout the year, the group continued to weed, mulch, and tidy the area, ensuring the plants’ health and the site’s cleanliness.
2022
Restarting the project
In late 2022 Queanbeyan Landcare began working at this site again. See History of the Outdoor Classroom for details.
The focus was to be on riverbank stabilization as the inundation experienced during the 2011 floods had eroded the site and removed many of the plants. Queanbeyan Landcare had the plants ready to go as Tom Baker had been propagating the seeds of Carex apressa (Tall Sedge) and Gynatrix pulchella (River Hemp), Lomandra and River Tussock for some time. Species purchased for the habitat they would provide for many of the small birds and native animals that frequent the river corridor included various wattles, Callistemons, Indigofera, and Eucalypts.
The first planting occurred on 15 December 2022. 170 plants were planted by 6 volunteers in just 1 hour with the help of our Hamilton Planters.
