More than 50 years after a retired Eyre Peninsula farmer began gifting picturesque parcels of his land to the National Trust, plans are underway to have his work officially registered as a botanical garden. 

Brinkworth Reserve, perched on Winter Hill overlooking Port Lincoln, showcases thousands of native and introduced plants cultivated by Ken Brinkworth.

Between 1968 and 1986, Mr Brinkworth donated 7.7 hectares of regenerated farmland that consisted of native trees and shrubs he had planted.  

The initial patch of land was 1.6 hectares in size and included a rare remnant of drooping sheoak and mixed eucalypt woodland with very old, dense Tates grass-tree (yucca) growth, or Xanthorrhea semiplana ssp tateana, to the National Trust.

Over the past 55 years, the community of Port Lincoln has picnicked at the site.

It would now be able to learn about the many plant species Mr Brinkworth preserved.

‘He just loved trees’

National Trust Brinkworth Reserve coordinator Peter Southam said Mr Brinkworth was a farmer in Yeelanna before taking up land in the Port Lincoln area during 1936. 

“Ken was very passionate about trees and he kept planting trees outside of that four-acre [1.6 hectares] part that is pristine wilderness,” Mr Southam said.

“He just loved trees.”

About a dozen volunteers meet each Tuesday morning to maintain the park and are currently upgrading the toilets. 

They have also installed new barbecue stations and a nature play area.

Park saved from sale

The community and local council rallied to save the park from sale when the National Trust previously moved to sell it, stating it was unable to meet costs for its maintenance.

The volunteers utilise an annual District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula grant to maintain the park and rely on donations and fundraising from sausage sizzles.

Volunteers have also restored the one-stand shearing shed used by Mr Brinkworth to shear his small flock of sheep, which overlooked Port Lincoln across Boston Bay and to the islands beyond.

Identifying flora

A chunk of their work is now devoted to plant identification, including sending samples to the Adelaide Botanic Gardens for identification to have the reserve registered as an arboretum (a botanical garden devoted to trees).

It will be the first arboretum on South Australia’s west coast, with others officially registered at Waite in Adelaide, at Currency Creek south of the city and at Roxby Downs to the north.

“We are in the process of having all the trees identified and they will have a name plate attached to them,” Mr Southam said.

“[It] will have the common name and the botanical name, and what region they’re from and, where possible, the date that they were planted.

“Some of the trees will require a bit more of a story and so we’ll have a little bit more of a description on those and what those trees are used for or the timber that may be harvested from those trees.”

The National Trust description of the reserve states the Tate’s grass trees supported a significant yucca gum industry.

Records show yucca gum was exported in the 1890s to 1930s, mostly from Kangaroo Island, with one shipment heading to Germany for use in explosives during World War I.

Documenting thousands of trees

The documentation of thousands of trees in the reserve has involved plotting GPS coordinates to map the park.

“Some of the trees are hard to identify and some little foliage samples have to be taken and studied a bit closer,” Mr Southam said.

“A lot of eucalypts in particular look a bit similar.”

He said there would be thousands of trees in the reserve.

One of the species to be identified by the Botanic Gardens is a large ficus that is popular with children.

The tree resembles a giant umbrella that provides a sheltered play area with great climbing branches.

“It turns out it’s the best piece of play equipment we could have up here.”