Within the township of Teesdale there are five small nature reserves, Chinamans lagoon (8 ha), Native Hut Creek & Turtle Bend (7 ha), Walls Lagoon (2 ha) and Teesdale Grassy Woodlands Reserve (25 ha) and the adjoining Sheoak Nature Reserve (4 ha). A few kilometers to the west on the Shelford Rd. there is a now a new 4 ha reserve called Bakers Lane Reserve. A map showing the location of these reserves is available here .
Teesdale Grassy Woodlands is the largest reserve and is located just behind the Don Wallace Recreation Reserve in the heart of the town and it is both a woodland and a grassland. It is a woodland because there are native grasslands with widely spaced tall trees, small trees and shrubs creating an open park-like setting. A full brochure is available here.
On a walk through the Reserve you will see giant River Red Gums with patchwork trunks and Manna Gums with ribbons of loose hanging bark. Other trees you will see are Drooping She-oaks with needle like leaves, Black Wattles with fern like leaves and Australia's floral emblem the Golden Wattle with large glossy flat leaves. Sweet Bursaria, a rare small tree with beautiful cream flowers at Christmas, can be seen in the north eastern corner of the Reserve. Snowy Mint-bush is a small shrub that grows in patches between the oval and the southern edge of the Reserve. It has pale mauve flowers in spring.
In the grassland areas the most common grass is Kangaroo Grass which grows through the summer giving the Reserve a green tinge even in hot dry periods. Across the Reserve there are also Spear grasses, Wallaby grasses, Plume Grass, Weeping Grass and a variety of tussock grasses. There is less than 1% left of the original native grasslands in Victoria so these remnants are very rare and precious.
Wild flowers are abundant in the Reserve and are best seen from September to November. Think of your favourite colour and you're sure to find it. You may see yellow flowers (orchids, Curly Rice-flower, Goodenia, Scaly-buttons, Everlastings), white flowers (Common Rice-flower, Early Nancy, Milkmaids), cream flowers (Creamy Candles, Feather-heads), pink-blue (Grass Trigger-plant, Sun Orchid, Chocolate Lily, Flax lily, Blue Devil) and pink-red (Running Postman, Magenta storks-bill, Pink Bindweed).
Enjoy a beautiful walk around the reserve which takes less than twenty minutes following Boundary track which has mostly gentle slopes and one steep slope.