Story: Grass Trees Australia
Episode: 12
Presenter: Trevor Cochrane
Air Date: 23 May 2026

Trevor meets the team rescuing ancient Grass Trees and giving these iconic Australian plants a second life in modern landscapes.

• Australia’s native flora is renowned for its unique beauty, and few plants are more iconic than the Grass Tree, with more than 30 species found across the country.
• Trevor focuses on Xanthorrhoea preissii, a south-west Western Australian species known for its extraordinary lifespan and incredibly slow growth rate of around one centimetre per decade.
• As urban development expands, thousands of Grass Trees have been threatened, leading specialist salvage companies to rescue and relocate them rather than see them destroyed.
• Evan and Fiona Reynolds have spent decades saving and rehoming these ancient plants, integrating them into domestic landscapes and revegetation projects.
• Grass Trees are protected species, with heavy penalties applying to illegal removal from the wild, making licensed salvage operations critically important.
• Despite their name, Grass Trees are related to lilies rather than grasses or trees, relying on beneficial mycorrhizal fungi to survive in poor sandy soils.
• With proper handling and expert installation, these remarkable plants can thrive in home gardens, bringing a striking piece of Australia’s ancient landscape into modern spaces.

For more information, head to:
grasstrees.com.au