Insights · 27 April 2025 · Planted
Mine sites are adopting geomorphic landform design. The reshaping is only half the job - here's what it changes for the revegetation that has to hold it.
The Tarrawonga Mine’s move to a geomorphic rehabilitation design is part of a broader shift: instead of the old engineered terraces and drains, sites are being reshaped to mimic natural landforms that shed water the way the surrounding country does. It’s a better long-term bet against erosion. But the landform is only half of it - the planting has to hold what’s been shaped.
Natural-looking landforms still erode bare
A geomorphic landform sheds water more gently than a stepped batter, but freshly shaped ground is still bare ground. Until vegetation takes, every storm is working on it. The whole point of the design - long-term stability without constant maintenance - depends on getting cover established fast and keeping it there through the first year or two.
That’s a revegetation problem, and a big one: large areas, variable spoil, exposed slopes.
What the planting has to do
- Stabilise the surface immediately. Jute or coir over the vulnerable faces so the landform survives long enough to vegetate. Match the product and pinning to the spoil - what holds in clay won’t hold in loose fill.
- Species matched to slope and aspect. Ground covers and slope stabilisers that knit the surface, chosen for the conditions rather than the plan’s convenience.
- Plant for establishment, not a count. Density and method (auger for compacted spoil) set for strike rate, with a maintenance window to catch failures.
The takeaway
Geomorphic design and good revegetation are the same project - a stable, self-sustaining surface - split across two trades. If the earthworks and the planting aren’t sequenced together, you get a beautifully shaped landform rilling out before it greens up. Bring the planting crew in early, stabilise as you go, and the design does what it was meant to.
We deliver revegetation and erosion control on disturbed and civil sites across NSW. Reshaping ground that needs to hold? Talk to us.
