The value in failure
I am writing this post to give an update on the Eucalyptus leucoxylon I planted on the 24/8/25. It is with sadness I announce that my guerrilla gardening attempt, planting a Euc in the night, failed.
The euc is dead. And not just dead, but nowhere to be seen. I was unable to locate nor discover any real evidence of its remains. I suspect it was ripped up by a lawn mower, or removed by the council somehow. Who knows, it's difficult to say.
This was confirmed by a visit on the 3rd of April, 2026. The pink circle indicates the estimated location where I planted the euc.
But it's okay. I'm not too sad. I can always try again. It's a numbers game really. Obviously I hoped my tree would have survived longer, giving updates every now and then, but alas.
The death is my own fault for selecting a bad location. When I planted it back in August 2025, at night, I didn't realise the area was used informally as a carpark for the tennis club (see background). There is dedicated carpark for the tennis club, around the corner, but we live in a car-dominated world unfortunately. If I could go back in time, I would plant the euc in a different location.
However there is something else I want to mention. Documenting failure is really valuable. I am now going to write much more broadly with large scale revegetation and ecosystem restoration in mind.
Imagine instead of one euc, you want to scale this up. Imagine a large reveg project, with mass plantings and the goal of restoring an entire ecosystem.
There are many, many ways for a project to go wrong. For instance, not controlling invasive weeds, the wrong plant selection, wrong timing of planting etc. So at least by knowing what doesn't work, you can eliminate the potential for this problem to occur. Knowing what doesn't work is highly valuable.
More simply, by documenting failures, these previously unforeseen problems can now become seen, and aid future projects.
It also ensures humans won't make the same mistake twice - or at least it is less likely to happen. Something that humans can easily do. We gotta learn from past projects, what they did right, what went wrong etc. There could be a wealth of knowledge being ignored. There is also a time cost associated with this too. It takes time to develop detailed ecosystem specific knowledge. Further those that were involved, directly associated with a past project, may no longer be around anymore. Knowledge can be lost. Especially when it is something as complex and all encompassing as an ecosystem.
I think there is a reluctancy to admit failure in restoration/conservation work, due to the costs associated. Both the financial and on-ground (labor) costs. This is in partly driven by the fear of losing funding for future projects. No one wants to admit failure - but it is crucial that we do.
To summarise, if a project fails, it doesn't make the work meaningless. Failures are good for many reasons:
- An opportunity to learn something new
- When documented (and learned from), you can ensure the same mistake doesn't happen twice
- Makes the next attempt better
This post is a reminder that it's okay to fail. Just try to learn from it - and document it, so you can help others in the future. Okay, I am going to stop writing now to avoid sounding like a self-help guru.