Our gardens can have a positive impact on the environment. They can provide food and other resources for native wildlife, especially our beautiful birds.
Gardening with local native species will reduce your garden's dependence on inorganic fertiliser, which is a major source of the nutrients that are causing problems with our rivers, watercourses and groundwater.
The City encourages the use of native plants in landscape treatments, and works with developers to design and install more sustainable landscapes, particularly waterwise garden verges.
The City and the South East Regional Centre for Urban Landcare have developed two very helpful brochures to help residents plan more environmentally friendly gardens. Matching the two main soils types of the City, the brochures provide a comprehensive list of suitable native plants, as well as detailed information on:
- garden design
- plant selection
- nurseries
- watering
- pruning
- mulching
- fertilising
The Grow Local East Coastal brochure is provided for gardens on heavier soils in the eastern parts of the City and for the more sandy soils in the western parts of the City, the Grow Local Plants Central brochure is more appropriate.
The City through the Switch your thinking! program, runs gardening and sustainability workshops for the community in our region. The workshops provide great advice for creating gardens that are more sustainable and have a more positive environmental impact.
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