When you think about creating a sustainable garden the first thing that comes to mind is having a garden that produces food.
Sustainability isn’t just about self-sufficiency and food security. It should also encompass our natural ecosystems and native plant species. Protecting existing nature reserves, repairing and replanting and creating new ones. Planting more native habitat plants will help restore balance within our high-density urban living environment and create habitat and food sources for native animals, birds, insects and more to live alongside us.
Choosing native plants that are well adapted to your climatic zone is also key to having a successful low-maintenance garden.
Things to consider when planning a native garden:
Plant choices: there are natives for every aspect and every need in your garden. From tall trees to groundcovers and even climbers and water plants. The choice of species will depend on your climatic zone. Be aware that all natives don’t fit into the drought-tolerant bird-attracting category. We have many ecology types of areas within Australia. From rainforests, dry arid zones, coastal seaside areas, wetlands including mangrove areas, sclerophyll eucalypt forests, grasslands and more.
Head to your local native nursery, garden centre or Landcare group for endemic native selections that suit your local environment and natural existing habitat zones.
Design: Are you going to create a garden solely filled with native plants or are you incorporating natives with exotic ornamentals, edibles and so forth?
Have a plan, work out what goes where, heights, colours, flowering times, possible habitat creation, and food sources for native fauna. Consider your climate zone and microclimate within your garden. Sun, shade, and soil type. All these things will have a bearing on what plant species you choose.
Additions:
Enhance your native garden and overall outdoor space by incorporating various water features like ponds and water pots, as well as habitat additions such as possum boxes, skinks boxes, frog hotels, and butterfly host plants, along with microbat boxes.
Strategically place bird baths, native bee hives, and bug hotels to further enrich the biodiversity of your garden.
These diverse elements not only add depth but also captivate interest, creating a thriving ecosystem in your outdoor sanctuary.
When planting out your natives no matter the ecology zone, give them the best possible start by using Rocky Point Native Mix for in-ground soil planting, and if you’re growing your natives in pots Rocky Point now has a Premium Native Potting Mix available to the home gardener as well.
When planting in-ground, after digging your hole you should always fill it up with water a few times to ensure a moist surrounding soil at planting. Backfill at planting with a mixture of existing soil and Rocky Point Native Mix. Mulch with Rocky Point Cypress, Tea Tree, or Pine Bark Mulch. Mulch helps reduce soil moisture loss, suppress weeds, and protect roots from temperature fluctuations.
When it comes to fertilising, you can use Rocky Point ActivGrow Fertiliser Pellets on most natives except for Grevilleas and Banksias, they are phosphorus intolerant and require specialised low phosphorus native fertilisers only.