I've always seen our garden as shared space.
And I don't just mean for our friends and family
but for wildlife too.
Over the years, there's all sorts of things we've done
to increase its habitat value,
and the front garden is a good example.
This dampland, which collects rainwater from the roof,
attracts frogs.
Limestone-rubble-filled mesh structures
house insects and spiders
and are a refuge for lizards.
Logs and boulders are used by basking skinks.
And there's even a nesting box for pardalotes.
Native plants, well, they underpin everything.
If you wanna support wildlife,
it's typically native plants that provide the food source.
There's a range of plants providing different types of food
across the year.
At the moment, these grevillea 'Gilt Dragon'
are providing for nectar-feeding birds.
The coastal sword-sedge is producing seed as a food source.
And the eucalypts support a host of insects
which in turn are eaten by insectivorous birds.
Simply put, the key is diversity of species
and in structure,
so that plantings form an understorey,
a midstorey and a canopy,
providing food at different levels
as well as shelter, perching sites and shade.
The plantings spill out onto the verge
to make the most of the space.
But they are in need of some maintenance.
For example, these kangaroo paws have finished flowering
and need a hard cut-back.
And this one-sided bottlebrush,
well, it's decided to turn up its toes,
so I'll cut it right back.
But that means more space for more plants.
(TRIMMER RATTLES)
Eye protection and gloves are a good idea,
as the little hairs on kangaroo paw flowers can be irritating.
The hedge trimmer makes quick work of the job.
And with the leaf litter cleared out of the way,
the new leaf shoots will appear in no time.
The ailing one-sided bottlebrush
gets chopped out,
whereas the one right next door is doing fine,
so it just needs a bit of a tidy-up.
I've got a range of different native plants here
that have all been carefully chosen
for the food they'll provide for native fauna.
There's different flowering plants
that will all produce nectar for birds.
And others that will put on berries that are good for birds and lizards.
Now, importantly, they're all locally occurring species,
which means they are perfect for local wildlife.
I'm going to fill the space left by removing the one-sided bottlebrush
with some other bird-attracting plants.
I'm scraping back the mulch to expose the site soil underneath,
loosening it and adding some native-friendly fertiliser.
First up, I'm planting the shrub form of Grevillea crithmifolia,
which produces masses of white flowers in winter and spring.
In front of this, I'm putting in Grevillea obtusifolia,
a ground cover which has red flowers from autumn to spring.
And in front, a clump of the yellow- to red-flowering
Banksia nivea.
That's the flowers done. Time for some berries.
This is probably the toughest plant of the lot that I'm planting today.
It's Dianella revoluta, or spreading flax-lily.
And it produces dark blue to slightly purple berries
that birds like, but so do lizards.
And these three plants here, over time,
will produce a beautiful big clump.
Dianellas tolerate a range of soil types,
dry conditions, and will happily grow in full sun
and part shade, like here.
In a more exposed spot by the driveway,
I'm planting Rhagodia baccata,
which produces red berries that are also eaten by lizards and birds.
This one is quick growing and sprawling,
so it will soon fill out this area.
And finally, I'm giving them all a good watering-in,
even though there's some rain about,
to make sure the soil settles around the root balls.
With the planting done, it's time to really roll out the welcome mat.
(BEES BUZZ)
Ah!
This is a salvaged native hardwood log.
And these holes were made by borers when the tree was still alive.
Now, the borers are long gone,
but the holes they leave behind
are used by native bees for nesting sites.
Of course, you can add your own holes with a drill
if you haven't got one with borer damage.
With the log sitting just over one-third deep in the hole,
I'm setting it in place with some broken paving pieces,
then backfilling it with sand,
compacting it with my spade handle,
and flooding it with water to really settle it in.
After a wash-down and a resurfacing of gravel,
the final piece -
a large dish for a birdbath.
As you've seen, it really doesn't take much to create wildlife habitat
in your garden.
The right plants, some nesting structures
and some water
is really all it takes.
And let's face it, for us gardeners,
there's really no better compliment
than creating a space that others want to share.