Garden – City of Joondalup

Waterwise Verge Rebate Program Launch

The City has launched its Waterwise Verge Rebate Program to encourage residents to replace their grass, synthetic lawn and hardstand materials, such as paving, on their verge with waterwise native plants and mulch. Waterwise verge gardens provide many benefits to neighbourhoods including creating a cooling effect, reducing water consumption and maintenance, improving streetscape amenity and potentially increasing property prices, providing habitat for local wildlife and promoting biodiversity.

This initiative is proudly co-funded by Water Corporation’s Waterwise Greening Scheme and forms part of our ambition for the City of Joondalup to be a leading waterwise community.

Through the Program, successful applicants will receive:

A $250 voucher for a selected nursery or garden centre
20 native plants during a plant giveaway event in May 2023
A pack of everlasting seeds.

The program is open to the first 100 eligible applicants and is on a first come, first served basis. Applications close on Friday 31 March 2023 or when the allocation is exhausted. Renters can also apply to participate in the Program and will need to get written permission from their landlord.

Installation of the waterwise verge gardens is expected to be completed by Monday 12 June 2023 and participants will provide the City with ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos of the verge.

To participate in the Program, applicants must comply with the Terms and Conditions and submit an Expression of Interest form. Places are limited so get in quick.

Further information about the Waterwise Verge Rebate Program and application process will be available on the City’s website.

Waterwise Verge Gardens

Verges play an important role in creating cool, green spaces for our communities, providing habitat for our local wildlife, and improving streetscape amenities in the City. Verges are often covered in lawn or hardstand surfaces such as paving that use significant amounts of water and radiate heat in summer.

A street verge is the road reserve area between a road and the adjacent property boundary but does not include any footpath. The verge is owned by the Crown and managed by the City.

Residents are encouraged to install low water use plants, ground covers, edible plants (vegetables and herbs), lawns and landscape treatments on their verge. Verge treatments are regulated by the City’s Local Government and Public Property Local Law 2014.

Residents are able to undertake improvements to the verge that are in line with the permissible verge treatments described in the Street Verge Guidelines.

Duncraig Library Waterwise Verge Garden (Created by the Duncraig Edible Garden group)

Why install a Waterwise verge garden?

The City encourages soft landscape verge treatments, including waterwise native plants and mulch. Waterwise verge gardens can:

Save water in the garden
Require little maintenance, with occasional weeding, pruning, mulching and hand watering
Creates green liveable communities and streetscapes
Contributes to healthy drainage
Create a cooling effect and counteract the urban heat island effect. Below, further information about urban heat island effect.
Provide a habitat for local wildlife and promote biodiversity.

What is urban heat island effect?

Urban heat island effect is the build-up of heat in urban areas. This build up is exacerbated by an increase to urban densities and building heights that trap heat overnight, particularly during periods of extended dry and heat. Greening initiatives, like adding a street tree to your verge or creating a waterwise verge garden will assist to offset the build-up of urban heat. Through understorey and canopy planting initiatives cooling is maximised.

The City is creating greener, cooler, and more comfortable neighbourhoods for everyone, through its Leafy City and Street Tree Planting programs.

By creating waterwise gardens and requesting a street tree, you can help create cool, green and biodiverse neighbourhoods.

Tips and Resources

Learn how to create a waterwise verge garden.
Find out more through our waterwise verge garden guide and infographic.
Find suitable plants for your local area and garden type.
Learn about growing biodiverse and waterwise gardens
Search Water Corporations directory’s for waterwise plants, waterwise specialists and waterwise products.
Get free mulch from the City using Mulch vouchers or from Mulchnet. We recommend only using eucalyptus prunings from Mulchnet due to Polyphagous shot-hole borer risk with non-native mulch.
Street Verge Guidelines.
Free street tree application.
Tree Management Guidelines 2019.
Water Corporation share information through the Waterwise verge best practice guidelines and about creating waterwise verges.

Want to see a Waterwise verge garden?

You can view a demonstration waterwise verge garden at the following locations:

Carina Loop, Ocean Reef
Currambine Community Centre, Currambine
Duncraig Library, Duncraig.

Community Gardens

Community gardens bring many benefits such as enhanced social connections, education around sustainable practices and edible produce. Community gardens can create a sense of belonging and be very rewarding for people of all ages. The City takes a Community Development approach to community gardens and helps facilitate community gardens to be self-managed in a sustainable way by the community. It is not anticipated the City take an active role in establishing gardens directly or provide funding for the establishment or operations of gardens.

Community Gardens must be managed by an incorporated, not-for-profit community group and the community group must be sufficiently resourced and prepared to fund and manage the governance, membership, finances, insurances and operations of the Community Garden.

Should you wish to start a community garden please contact the Community Development Team on 9400 4226 or via email to discuss your idea.

Grow It Local Program

Grow It Local is a digital platform that encourages individuals to register their ‘patch’ then share produce, socially connect, share ideas and inspire one another to grow produce using sustainable practices. Residents can also share knowledge, skills, space, produce, seeds and seedlings, compost, food waste and more.

Grow It Local is community-led and enabled through technology by connecting local people that have time, space and skills with those that don’t. For example, connecting an experienced grower with a young family to mentor them on their growing journey.

Grow It Local is for everyone, including local growers, community gardeners and food lovers. It is also for composters and anyone with food waste such as local businesses and schools, as well as sustainability enthusiasts and community advocates. Grow It Local is suitable for both ‘givers’, such as contributors who want to share their home-grown produce or gardening tips, as well as ‘receivers’ who want to connect locally and benefit from advice, friendship or locally grown food.

For further information visit the Grow It Local portal.