Tag: spring

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)
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 

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. 

Platinum-Waterwise Council logo

City Calls on Community to Work Together for Weed Control

As spring arrives and the weather warms up, the City of Joondalup is calling on the local community to help protect, preserve and enhance the urban and natural environments.

The City undertakes weed management to protect biodiversity and cultural values, reduce bushfire risk and damage to infrastructure, preserve the amenity, functionality and aesthetics of local areas.

A variety of new weed control methods have recently been implemented by the City in its public open spaces and urban landscaping, including steam and hot water along with WeedSeeker technology to reduce the use of chemicals in controlling weeds.

The City also encourages residents to control weeds on private property and remove them before they seed and spread.

Joondalup Mayor Albert Jacob said it is important for all in the community to work together to help beautify our natural surrounds.

“Weed management has long been and continues to be a key issue in the City’s public open spaces, urban streetscapes and urban landscapes,” Mayor Jacob said.

“The City’s integrated weed management approach prevents, monitors and controls the introduction and spread of weeds in the City to protect biodiversity and maintain the amenity and aesthetics of these areas.

“Several factors are taken into consideration when determining the appropriate weed control method, including the target weed, the season and timing, resistance of the weed to specific herbicides, potential residual effects and damage to off-target species, site location, weather conditions, effectiveness of outcomes, required labour intensity and costs involved.

“The overarching aim is to minimise the impact of invasive non-native plant species in different systems compared with a no-intervention scenario.

“While chemical weed control has been the most common method, the City is using steam and hot water technology within 50 metres of school zones, playspaces and hardstand areas in the Joondalup City Centre.

“The City now also uses WeedSeeker technology, which uses advanced optics to detect and target weeds.

“This is not just a responsibility of the City, we all have a role to play in combating the effects of weeds in our urban and natural environment whether it is residents, other government agencies, business partners or community groups.”

The City of Joondalup is an active member of the Western Australian Local Government Association Local Government Herbicide Use and Integrated Weed Management Working Group, whose purpose is to build the capacity of local government by sharing information and addressing knowledge gaps.

The Working Group helps local governments make informed decisions on weed management approaches that are most suitable for their local context.

For more information on the City’s Weed Management Plan, visit joondalup.wa.gov.au.

Spring has Sprung – Take action on weeds

Spring has Sprung image

As spring arrives and the weather warms up, the City is calling on the local community to help protect, preserve and enhance the urban and natural environment by taking control of weeds on private property and removing them before they seed and spread.

Weeds are plants that grow in areas where they are not naturally occurring and proceed to modify natural processes, usually adversely, resulting in the decline of the vegetation communities they invade.  A weed usually requires some form of action to reduce its effects on the economy, the environment, human health and amenity.

Weeds typically produce large numbers of seeds and spread rapidly, invading natural areas, parks and urban landscaping areas. Weeds can be spread by:

  • dispersal of seeds by water, wind, birds, animals, human or vehicle movement;
  • site activities;
  • underground root systems;
  • mulch, soil and plant stock;
  • garden rubbish dumping; and
  • fire.

Yearly growth patterns of weeds vary with some species growing in summer and seeding in autumn and others growing in winter and seeding in spring.

Weeds can impact on communities by degrading natural areas, parks, verges, median strips, and public access ways, lower the amenity, functionality and aesthetics of sites and make these areas less usable by the community.

The City undertakes an integrated weed management approach to prevent, monitor, prioritise and control weeds on City managed land as detailed in the Weed Management Plan. A variety of new weed control methods have recently been implemented by the City in its public open spaces and urban landscaping, including steam and hot water along with WeedSeeker technology to reduce the use of chemicals in controlling weeds. A new Weed Management Plan is currently being developed and will be released for community consultation in 2022/23.

Steam weed control image

What can you do to help?

Let’s help beautify the City together.