Tag: trees

Gardening for Wildlife and Biodiversity

Local sustainability superstars, Mandy and Mike Bamford, guide us through their stunning ReWild garden full of gorgeous greenery and wonderful wildflowers.

Mandy and Mike Bamford turned their backyard from a sandy paddock into a beautiful biodiverse, ReWild wonderland over the last 34 years. Their astonishing efforts and persistence in weeding, planting and growing plants from seed has paid off, and now their garden is always buzzing with activity from native wildlife and their outdoor space provides them with endless enjoyment.

Starting from scratch

Mandy and Mike moved into their 2,116m2 block of land in Kingsley 34 years ago. When they purchased the block, it was a large, barren paddock with nothing but weeds thriving in yellow builder’s sand.

Despite the extent of work ahead of them, they saw the potential of the space and knew that with a bit of work, their garden would grow into a biodiverse, green oasis for their family that would soon provide habitat for native fauna for years to come.

Mandy and Mike saw great potential to create their biodiverse garden when they purchased the land 34 years ago.

Mandy and Mike had always been fascinated by native animals and plants. The opportunity to create their garden from scratch was an exciting dream that they got started on right away. Their goal was to create a garden for wildlife so that they could enjoy seeing spectacular native animals every day in their own backyard, with the additional benefits of a cooler home and fresh air for their family.

ReWild Gardening

‘ReWilding’ is a global movement aiming to restore the natural environment through planting native species, with the aim of providing habitat for native fauna, greener cities and mitigation of climate change.

ReWild Perth is about creating environments that support native wildlife we have displaced through land clearing, in our own backyards and gardens. There are limited untouched green spaces remaining in the Perth Metropolitan area, but with a community effort we can all start to restore the environment and cohabit with native species.

Mandy and Mike signed up to the ReWild program to continue to create their beautiful garden and outdoor space. Registering their ReWild garden gave them access to a garden action plan, which helped them set goals for their garden and track their progress. They could also view the collective impact they were making on the suburb progress map.

ReWild resources and plant lists are perfect for heading to the nursery to find out which plants are native, and how each of your plants can support wildlife in your garden. You can select plants that attract a certain species and find out how to create the perfect habitat garden.

A Grey Fantail taking a bath and a quick drink before exploring the garden.

Natives for nature

After a few years of planting seedlings, growing plants from seed and swapping plants with friends and family, Mandy and Mike could start to sit back, watch their garden grow and enjoy the fruits of their labour.

They have watched their Marri trees grow from seedlings into large trees that are now providing a bounty of food for Carnaby’s Black Cockatoos! The Marri trees are often full of honeyeaters, Striated Pardalotes and insects that feed, nest and shelter in them.

There are seven Marri trees on Mandy and Mike’s property, which provide a wonderfully shaded canopy on their home and keep them cool throughout the summer months. Tree canopy is incredibly important for mitigating the urban heat island effect, which we have been experiencing quite intensely this past summer.

“When the maximum for Perth was 43° degrees a few weeks ago (February 2024), our thermometer was showing only 39° degrees. It was very pleasant sitting under our Marri trees with a cup of tea, watching the wildlife coming to our garden for shade. Imagine how much cooler it would be if every spare space in our suburbs had trees!”

The Marri trees aren’t the only flora species buzzing with activity in their garden. Some species pop up by themselves, such as the three orchid species that flower happily every year. They support a myriad of insects, such as the Peacock Spider and the beautiful Blue-banded Bee!

Creating homes and habitat

Not only do Mandy and Mike provide habitat for wildlife by planting the native plants that animals love, but they also provide built habitat options, such as ‘lizard lounges’, insect hotels, baths, ponds and water bowls for birds and ground marsupials. They also install nest boxes that replicate hollows and crevices for birds and bats.

If you walk around the garden, you will see piles of leaf litter that have been left out for invertebrates, fungi and microorganisms to keep their soil healthy. The leaf litter also acts as a natural mulch on the ground. Small areas of sand between paving bricks provide nests for Blue-banded Bees, and the many groundcovers and shrubs provide protection for many different animals as well as acting as a living mulch helping to retain soil moisture.

The diversity in both natural and artificial habitat options, alongside ponds and wet areas provides the perfect home for many native species. Mandy and Mike have successfully brought the bushland to their backyard!

No-fuss Natives

Mandy and Mike don’t water their garden much at all. They only need to water their veggies, herbs and fruit trees, and a small patch of lawn they have where their dog plays outside.

“Newly planted seedlings need watering throughout the first summer but mostly the garden doesn’t need much water,” Mandy said, “Only light hand-watering needs to be done during the summer.”

While Mandy and Mike enjoy gardening and choose to spend their time in the garden, it’s not necessary for a ReWild garden. Once their garden became established, their native plants don’t require much upkeep. The most that needs to be done is a light prune of some of the larger shrubs, and some Marri leaves need to be swept off the paths and put into the compost.

One of Mandy’s favourite species, the Coojong or the Golden Wattle (Acacia saligna). It is a ‘powerhouse’ for native animals and helps improve your soil health!

A win for water efficiency and conservation

This garden is waterwise as well as being wildlife friendly, it allows the rain to water it and is irrigation free! In addition, beautiful biodiverse gardens beaming with plants help water infiltration preventing stormwater run-off, allowing deep soaking of the soil. The plant cover provides a cooling effect and keeps the soil protected in the hot summer months, and it can even help reduce temperatures inside Mike and Mandy’s home. Together these water and energy savings mean less money is going on bills!

This garden is also well positioned to survive in Perth’s forecast drying climate with additional hot days.

Easy to maintain and a beautiful garden!

Who said you couldn’t have it all? Waterwise and biodiverse gardens can be just as beautiful as any other garden full of exotic water hungry plants, and they better support our local wildlife. Natives can be used to design all sorts of gardens now – from Mediterranean, cottage gardens to coastal designs, natives are versatile and resilient as well as adapted to our climate!

Mike and Mandy say maintenance of the garden is less than what it would have been if they had lawn, and it’s something they enjoy doing. Whether it’s a few hours of weeding a month, light pruning or planting new plants in winter, they love spending time in their biodiverse oasis.

Join the ReWilding Revolution!

If you want to start a ReWild garden, Mandy and Mike’s advice is to enjoy it and experiment!

Always ask for advice from other rewilding gardeners, check out social media rewild or gardening groups, and get your resources from ReWild Perth, NatureLink Perth, Birdlife Australia, Gardening Australia, Wildflower Society and Water Corporation.

The City also has some great resources to help you on your rewilding journey. Our Growing Locals page has a soils map so you can find out your soil type and discover the right native plants for your garden. You can also check our Intramaps resource to see if you live in a ‘Regional Ecological Linkage’ area by clicking ‘Regional Ecological Linkage’ on the lefthand menu and find your address. View our tips for a thriving wildlife garden. You can apply for a free street tree and view our Waterwise Demonstration Gardens for some inspiration. Our recent Waterwise Verge Garden Competition winner also has some great tips for waterwise native gardening.

“It’s great knowing that we are helping to create a stepping stone for wildlife through our suburb. It has been exciting to notice other people in our street gradually adding a few native plants to their verges and gardens.

There is a rewilding revolution taking place!”

Together we can all make small changes to take charge of our space and ‘bring nature home’ to where it used to be.

Mandy and Mike Bamford in their ReWild garden.

Subscribe to the City of Joondalup’s Sustainability eNewsletter to stay updated about environmental news, stories, and events.

Joanne Burgess from Wildflower Society of WA’s Northern Suburbs Nursery

Most people are content contributing their time to one volunteer task or role to make real, meaningful and positive change. Joanne is not one of those people and is volunteering her time to help with numerous sustainability, conservation and community causes across Perth and, importantly, she stays true to her values and inspires those around her.

Joanne is many things: a keen and experienced gardener, former Sustainability Officer at the City of Stirling, and more recently, is focusing her efforts on helping conserve, educate and green our neighbourhoods through volunteering with Wildflower Society of WA (WSoWA) at the Northern Suburbs Branch Nursery and Friends of Kings Park in the Growing Friends group. Joanne also volunteers as a dog walker with Pets of Older Persons (POOPS); helps promote active travel through her role as a casual Bike Education coach with People on Bicycles and volunteers her time to help with several citizen science projects that help wildlife including Birdlife’s Great Cocky Count; the Bird in Backyards Seasonal Surveys; the Aussie Bird Count and more. She is also adding to her diverse skill-set and is training to volunteer as a literacy tutor with Read Write Now.

Joanne has also supported the City to implement its Waterwise Verge Rebate Program, with the WSoWA being one of the participating nurseries in the program. Through this program, 100 households in the City will be transforming their lawn, fake grass or paving into beautiful, biodiverse and waterwise verge gardens.

 

Promoting the conservation and enjoyment of wildflowers in WA 

The WSoWA is a community of wildflower enthusiasts who are connecting over WA’s incredible biodiversity and wildflowers, and inspiring others to explore ways to conserve WA’s unique flora and help people create sustainable gardens. Established in 1958, the Wildflower Society of WA has made a significant contribution to help everyone to better know, grow, conserve and enjoy the wildflowers of WA.

Joanne explains that the south-west of WA is a biodiversity hotspot and many of the plants are endemic to WA.

Joanne remarked that “so many people are yet to discover and enjoy the unique and wonderful diversity of WA flora! With the south-west of WA being a biodiversity hotspot, and many of these plants rare or threatened, the flora needs our help.”

“The south-west corner of WA is one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet. It is only 5% of the Australian land mass but one-third of all Australian flowering plant species grow here. The majority of these plants grow nowhere else in the world, and land clearing poses a huge risk of pushing many plant species into extinction.”

“Residential gardens and outdoor spaces have enormous potential to support our local flora and ensure that threatened plant species continue to exist.”

 

Conservation through Propagation 

The Northern Suburbs branch of the Wildflower Society of WA has a unique and wonderful nursery where WA’s flora, particularly the rare and unusual species, are the volunteer’s speciality. This is where Joanne spends her time helping to propagate plants from cuttings and seed and keeping the stock-plants used for the cuttings thriving.

The nursery is continually increasing the range of rare and threatened plants it propagates, to support the conservation and protection of these species. The volunteers only grow plants native to WA and many of the plant species are not commonly available or grown by other nurseries.

“By growing these plants and making them available for people to plant in their home gardens, we hope to preserve them and ensure that they don’t go extinct, as well as increase appreciation of the beautiful flora that WA has and support efforts to protect it.”, Joanne said.

Learn more about the services and activities our local Northern Suburbs Branch have on offer.

 

What’s happening in the nursery right now?

Did you know it takes six months to grow a plant from seed or a cutting?

This means the nursery is busy propagating plants to sell in September and October, which will be the last chance for people to get plants in the ground before it gets too hot.

The Northern Suburbs Branch is also planning for a relocation of the nursery over the next year or two to larger premises so they can grow more plants.

Image: Sally from the Wildflower Society’s beautiful native garden.

 

Benefits of Biodiverse Gardens

Gardens filled with local wildflowers provide homes, food, and places to socialise for wildlife and pollinators, as well as forming important stepping-stones or wildlife corridors between local reserves and waterways. Native plants are well adapted to local conditions, making them more suitable in the context of climate change.

“Native plants have evolved in local conditions and climate making them more resilient, waterwise and easier to maintain. By selecting the right species you can have flowers and colour all year round. Native gardens will still look beautiful with reduced water and increased heat.”

There are also many health and wellbeing benefits from gardening and connecting with nature.

“Just imagine if everyone on your street had a biodiverse and waterwise garden, how this could transform our neighbourhood streetscapes into a cool, green and liveable nature corridors helping the birds, insects, frogs and native animals to safely move and forage, which is really important for the long-term health of our urban bushland and fauna species.”

 

Get involved

  • Volunteer your time to help conserve WA’s flora and vegetation communities through a local Friends Group, WSoWA (website and Facebook) or one of the many other incredible volunteering opportunities near you.
  • Plant WA native plant species at your home: there are also many great nurseries offering native plants, find one that specialises in native plants or waterwise plants.
  • Learn more about and connect with nature and local flora in your local area.
  • Advocate for the protection of WA’s flora and vegetation communities.
  • Spread the word, because together we can make a difference.

 

Upcoming Event: Plant Sale Day

The WSoWA’s Northern Branch nursery’s annual autumn plant sale is happening on Saturday 22 April, 9.00am – 2.00pm. There are approximately 300 species of native plants available for sale, from trees to groundcovers and everything in between – many of which you can’t buy anywhere else.

Joanne and many of the volunteers will be in attendance to help you choose plants suitable for your garden and provide advice and answer all your questions.

 

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.

Platinum-Waterwise Council logo

 

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

Street tree maintenance request

This form is to be used to request the maintenance of, or the removal of, a street tree or street trees located on your property verge.

Before proceeding please read the Street tree maintenance article.

Significant trees nomination form

Use this form to recommend trees considered to be of City-wide significance, for inclusion in the Significant Tree Register.

Street tree planting

The City supports residents’ efforts in greening their streets and will supply and plant trees on residential verges free of charge at the request of the property owner.  If you would like the City to plant a street tree on the verge adjoining your property, please submit the application form below.

The City will supply and plant street trees, one tree for standard (non-corner) properties; or up to three trees for corner properties (one on the short side of the property, two on the long side).

Residents can supply and plant their own street tree(s) on the verge adjoining their property with approval from the City and the species must be selected from the Preferred Street Tree Species list. If you would like to supply and plant your own street tree, please submit the application below.

Once a tree is planted on the verge it becomes the City’s responsibility regardless of who planted it; only the City or its authorised contractor can prune or remove verge trees.

Street trees that are to be planted by the City are planted each year during the winter and all application forms need to be received by 31 March of each year to ensure stock availability. Tree selection must be from the Preferred Street Tree Species list.  Applications received after 31 March will be planted in the following year’s planting program.

The City’s winter tree planting program will commence in June to take advantage of the winter rain and cooler weather and is scheduled to be completed by August.

Street tree planting applications are subject to a site inspection.

Further details can be found within the Tree Management Guidelines.

Street tree maintenance

Pruning

Pruning is generally only undertaken to further the health and vitality of a tree. If there are concerns that the tree is a hazard, damaged, diseased, dangerous or dead, the City will investigate and arrange the most appropriate action.

In the interest of public safety and for the health of the trees, only the City or its licensed contractors are to carry out any pruning of street trees.

Any unauthorised pruning or removal of trees within the City, undertaken by persons other than the City or its licensed contractor, is an offence and prosecution can occur. Regulation 5 of the Local Government Uniform Local Provisions provides that it is an offence for a person, without lawful authority, to interfere with the soil or anything on local government property (which includes a verge), or take anything from land that is local government property.

Additionally, Part 8.1 of the Local Government and Public Property Local Law 2014 – Activities in public places – states:

A person must not:

(a) damage, injure, prune, remove or kill by felling, poisoning or any other means, a tree on a thoroughfare or verge unless the person is –

  1. Acting under authority of the local government
  2. A local government employee or contractor engaged by the local government to undertake work in relation to a particular tree or trees on thoroughfares in the district or on local government property generally
  3. Acting under authority of a written law.

Parties who breach the regulation and/or this Local Law may also be responsible for the amenity value, replacement and establishment costs of a suitable replacement tree.

Pruning around or near powerlines

In those suburbs where there are overhead powerlines, street trees are pruned to maintain mandatory clearances around Western Power infrastructure.

Tree removal

The City recognises the importance of preserving trees for the current community and for future generations, however the City may remove trees under the following criteria:

  1. The tree is dead, in decline or past its safe useful life
  2. The tree has been deemed, by a suitably qualified person, as a hazard to persons or property and no pruning techniques can alleviate the hazard
  3. The tree is diseased or damaged past the point of recovery and no remedial treatment will be effective
  4. A development approved by the City deems the removal necessary, in which case the developer shall be responsible for the amenity value, removal, replacement and establishment costs of a replacement tree
  5. The tree has been planted by a resident without the City’s approval and may be removed at the resident’s expense
  6. The tree is deemed by the City to be an inappropriate species for that location.

Trees will not be pruned or removed for any of the following reasons:

  • Falling leaves, bark or fruit causing a nuisance
  • The variety is disliked or a resident’s preference is for a different species
  • A perceived danger that the tree or a limb may fail
  • Perceived damage to infrastructure
  • The tree shades lawns, gardens, houses, pools, solar panels, etc
  • To enhance or clear views, inclusive of advertising signage
  • Allergy and/or health problems
  • For the installation of non-essential crossovers or verge paving.

The City is the only authority allowed to remove a street tree. Any unauthorised pruning or removal of trees within the City, undertaken by persons other than the City or its licensed contractor, is an offence and prosecution can occur.

Street tree maintenance request