Using local plants in your garden has many benefits to you the gardener, as well as to the broader environment. I don't mean replacing your whole garden with natives, unless you're up for a real change. Rather, a well-selected native plant or two, along with appropriate placement...bringing much to your existing garden...literally!
Plants occurring naturally in your area are better suited to the conditions of your particular patch. They grow well in the existing soil type and structure...you don't need to go messing too much with soil improvement activities. They are at home in the generally low nutrient Australian soils, and therefore require little in the way of synthetic fertilisers and additives.
They're able to cope with the amount of moisture they receive from the heavens, and they are tolerant of the frosts experienced in the area in which they've evolved.
Local plants are better able to withstand insect/pest attack - they provide rewards for predators in the form of food and habitat, keeping such pests in check and providing a natural balance. This includes bringing a wonderful array of native birds to your garden, an absolute delight!
They serve to provide a sense of place by connecting the garden to the wider landscape...and for me, bestowing an almost spiritual warmth.
When building my new garden, I plan to use select locally occurring plants such as bursaria, olearia, clematis, flag iris, poa, heath, wattle, combined with natives from other parts of Australia, westringea, kangaroo paw, grevillea, hakea, correa, crowea, she oak, lomandra, as well as some favourite exotics such as linden, pin oak, birch, euphorbia, gaura, helleborus, helichrysum, fountain grass, russian sage....I could go on forever!
I'll use a combination of these along with those shown below close to the house (along with productive plants), then begin to concentrate on native and indigenous species in the broader surrounds....eventually blending with the remnant veg in places.
Take a look at these pics I took of some gorgeous plants at the Australian Garden in the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne, Victoria. I highly recommend a visit to see many wonderful examples of the use of native plants in gardens.
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| Tetratheca thymifolia |
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| Eremophila longifolia |
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| Grevillea levis |
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| Spyridium scortechinii |
It can be done...creating harmony between natives and exotics in the garden...all it takes is good plant selection and placement.
Mine is a work in progress...well, I haven't actually progressed much as we're still planning the house, but the ideas are coming thick and fast!
Mine is a work in progress...well, I haven't actually progressed much as we're still planning the house, but the ideas are coming thick and fast!
