Backyard Biodiversity A guide to creating wildlife-friendly and sustainable gardens in Boroondara PDF
Preview Backyard Biodiversity A guide to creating wildlife-friendly and sustainable gardens in Boroondara
Backyard Biodiversity A guide to creating wildlife-friendly and sustainable gardens in Boroondara ‘We must Backyard feel part of the land we walk on and love the We our love plants that grow there ... if Biodiversity we are to achieve a spirit in gardens and trees the garden.’ Gordon Ford (1999), The natural Australian garden. Residents of Boroondara are Bloomings Books Contents justifiably proud of our green You can become leafy suburbs and wonderful We love our gardens and trees 1 parks and gardens. The name a wildlife gardener Creating a wildlife-friendly garden supports biodiversity 2 Boroondara signifies shady Many Boroondara gardeners have Why biodiversity matters 3 place in the local indigenous already started to create magical Adopt sustainable gardening principles 5 dialect. We are fortunate our garden environments full of beautiful Your Council is working to protect and enhance the local environment 6 municipality has hundreds of butterflies, energetic honeyeaters, Building on what we have — biodiversity corridors 8 mature canopy trees to cool our majestic eucalypts and indigenous Backyard biodiversity — let’s get started 12 wildflowers like bluebells and streets on hot summer days. Attracting native birds to your garden 14 everlasting daisies. Your garden honeyeaters 16 We can love our native With a little planning and the right A garden full of parrots 18 flora and fauna too plant choice, you too can start. Your A chorus of garden birds 22 new wildlife haven can require less Butterflies, dragonflies and other garden insects 25 Our vision for Boroondara is a place maintenance and water compared to Inviting frogs to your garden 28 known not only for its leafy streets an exotic garden. You can start small Letting lizards lounge in your garden 30 and open spaces but also for its many or tackle a larger project; plan a full The secret lives of our native mammals 32 sustainable and productive private garden makeover We encourage you to get involved 35 gardens. This includes gardens rich or work with your in wildlife and local flora. neighbours to link your ‘The City of Boroondara recognises its responsibility as a custodian of the To attract more wildlife wildlife environment, as well as respectfully acknowledging the Wurundjeri people a little can mean a lot. It projects. as the first owners of this country, and the custodians of the cultural heritage takes only a few bushes, of the lands.’ Biodiversity Strategy, City of Boroondara some local grasses and a tree in the corner to Cover images Feature image: One of many inspiring start the magic. Boroondara gardens featured in this booklet. Bottom left to right: Silvereye, Yellow-banded Dart, Gang-gang Cockatoo 1 and Native Fuchsia (Correa reflexa). Backyard Biodiversity Our beloved pets (cats and dogs) can harass and injure Why native animals. Creating a biodiversity matters wildlife-friendly garden supports Often overlooked, but essential to survival of life on Earth, is the understanding that plants, animals and micro-organisms provide us with biodiversity ‘ecosystem services’. Examples of these life-sustaining services include: producing oxygen for us to breathe, storing (or sequestering) carbon from Biodiversity is the range of all Local the atmosphere, cleaning our water, breaking down waste, pollinating forms of life on earth — the crops and flowers, and dispersing seeds. Every species plays a specific biodiversity micro-organisms, plant and animal and integral role in a balanced natural ecosystem – so protecting every species, the genes they contain and species is important. in crisis the communities they belong to. Biodiversity out of balance Our rich biodiversity is • Plants and animals living in under increasing threat isolated pockets of land face a high risk of becoming locally Many of our centuries-old River The natural biodiversity of Boroondara extinct. Red Gums suffer from dieback. — which once included expansive The cause appears to be dramatic • Some common garden woodlands, grasslands and herb fields, infestations of small insects eating plants, like Agapanthus, and wetlands along our rivers and the leaves. These leaf miners are recognised weeds. streams — has been affected badly by would normally be controlled by The seeds invade reserves urbanisation. Over the past 150 years, insect-eating birds such as Spotted and bushland where they most of the country has been cleared, Pardalotes (shown right), but there thrive, and smother delicate natural wetlands drained and our are now so few of them around. local flora. waterways stressed by pollution and These tiny birds have been chased erratic inflows. Climate change now • Garden chemicals (fertilisers, away by aggressive honeyeaters. poses new and compounding threats pesticides and insecticides) The imbalance between the insect with ongoing lower rainfall and a can harm native animals and eaters and the honeyeaters is due predicted increase in heatwaves and our waterways. to the loss of bird habitat and hot days. Our local area, along with the • Foxes and other feral animals shrubby understorey in which the rest of Australia and the world, is facing prey on birds, reptiles and smaller birds can hide. a biodiversity crisis. small mammals. 2 3 Backyard Biodiversity Backyard Biodiversity Adopt gardens Indigenous give nature a helping hand sustainable It is more important than ever that we do our bit to protect and create gardening principles habitats. By using indigenous plants in your garden you can create havens for insects, lizards, butterflies and birds, thus enhancing local biodiversity. Indigenous plants are not only native to Australia; they are plants that occur naturally Creating a wildlife-friendly garden is just one of a number of in your local area. sustainable gardening principles that can enhance your garden When your garden and neighbourhood is mostly native or indigenous it will attract a and outdoor living spaces. These guiding principles will help greater diversity of native animal species. Providing a range of habitats and protecting create gardens and living areas that require fewer resources these plant and animal species in your garden makes an essential contribution to conserving and enhancing our local biodiversity. to maintain and can be enjoyed all year round. Checklist for creating a sustainable garden We arrived in Australia from South Africa and one of the ways we chose to adopt our new home was to create an Australian garden and wildlife habitat. Over the last few years, we have gradually transformed 9 Design to suit local conditions. 9 Avoid pesticides or chemicals that our back garden. Before we began we rarely heard birds in the morning 9 Set aside part of your backyard harm beneficial organisms or contaminate soil and water. but now the garden is alive with native birds, which we really enjoy. for a productive garden. Enjoy fresh vegetables, fruit and 9 Recycle food and other household We are now replacing our front yard with Australian plants and this herbs year round. and garden waste using a compost has created enormous interest from people walking past and has bin or worm farm. Use the rich 9 Avoid plants that are had a small domino organic compost and liquid fertiliser environmental weeds. effect as some of our to create a healthy life-giving soil. neighbours are 9 Plan for climate change by using 9 Use sustainable and, ideally, locally now including water-wise plants where possible, sourced or recycled materials but mulching garden beds and using native plants in avoid rocks, timber and pebbles tank water for watering plants their garden too. collected from the wild. when necessary. Ros and Bruce, 9 Last but not least, provide habitat Camberwell for local native fauna. 4 5 Backyard Biodiversity Backyard Biodiversity is working to protect Your Council and enhance the local environment As a custodian of Boroondara’s natural and built environments, Council Showcasing our fabulous local and Above left: Native and indigenous plants on display at the Maranoa Gardens Open Day. is undertaking a range of actions from our Biodiversity Strategy and native flora Above right: Colourful displays of Biodiversity Corridors Plan to protect and enhance local biodiversity. Our Parks and Gardens staff use kangaroo paws and everlasting daisies indigenous and native plants in brighten up traffic islands on local Mapping and recording remaining local species roadways. a number of public gardens and Council has researched and recorded the natural treasures other landscapes to showcase our living around us in an Inventory and Assessment of vibrant and attractive Australian Indigenous Flora and Fauna in Boroondara. A surprising Our garden provides a flora. Maranoa Gardens in Balwyn is diversity of birds, mammals, reptiles, frogs and butterflies really restful and relaxing a dedicated native botanical garden still lives in our precious natural bushland. Amazingly for a environment and the native featuring stunning displays. built-up area, our records include Rakali (Australian Water- plants are essential stepping rat), wallabies, echidna and platypus. While we have 343 Where appropriate, Council’s street stones for birds to move through species of indigenous flowering plants and ferns, some 80% tree program focuses on using our suburbs. I know that in the of them are threatened with local extinction. Above: Researcher Joanne drought-tolerant indigenous trees past people have been resistant Henry from Practical Ecology in neighborhoods close to existing to native gardens because they Protecting significant remnant bushland sets small traps for skinks and waterways and bushland reserves think they look untidy and lizards in local bushland. Did you know there are as many as 58 sites of natural where they suit the landscape and unattractive, but Australian Below: To restore original significance across Boroondara? Some of our remnant ecosystems, our staff harvests character of the area. plants can be used as part of bushland is considered significant on a State level including seeds and takes cuttings from formal, cottage and natural surviving original plants to Encouraging sustainable gardening bushland along the Yarra, the billabongs at Freeway retain genetic diversity and and habitat planting on private land looking garden designs. Golf Course, majestic River Red Gums at Beckett Park and protect the variety of plants grassland at Markham Reserve in Ashburton. These remnant that belong here. This is where you come in! Brian and Diana, Hawthorn ecosystems need help to remain intact and even thrive. Schools, homes and businesses line the banks of the Yarra and are positioned Investing in revegetation and restoration close to other significant creeks and Parks and Garden’s Environment Team restores, protects habitats. You and your garden can play and manages the threats to remnant ecosystems. a really important role in helping to It also encourages local communities to get involved protect local plants and native animals by supporting Environmental Friends Groups. by expanding on and providing links Important tasks include weeding and then and stepping stones between our replanting to fill gaps, creating walking tracks biodiversity corridors. to protect sensitive areas, and fencing vulnerable sites. 6 7 Backyard Biodiversity Building on what we have— biodiversity corridors Isolating plants and animals in small pockets dramatically increases their chance of becoming locally extinct. Biodiversity corridors reconnect isolated remnant and revegetated ecosystems. This allows animals, and the seeds they carry, to move through the tree canopy, among bushes or along the ground where there is adequate ground cover. Boroondara’s biodiversity corridors link to remnant ecosystems in adjacent suburbs. The Yarra River and creeks that pass through Boroondara can act as natural corridors for our native plants and animals. While Council is enhancing the habitat along these corridors, private gardens can play a vital role in extending existing corridors and creating new links and stepping stones (or resting places) for birds and other wildlife. I love the fact that you can use As hundreds of wildlife-friendly gardens spring up across our suburbs, the cumulative Australian plants to create a really benefits for our local plant and animal life will be invaluable. beautiful colourful garden. Our garden is quite formal and over the years I live near a biodiversity corridor and have lots of birds in my garden. At night, I sometimes hear Boobook owls which live in we have gradually replaced the exotic plants and trees with the trees nearby. I have included a nest box for rosellas in one Australian plants. Our aim is to have a cottage-style garden with of my tall eucalypt trees. I’ve planted indigenous grasses so Australian plants. We’ve even substituted magnificent standard birds can eat the seed heads and insects love the nectar-rich grevilleas for the usual standard roses or weeping cherry. flowers in my “Scarlet King” Grevillea. Just near our front door, we’ve created a rainbow garden made I’m also involved in Tree Project, so each year I nurture up of layers of red, orange, green and blue flowers. It’s a truly around 300 seedlings for farmers and revegetation spectacular sight in spring. We have some wonderful trees that projects in country Victoria. Just in case you’re are frequented by lorikeets and honeyeaters, and our dense wondering, I have a large water tank to keep grevilleas and other native shrubs are visited by my seedlings growing. Eastern Spinebills and other small birds. Jo, Ashburton David and Sue, Surrey Hills 8 9 Backyard Biodiversity Backyard Biodiversity Boroondara’s Biodiversity Plan Corridors Koonung Creek Corridor Yarra River Road Corridor EHasytderen P Farrekew ay CGorlarsidso Crreek Bulleen Doncaster Road Balwyn North Corridor TClihne rmkeaspa o nta pinacgger 1o1 shhsowass Bbotrhoiotendaa rmat’s 15u binodiicverispitya colrirtidyors. StuSdtPleuayd rPlkaeryk RoadChurch StreetPrincess StBrDeeentmark StureetrwCoooaKdorHdrei iwgRdho o SartdreBetarCkoerrCsro iRtdhooaarmd RoadBurke Road WhBiteelhmorosree RRooaadd Balwyn CRoadanCtaentrerbburuy rCoyrri Rdoroad Warrigal Road R Ibetni oacdlosiuov reianrgsdieitcsya yctooeursr stidpoo ecrcr ieoaarl taeenn ac e ohnuacrboaiugtareatm ggeeamnrdte eannrte. aaErvse.e aInf, yCifoo yuuo nluicvrie lh nsotemraoern agis l y Glenferrie HRRi.vAee.sr Ssedmravlieeth R oad Camberwell RoadOuter Circle BCacokr rCidreoerk C not in these areas, creating a wildlife-friendly garden will provide Toorak Road CWoirllriisdoonr orridor WCaottrlrei dPoarrk an additional stepping stone and build vital habitat links. By creating a backyard for biodiversity you can help: LEGENMDajor Corridors Gardiners Creek CorridoNrePttalrektonA shburton HRaerstewrevell Creek Corridors Creek Corridor Linear Corridors High Street AshPbaurrkton • Create new stepping stones to fill • Increase the size of existing (small creeks, disused rail lines, walkways) gaps between biodiversity corridors. biodiversity corridors. Stepping Stone Corridors Warner (links between parks and reserves) N Reserve • Reduce the risk of weeds escaping • Supplement small populations Biodiversity Encouragement areas (where you can help by planting) from gardens and invading our creek of local native plants and protect Roads corridors. them from local extinction. Freeway 10 11 Backyard Biodiversity Backyard Biodiversity Backyard biodiversity — let’s get started Recipe for making a garden garden method wildlife Wildlife When you start gardening for wildlife, a little means a lot. Following Select recipe ingredients that suit your lifestyle, budget and physical this simple recipe will help ensure your garden project is a success. garden — consider things like size, location, sunshine and slope. You Recipe ingredients can include: can work in stages over time. For best results, include everything. Be willing to experiment and seek advice— A tall mature eucalypt or wattle. A warm sheltered corner plus some rocks in the sun for lizards. the rewards will be well worth it. A patch of natural mulch or leaf litter for beetles and worms. Daisies for butterflies. A clump of dense shrubs where Native grasses and groundcovers If you are planning a total garden transformation, we suggest asking birds can shelter. as an alternative to lawns. a landscape designer to help develop an overall plan for you. Indigenous and native plant nurseries may be able to suggest designers specialising Nectar plants for honeyeaters. Keeping the garden chemical in Australian plants and landscapes. and insecticide free. A birdbath in a high, sheltered Greater plant diversity in your garden will attract the widest range of location. Keeping cats in at night to protect visitors. Do you especially love birds? Perhaps you have a good location for nesting birds, reptiles and native A frog-friendly pond. supporting a family of frogs? The following sections provide a guide to mammals. plants and other garden elements you can include in your garden to attract specific types of animals. Adapted from Bird Observation and Conservation Australia (BOCA) Recipe for a Wildlife Garden 12 13 Backyard Biodiversity Backyard Biodiversity Inviting more birds to your garden • All birds need high-energy food • Provide an escape route. Include because it takes a lot of energy to some dense or prickly small and fly and their body temperature larger shrubs in your garden to runs higher than ours. Include a provide shelter and safe nesting range of Australian trees, shrubs sites for small birds. Plants with and grasses in your garden to dense leaves and prickles enable provide a variety of natural bird passage for little birds but restrict food such as seeds, pollen, nectar access to larger birds and predators. and insects. More specific ideas and • Some birds, especially parrots plants for different kinds of birds and owls, like to nest in snug tree — honeyeaters, parrots and other hollows. Hollows form only in older garden birds — can be found on the trees but many old trees in the Attracting next few pages. native city have been removed. Providing • Add a cat-proof birdbath. A shallow a nest box in your garden is a dish of water located in an elevated, good substitute for a hollow but birds to your garden safe position will provide birds with remember that different a permanent drinking and bathing birds require place. A bath on a pedestal helps different nest birds feel secure and able to keep an box shapes, About 153 different native bird species visit eye out for predators. sizes and entry our suburbs. The noisy and colourful Rainbow Lorikeets are very obvious, while other birds such w ny Frogmouth holes. as tiny scrubwrens and thornbills are shy. Did you Ta Prickly Currant Bush know that lorikeets started coming back to our suburbs only about 30 years ago when we began replanting native trees in our gardens? 14 15 Backyard Biodiversity Backyard Biodiversity Silver New Holland Hon Eastern Spinebill Lightwood Wattle e ye a Your garden ter Perfect plants for honeyeaters honeyeaters These hyperactive birds feed almost constantly. When they are not feeding Sweet Bursaria Trees for nectar they are chasing, or being chased by other honeyeaters from their favourite Æ Lightwood or Hickory Wattle (Acacia implexa) flowers. All honeyeaters have a hairy tongue for collecting and scraping pollen Æ Silver Wattle (Acacia dealbata) and nectar. Most honeyeaters combine honey, insects and spiders in their diet. Inviting more honeyeaters Honeyeaters local Shrubs for shelter to your garden to Boroondara Æ Hedge Wattle (Acacia paradoxa) Æ Sweet Bursaria (Bursaria spinosa) Honeyeaters are easy to please — they • New Holland Honeyeaters are Tree Violet Æ Tree Violet (Melicytus dentatus) need flowers with lots of nectar on tap, small, and black and white with a insects and somewhere to escape if bright yellow patch on their wing. Shrubs for nectar threatened. • White-plumed Honeyeaters have Æ Native fuchsias (Correa glabra and Correa reflexa) • Indigenous trees will be home to a piercing whistle. They are a dull Æ River Bottlebrush (Callistemon sieberi) the most diverse array of insects. colour except for the tiny white Many honeyeaters feed in the tree stripes across the neck. Other Australian plants you might like to include ctraeneosp sye vaenrda lw tiimll veiss iat dthaey. same • Eastern Spinebills are our tiniest Native Fuchsia Banksias, grevilleas, hakeas and smaller eucalypts have and daintiest honeyeaters. The long-lasting nectar-producing flowers and provide shelter • There are many indigenous shrubs adults eat only the nectar and and nesting spots. that have a good nectar supply. pollen from flowers but catch and Many gardeners also enjoy the thrust insects down the throats of hundreds of cultivated grevilleas their hungry growing chicks. with their showy flowers and All indigenous plants suggested in this book have varied foliage. Some will flower been recommended by the Victorian Indigenous Wattlebirds and Noisy Miners are White-plumed Honeyeatermostp orof vthidei nygea ar cboumt tmheoyn layr esi aglhstoe gda hrodneney beualtleierss . River Bottlebrush Naluornsge rwieitsh C oot-hopere rsautiitvaeb (lVe IpNlCan) atsn, dfr aorme athvaeiirla nbuler,s ery constant at Yarra Bend, Fairfield. VINC is a not for profit Planting dense and prickly shrubs supply of co-operative and nearly all the stock sold is will encourage the smaller nectar. propagated from seed and cuttings from local honeyeaters by providing safe plants. Contact VINC on 03 9482 1710. places to which they can escape. 17 Backyard Biodiversity
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