When I first came to the Australia from the UK, I had
a fondness for the environment but knew virtually nothing about Australian
nature. Years later, when I moved from
inner city living into a suburban house with a backyard, something special
happened. Fascinating visitors such as Blue Tongue Lizards, Leaf Tailed Geckos
and Possums provided magical wildlife encounters and my conservation passion, long
suppressed, became reignited. As a result, when fragile bushland was threatened
by a development nearby, I joined an action group. And, when the local council
began planting native plants along a degraded creekline, I started to sit up
and take notice.
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| Discovering a baby 'southern leaf tailed gecko. |
When the ‘windows of awareness’ gradually began to open up, I realised that I needed to acquire some knowledge of native plants and environmental weeds. I really wanted to plant some genuine natives...and not the hybrid ones with showy flowers
that you find in Bunnings.
Later I discovered that, in Sydney, each suburb has
its own original suite of endemic native plants which are vital in supporting
local biodiversity For example there are nearly 1,000 wattles (Acacias) native
to this continent but only 7 were endemic to my area.
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| One of my 'local' wattles:- Acacia Linifolia |
It subsequently dawned on me that almost every garden in
my street had no indigenous plants at all. What was worse, many of the plant
species visible, such as Agapanthus, Cotoneaster and Privet. were invasive
weeds which spread into bushland reserves and actually caused harm. The irony
was, none of the local plant shops even sold species which belonged in the
area. To find them you had to travel to obscure specialist outlets or wait for
the occasional Council native plant ‘giveaway’. Something had gone horribly awry
in this city of Sydney. I realised that the original rich biodiversity had
largely been scraped off the face of the earth, just like the indigenous people
who once occupied this unique place. Meanwhile the current population seemed overwhelmingly
unaware and unconcerned.
Amazingly the Sydney area has more native plant
species than the whole of the UK, they have a subtle, fragile beauty and have
evolved both to live on the nutrient poor “Hawkesbury Sandstone” soils and adapt to climatic extremes. But try telling that to the gardening commentators in the media. Unfortunately, growing local natives is not
good business as it doesn’t profit multi-national fertiliser, pesticide or
horticulture interests.
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| Local bushland:-genuine 'Hawkesbury Sandstone country. |
I realised that my new philosophy was to do the polar
opposite of what the so called “Garden Gurus” were advocating. My plan was to remove all “foreign specimens”
that were not of habitat value for local wildlife. I would plant species that were endemic to my
area (trees, shrubs, groundcovers, grasses); identify any remnant natives and
carefully retain them; remove weeds by hand and commit to never using
commercial fertilizers, pesticides or fungicides. I might occasionally use a
weed killer made up of 99% white vinegar and 1% detergent.
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| A fish pond was transformed into frog habitat featuring a self seeded. 'birds nest' fern. |
Interestingly, my neighbours remember when my standard
“quarter acre” backyard contained only a solitary lemon tree (which was given a
stay of execution) and little else. But past decades have seen various
plantings and re-growth. The house was
built on remnant bushland in the 1920’s and since then suburbia has filled in
most of the remaining undisturbed natural areas in the neighbourhood. I often
think that what is now happening to the Amazon rainforest in terms of land
clearing, happened in this very place, not so long ago.
At this stage I should recommend an excellent book
“Field Guide to the Native Plants of Sydney” By Les Robinson, which helped
guide my progress. This amazing work contains invaluable information on our
native flora including traditional Aboriginal uses for “bush tucker” and
medicine.
My garden contained a large lawn area of Buffalo
grass, several Radiata Pines, a smattering of eclectic garden species and a few
natives. On the edge of the lawn there
was actually some naturally occurring native grass Microlaena Stipoedes, some
native Geranium (Geranium Homeanum) and some native Violets (Viola Hederacea)
plus some naturally occurring Commelina Cyanea (which was eaten by early European
pioneers to prevent Scurvy).
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| The native commelina..yes you can eat it ! |
A few years beforehand I had followed the current
trend and planted a vegetable garden but I decided that even this had to go and it was ultimately
replaced by natural vegetation. Luckily
there is a fantastic organic food market nearby for delicious supplies and also a wonderful
community garden if I get the urge to plant more veggies.
It’s been a gradually transition but over a few years
a large area of lawn has been dug out and the native grass has gradually taken
over. A smaller area of Buffalo Grass was replaced with a groundcover called
Dichondra Repens.
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| A native ground-cover has replaced my lawn. |
I no longer have use for a lawn mower! Endemic species of
Grevillea, Hakea, Correa, Banksia, Persoonia, Angophora, Eucalptus, Bracken and Blady
Grass etc are growing well and providing food and habitat for wildlife. Additional accommodation has been provided in the form of various nesting boxes.
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| A Hakea in flower |
Insects such as Blue Banded Bees, Mud Dauber
wasps and Golden Orb spiders are proliferating.
A fish pond has been transformed into a frog habitat which has also
spawned an abundance of Spectacular Dragon Flies.
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| A Golden Dragonfly. |
A ban on toxic substances
means that butterflies and cicadas can fly around more safely. Caterpillars are
allowed to chomp away to their heart’s content. This type of garden requires
virtually no watering; falling leaves don’t have to be swept away (as they
provide natural mulch) and the local possums kindly provide their own brand of
proprietary fertilisers.
I have also converted the “nature strip” of foreign
grasses and weeds in the front of the house into a mini habitat area with
Lomandras, Dianellas and trees. (again, this is now a mow free zone).
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| Now it really is a 'Nature Strip' |
American Gardener and Writer, Benjamin Vogt struck a chord
with me when he wrote this: - “We need to stop gardening solely for ourselves
and see the incredible, beautiful, soul-magnifying existence that happens when
we open up our gardens to the rest of the local environment by using native
plants. We believe in giving to the needy and poor of our own species, and to
other causes near our hearts, why not the birds, insect pollinators and
amphibians in the gardens we supposedly cherish so much?”
As the years go by, the native garden
becomes more and more established and only occasional hand weeding is
needed. Additional species are
occasionally added from a recently established community native plant nursery where volunteers propagate tubestock with seed collected from nearby bushland
reserves. I sometimes try this myself with mixed results!
The “re-wilded” suburban backyard has
provided greater biodiversity, a better connection to nature and more enjoyment
whilst it has removed the time, cost,
and energy of mowing, fertilizing and “manicuring”. It’s
the ultimate “win win” gardening experience!
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| The re-wilded native garden.
Check out the story by Robin Powell in the Sydney Morning Herald Spectrum pages siren-song-of-backyard-wilderness-in-Manly-Vale- and have a look at her blog post on this garden"Wilding the backyard"
STOP PRESS
Bandicoots, anecdotally were very very common in my suburb of Manly Vale. About 50 years ago they totally disapperared after residents persecuted them for digging up their manicured lawns in search of grubs, they were also heavily predated on by introduced foxes. Amazingly, all these years later they have reappeared (from God knows where) and are beginning to reestablish themselves. Below is one photographed in my "rewilded" Sydney backyard where they now forage and (I think) live.
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