Dont Cage Me In

In the beginning I planted the garden for a main reasons. To attract native wildlife. The purpose of the garden evolved a little. I wanted to make sure there were a lot of scented plants. Smelling the perfume as you wander around a garden may not always work directly on your conscious mind. I believe that a subtle scent can certain alter your mood and if you do happen to directly notice the smell then the deep breath you draw, up lifts you. I'm not sure that a garden can ever be brought into being without being multi functional. The wildlife, which I will get back too, was the driving influence.

A bare paddock with a mono culture of grass was perhaps the worst position to start from. Bare earth can be planted directly into. Weeds such as Lantana, Tobacco weed etc are not necessarily a bad thing, depending on what you want to do with the land. The larger weeds can give a protective canopy for some of the more tender rain forest species. These species generally will not do well when planted into the open. Camphor lorals are a nightmare, enough said.

Around the house the first things planted were bottle brush, Lilly pillies and Gravillias. Perhaps not species endemic to the rain forest that was the big scrub. Species that are endemic have been planted too. I think the last count of rain forest regeneration that we have replanted is 1000 endemic species. Each year we plant more and more. It is my hope, desire and belief that one day, before Tim and I pass on as custodians of this land. There will be at the very least 20 new hectares of rain forest regeneration. Every spare inch of land we hope to utilise.

At the start of the garden, my view of wildlife was a few birds coming in to drink at the pond. I was horrified when I was 8 months pregnant. Came down stairs and thought to myself, whats that electrical cord doing there where someone can trip over it? As I moved towards 'the electrical cord' it moved, FAST! Snakes were not the preferred wildlife. I have since softened my attitude towards the animals with cold blood but at the time there were many EEPS!!! My partner, with me standing on the arm of the lounge. (Hard to do, I think I was about 110kg by then) managed to persuade it to leave without injury to either species, human or snake.

Since we have had a resident red belly black snake living here. I have stopped with the eeps and just stood well back and sprayed it with the hose. They don't like this, doesn't harm them but they do learn that that area is not great to hang around. Spiders are another part of the biodiversity that doesn't thrill me. I do realise they are necessary and try and leave them alone. Capture and release is the house policy.

There have been joys in unexpected wildlife too. I was cleaning my teeth late one night with the bathroom door open onto the back yard. Turning at a sound there was a bandicoot hopping around. He or she, wasn't overly worried about me and I watched while cleaning my teeth, for about 10 mins. Don't think my teeth have ever been so clean.

The Echidna was fantastic made even more so because I could share this amazing animal with my son. I wish I could have removed the tick for it.

We have imported wildlife too. Our native bees were bought and placed here to take advantage of the abundance of native blooms we have now. They like the exotic species blooms too. We have native fish in the ponds. Always be aware of that too while I'm on that subject.
The animals you bring in can and will move into the native environment. Cats are the equivalent of a natural disaster. You can prevent this by keeping them indoors or in those excellent enclosed runs (they can be huge!). Even the fattest and most lazy cat will be a deterrent to wildlife. Please be a responsible pet owner. If you are an irresponsible cat owner and I have been in the past. PUT A BELL ON IT. Give the native animals a chance at the very least.


Exotic plants can be just as nasty. Pond weed is a good example. People put these wonderful looking plants into their ponds, thinking it doesn't overflow into a natural waterway. There are other ways of escape. A bird takes a drink, flies off with seeds or some of the weed stuck to its leg. Bingo weed escapes into the native environment.


Ask where you get the plants;


Is it native and endemic to the area? if yes Woot! If not ask;





How does this plant propagate its self.


Are the seeds produced on the plant are viable? if they are remove spent flowers, if you must have that particular plant.


Does it have a running habit like some bamboos? etc etc


Does it have the potential to become weedy?


Is it poisonous to humans or animals? The Dutchman's pipe is a classic example of why this question is important. A lovely looking vine it looks so much like a native vine that we have the Richmond Bird-wing butterfly lays its eggs on the exotic vine and the caterpillars that hatch die from eating the Poison/wrong food source. This butterfly is now endangered.

I am not against exotic plants. I have many in my garden. I like to pepper them through the natives. I knew a girl (Lets pretend it wasn't me.), that once said; I dislike natives they are ugly plants. She was right, some of them are ugly, mostly she was wrong. Natives to look good, need tip pruning regularly. When I say tip pruning this is how I do it. I walk around the garden with a cup of tea and pinch out any new tips that are growing straggly from the rest of the plant. I do this about once every 6-8 weeks. In most natives this causes the plant to branch out at the closest node from the tip prune. You end up with more flowers and a dense growth habit. Most natives too are natures design to save water, we are a dry continent. Small and less leaves, pale subdued greens, more branches all help our native plants survive the dry times. These features can make that lush cool green haven you wanted a little difficult to achieve. Notice I didn't say impossible. There are natives that have this lush habit. Native Gardenia is a perfect example, taro, gingers palms. For large backyards (Well huge), figs are stunning. Like me you can pepper your natives with exotics. Talk to your local native nursery, they will certainly have more of an idea than me.


At the end of the day I'm very proud that I have wildlife in the garden, snakes and spiders included. I love showing off my garden to all my visitors human, feathered furred and scale alike. Lets make sure our kids don't need to put a bird in a cage just to have it hang around.