I'm asking on behalf of friends of mine. They're hoping to establish a medium
density housing village on the outskirts of N'cle. The aim is to make it an
eco-friendly place which makes the best attempt possible at planting native
plant species and providing small habitat pockets for frogs, wetland birds
(backs onto wetland areas), native reptiles and so on.

One of the hopes is to have a sort of 'succession' area to show how one area can
merge into another (eg. wetland into mangrove or wet sclerophyll) This would
contain locally native species with just a few representatives of each. The
*idea* is to have a sort of reference garden that local people can use as a
model in establishing eco-friendly gardens for themselves.

Now, while the overall desire to use indigenous-to-Newcastle species is strong,
I can see a problem in that the end result is not going to be 'pretty' enough to
make it attractive to a lot of people. Sooooo... my first question is: does
anyone have any good ideas of ways to start a native garden and which species
can really add that 'zing' to make people say 'Oh, that's noice, that's
different, that's unusual, I loike that!'

Secondly, *how* do I find out exactly *which* plant species are native to a very
narrow habitat area on the banks of the Hunter River? Nearly everything you can
see is simply RTA plantings, put there to 'restore' the native flora: it has
very little to do with what was there originally!

Hope some of you can help with ideas ...
--
Trish {|:-}
Newcastle, NSW, Australia

This website is a useful resource http://www.floraforfauna.com.au/ . Try
the "create a garden" tool on the top menu.
As far as "what plants are suitable?" you can check out what grows well in
other peoples gardens in the area, and get great advice from local plant
suppliers. A plant supplier should be able to identify which plants really
are local natives.


"Trish Brown" > wrote in message
...
> I'm asking on behalf of friends of mine. They're hoping to establish a
medium
> density housing village on the outskirts of N'cle. The aim is to make it
an
> eco-friendly place which makes the best attempt possible at planting
native
> plant species and providing small habitat pockets for frogs, wetland birds
> (backs onto wetland areas), native reptiles and so on.
>
> One of the hopes is to have a sort of 'succession' area to show how one
area can
> merge into another (eg. wetland into mangrove or wet sclerophyll) This
would
> contain locally native species with just a few representatives of each.
The
> *idea* is to have a sort of reference garden that local people can use as
a
> model in establishing eco-friendly gardens for themselves.
>
> Now, while the overall desire to use indigenous-to-Newcastle species is
strong,
> I can see a problem in that the end result is not going to be 'pretty'
enough to
> make it attractive to a lot of people. Sooooo... my first question is:
does
> anyone have any good ideas of ways to start a native garden and which
species
> can really add that 'zing' to make people say 'Oh, that's noice, that's
> different, that's unusual, I loike that!'
>
> Secondly, *how* do I find out exactly *which* plant species are native to
a very
> narrow habitat area on the banks of the Hunter River? Nearly everything
you can
> see is simply RTA plantings, put there to 'restore' the native flora: it
has
> very little to do with what was there originally!
>
> Hope some of you can help with ideas ...
> --
> Trish {|:-}
> Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Trish Brown wrote:

....snip.....

> Secondly, *how* do I find out exactly *which* plant species are native to a very
> narrow habitat area on the banks of the Hunter River? Nearly everything you can
> see is simply RTA plantings, put there to 'restore' the native flora: it has
> very little to do with what was there originally!

You are going to have to go to references to find out what grew there
originally as just about all the vegetation along the lower Hunter has
been cleared .

Then you could try and get sources as close to the area as possible.

If this is a commercial development with time constraints, the best you
could hope for is to buy the same species from local nursery. I'm
thinking the Forestry Commission nursery at Muswellbrook (?) might be
worth a visit.

However, if you want to maximise birds, etc, then you might have to
introduce other species from the region to get variety.

The real secret to attracting birds, etc is no chemicals, variety, no
cats or other predators, and being prepared to have dead trees for
borers, etc.

Most people just go for the grevilleas, etc, which are great for honey
eaters, but don't get insectivors.

Also, try for native grass patches and be prepared NOT to mow. As I was
explaining to someone, I don't mow under the orange tree in summer
because a certain grass grows there that produces seeds that finches
like. They come into our yard only when this grass is seeding. Oh, went
my wife, "well I had better stop weeding it out then" {:-)

However, by far the best tree in our suburban block is the very large
deep soil tree, which gets all sorts of bird continuously. what the
others get is just a trifle.

Just my 2c.

In article >,
Trish Brown > wrote:

> I'm asking on behalf of friends of mine. They're hoping to establish a medium
> density housing village on the outskirts of N'cle. The aim is to make it an
> eco-friendly place which makes the best attempt possible at planting native
> plant species and providing small habitat pockets for frogs, wetland birds
> (backs onto wetland areas), native reptiles and so on.
<snip>
> Now, while the overall desire to use indigenous-to-Newcastle species is
> strong, I can see a problem in that the end result is not going to be 'pretty'
> enough to make it attractive to a lot of people. Sooooo... my first
> question is: does anyone have any good ideas of ways to start a native
> garden and which species can really add that 'zing' to make people
> say 'Oh, that's noice, that's different, that's unusual, I loike that!'

I'd be hiring a garden designer with a good reputation for using native
species, rather than attempting it myself. It's not usually the plants, but
the arrangement, that is important, and for a (we hope) profitable
development, you want a professional handling that, not an amateur.

> Secondly, *how* do I find out exactly *which* plant species are native to a
> very narrow habitat area on the banks of the Hunter River?

Contact the local council, Landcare, and any local environmental groups you
can find. That sort of information will only be found locally, and may not
even be in published form. Check with the local library, too, and the
historical society.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Life is like a cigarette -- smoke it to the butt." -- Harvie Krumpet