Grow a Garden for Wildlife @Sustainablegardeningaustralia #Sustainablegardeningaustralia
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Sustainable Gardening Australia www.sgaonline.org.au [email protected] Grow a Garden for Wildlife @sustainablegardeningaustralia #sustainablegardeningaustralia 1. Planning a Habitat Garden - Consider the needs of the fauna you want to attract. • Think in terms of a “whole of environment” garden • Food - Leaves, fruit, seed, insects etc. • Shelter - Dense shrubs, prickly bushes, rock crevices, tree hollows, grasses • Fresh water - Ponds, gullies, depressions, rock pools, water bowls etc • Breeding sites - Trees, thickets, grasses, leaf litter, rocks and tree hollows, water etc 2. Our gardens are an ecosystem and a food chain 3. Living Soil • A healthy soil: Absorbs more water and nutrients, Stores more water and nutrients, Releases water and nutrients to plants when needed, Supports more biodiversity, Grows stronger, healthier, more resilient water efficient pants • A healthy soil should be: Friable, Rich in organic matter, Abundant with soil worms, Teaming with life – Soil Food Web, Covered with a layer of mulch 4. It all starts with your Soil. Soil is the foundation of a Habitat Garden • Build up the Soil Food Web to power your habitat garden 1. Add organic matter – compost, aged manures, mulch, leaf litter 2. Avoid garden chemicals – fertilizers, pesticides, insecticide. Implement Integrated Pest Management 3. Keep soil moist 4. Minimize digging – disrupts many microbes in the soil food web 5. Avoid soil compaction – don’t stand on the soil. Raised garden beds. 1.2m wide beds 6. Prevent soil erosion – plant plants, mulch 5. Soil pH • pH is the measure of the acidity or alkalinity of the soil, pH plays a role in a plants ability to access and use nutrients. pH range for most garden plants is 6.0 to 7.5. A simple home pH test kit can be bought at all good nurseries. The best remedy to balance the pH of soil – add organic matter (compost or composted manure. If the pH is too low (acid), it can be raised with Dolomite of Lime (calcium carbonate). If the pH is too high (alkaline), it can be lowered garden Sulphur (slow to amend 6. Organic Mulch • Keeps soil moist for longer. Provides habitat for insects, lizards etc. Suppresses weed growth. Adds nutrients to the soil and improve soil structure. Reduces run-off and erosion. Keep soil friable with reduced compacting. Regulates soil temperature 7. Research your Local Area • Council resources, Local libraries, take a walk around the neighborhood and observe the flora and fauna. Investigate local indigenous nurseries 8. Garden Structure and Diversity • Open gardens provide little food or shelter • Think in 3 dimensions and build vertical and horizontal layers in your garden • The more layers and variety of plants, the more diversity it will attract and support 1. Canopy – Large Trees 2. Mid Storey – Small Trees and shrubs 3. Understorey – Small Shrubs 4. Ground Cover 5. Leaf letter, rocks and logs 6. Soil fauna 9. Indigenous Plants • Are suited to the local soil / climate and can thrive with low rainfall • Help preserve the local plant ecology and contribute to the distinctive character of the area • Indigenous wildlife has evolved with these plants that provide perfect habitat, shelter and food • Symbiotic relationships between indigenous flora and fauna, especially in the bug world 10. Avoid Invasive Plants 11. Reduce Chemical Usage • A ”Whole of Environment” garden is in balance and has inbuilt pest control • Many native birds, lizards, micro-bats, insects are the natural predators of pests • Insects that have been sprayed with poisons can be harmful to wildlife that eat them • SGA’s “Garden Product Guide” identifies garden products that have a low environmental impact rating 12. Be a Responsible Pet owner Sustainable Gardening Australia www.sgaonline.org.au [email protected] Grow a Garden for Wildlife @sustainablegardeningaustralia #sustainablegardeningaustralia • Obey local government by laws and contain your animal on your property • Fence off areas such as frog ponds from dogs and cats • Secure dogs and cats, especially at night, so they don’t prey on native animals 13. Cats and Wildlife • On average, each roaming pet cat kills 186 reptiles, birds and mammals per year, most of them native to Australia (Legge Sarah, Woinarski John C. Z., Dickman Chris R., Murphy Brett P., Woolley Leigh-Ann, Calver Mike C. (2020) We need to worry about Bella and Charlie: the impacts of pet cats on Australian wildlife. Wildlife Research) • De-sex your cat. Keep your cat from roaming. Bright collars. Put a bell on your cat’s collar (no guarantee but it could help). Installing a cat-proof birdbath. Encourage your neighbors to do the same 14. Citizen Science • Frog Census - www.melbournewater.com.au; Australian Bird Feeding & Watering Study - https://csdb.org.au/Home/Home.aspx; Backyard Birds Survey - www.birdsinbackyards.net. Powerful Owl Project - www.birdlife.org.au/projects/powerful-owl-project; Aussie Backyard Bird Count - http://birdlife.org.au/get- involved/whats-on/bird-week; Atlas of Living Australia - http://www.ala.org.au; Platypus Spot - https://platypusspot.org; Climate Watch - https://www.climatewatch.org.au; iNaturalist - https://www.inaturalist.org 15. Additional Resources: A.B Bishop - A practical guide to creating a wildlife-friendly Australian garden; Peter Grant – Habitat Gardening - Attracting wildlife to you garden; Sustainable Gardening in Stonington - www.sgaonline.org.au/pdfs/sg_stonnington.pdf 16. What do birds need - Shelter, food, water and nesting locations; Retain remnant vegetation; Plants some indigenous plants; Increase the structure and diversity of your garden; Habitat steppingstones; Supplementary nesting materials and places; Prickly shrubs for small birds 17. Birds live at every level of the habitat garden. Frugivores (fruit feeders) - Cuckoo, Silvereye, Eastern Rosella, Mistletoe bird. Grainivores (seed feeders) - Parrot, Bronzewing, Finch. Nectarivores (nectar feeders) - Honeyeater, Spinebill, Parrot. Insectivores (insect feeders) - Fairy-wren, Eastern Yellow Robin, Spotted Pardalote, Willie Wagtail, Scrub Wrens. Carnivores (meat feeders) - Currawongs, Kookaburra, Butcherbirds, Powerful Owl, Eagles, Magpie 18. Diversity of plants = Diversity of Birds - Increase the structure and diversity of your garden Image : www.Birds in backyards 19. Native Garden Menu for Bird Lovers • Insect Nursery - Acacia, daisies, everlastings, lilies, sweet bursaria, correa, melaleuca, hardenbergia • Lollie Shop - Correa, banksia (silver banksia), grevillea, callistemon • Seed Café - Acacia, casuarina, native grasses, sedges, flax lily • Fruit Shop - Dianella, ruby saltbush, native raspberries, prickly currant bush • Prickly Dense Shrubs - Hakea, acacia (prickly moses, hedge wattle), sweet bursaria, leptospermum 20. Nest Building Material Station - Many birds need building materials to make their nests • Make a nesting materials station for your balcony or courtyard. Only provide natural / organic materials • Example of things to add – Twigs, She oak needles, Leaves, Bark, Moss, Coir, Feathers, Spider webs 21. Nesting Boxes • Supplementary nesting boxes are needed as we have removed many habitat trees • A tree needs to be upwards of 150 years old for it to have developed suitable natural nesting hollows • Different birds prefer different nesting box sizes, designs, entry sizes • Installation: ~3m above the ground; Entrance facing east to south-east; Branches provide shade, movement and protection; Tree guard to stop cats/rats; Install safely. Find a helper, use a professional 22. Retaining Existing Trees and Hollows • Old / dead trees are an important habitat for many animals; Consider retaining the tree; Arborist can make a tree safe while retaining much of the habitat infrastructure 23. Bird Baths • Ensure your bird bath is: Off the ground – suspend from a tree or on a pedestal, Clean – water replaced regularly & has no detergents, Placed in dappled shade, Shallow with a rough bottom or pebbles or a stick, Relatively exposed so birds can see approaching danger but close to safety 24. Supplementary Feeding - Recommendation is to not supplementary feed. • Increases wildlife dependence on us; Can be an unnatural / unbalanced diet; Exposes them to more disease; Decreases foraging / gleaning skills increasing vulnerability if food runs low; Interrupts migratory behaviour; Wildlife breeds up to a level of food resulting in population booms ; Can decrease diversity by favouring dominate, aggressive species; Attracts unwanted pests / rodents; Can makes birds vulnerable to predators; • If you are going to feed - Use a high-quality food – e.g. breeders, Small quantities; Off the ground; Clean the feeder regularly; Irregular feeding pattern Sustainable Gardening Australia www.sgaonline.org.au [email protected] Grow a Garden for Wildlife @sustainablegardeningaustralia #sustainablegardeningaustralia 25. Netting of trees - www.wildlifefriendlyfencing.com. Only use netting that passes the finger test. Use netting barriers for individual fruit or the whole tree. Use supporting frames for the netting a whole tree. Net should be secured to the trunk or to the ground 26. Insectary Plants and Insect Hotels • Insects that may enjoy your hospitality include solitary bees e.g. Blue Banded bee, • Plant a variety of herbs and flowers to attract a variety of insects e.g. Rosemary, Lavender, and Salvias Asteraceae (daisy) family such as calendula, feverfew, yarrow and Apiaciae (parsley) family such as angelica, dill, parsley • An insect hotel can attract native bees and other