Adelaide gardens A planting guide Healthy and attractive Using this urban landscapes planting guide This guide provides simple Getting started When it comes time to buying plants, this guide will provide a better understanding and inspiring garden advice Our gardens are challenged with long, hot, Contents dry summers, drought, water restrictions, of how and when to use local native for people living in the city and a changing climate. alternatives and the many benefits they Using this planting guide 3 provide. When you read the section on garden of Adelaide, its northern However, there is good news! You can have escapes and learn about the impacts invasive Discovering local native plants 4 plains, foothills and a garden that copes with our tough climate plants have, you might even spot some in your How to use local native plants 5 without compromising on style by using garden and decided to replace them with southern suburbs. resilient local native plants. Garden escapes 6 recommendations in this guide. This guide shows you how to utilise a fantastic You can help! 7 Water-wise, local native Using local native plants in your garden is an plants are suggested as array of Adelaide’s local native plants to create easy and rewarding way to help look after our Trees and tall shrubs 8 a stunning garden. Step by step, you will learn environment. We hope you enjoy discovering what plant works best for a given area or Medium shrubs 10 attractive replacements urban Adelaide’s local native plants. need, how to incorporate local native plants Happy gardening! Groundcovers and herbs 14 for introduced plants that in different landscaping styles, how best to maintain your plants and where they can Grasses 18 are harmful to our local be purchased. Sedges, rushes and strappy plants 20 landscapes. You will also learn about which plants to avoid Climbers 22 Adelaide gardens – a planting guide is part as they are known for becoming serious weeds Garden designs of a series of gardening guides produced in Adelaide’s parks, creeklines and other by Natural Resources Adelaide and Mt Lofty open spaces. Natural cottage 24 Ranges and funded through the NRM levy. Formal courtyard 26 The other guides are: Family 28 • Coastal gardens – a planting guide Contemporary 30 • Creating a wildlife friendly garden. Growing and maintaining 32 They are available from local native plants www.naturalresources.sa.gov.au/ Sourcing local native plants 34 adelaidemtloftyranges, natural resources centres and various nursery outlets. Where to now? 35 Your notes 36 Useful resources 38 White Goodenia Goodenia albiflora 3 Discovering local How to use native plants local native plants What is a local native plant? Local native plants have a wide Local native plants can be incorporated into This guide also shows you which local Local native plants are species that naturally range of benefits. your garden in the same ways as exotic plants. plant to pick for a particular effect, and occurred in your neighbourhood prior to They: They are suited to all landscaping styles, from makes recommendations for replacing plants European settlement, and have evolved to suit formal courtyards to relaxed natural cottage known to escape from gardens to become • require less effort to maintain local conditions such as soil type, temperature settings, to bold contemporary gardens or invasive weeds. playful family-orientated spaces. and water availability. They are also called • require minimal watering = Information on caring for your native plants ‘indigenous plants’. conserves our water supplies As you will discover throughout this guide, is provided on pages 32-33. • require minimal fertilisers and pesticides there is a local native plant for most garden Why use local native plants? situations. Plants featured include ground- • provide habitat, food and shelter for covers, low shrubs, structured sedges and Local native plants are a great option for local fauna such as birds, butterflies grasses, flowering creepers and trailers, residents of Adelaide as they have adapted and small lizards to survive harsh conditions such as prolonged bird-attracting shrubs and screening trees. • save you money and time sun exposure, nutrient-deprived soils, and The guide also highlights a variety of local limited water availability. This all makes them • adapt to various landscaping styles native species which are suitable for pots, the best plants for your neighbourhood and and produce striking results such as the Yacca (Grass Tree) which can be our environment! • flower at different times of the year used to create a striking feature pot plant, so with good planning you can have or pretty plants such as Native Pelargonium and Native Bluebell that look great clustered colour in your garden all year round. in groups in cottage style gardens. To make it easy to choose which plants best suit your yard, the ‘grow me instead’ sections (pages 8-23) includes icons highlighting the following attributes and uses: Attracts native birds Attracts butterflies and/or native insects Suitable for pots Common Eutaxia Eutaxia microphylla 5 Declared plants and Weeds of National Significance (WoNS) Landowners and land managers have a legal responsibility to control declared plants and WoNS. Weed species, including local requirements for control, vary across the state. For information on these types of plants contact your regional natural resources centre You can Garden or take a look at the links on page 38. To make it easier for you to see which weeds escapes are priorities for control, the ‘don’t plant me’ help! sections (pages 8-23) include icons showing Have a good look through this guide to check the following weed ratings: Are you harbouring known villains? which common garden plants are nasties in your Weeds are plants growing where they aren’t local environment. You might like to remove any wanted, and they aren’t just sour sobs and Declared Plant in SA you have and replace them with the indigenous thistles! Some plants escape from gardens plants suggested. Take this guide with you and become serious environmental weeds Weed of National Significance when making new plant purchases and don’t which pose a major threat to the health and buy plants which are known to be a problem. value of our natural environments. How do garden plants become Here are some other easy things you can do: urban invaders? Environmental weeds are trouble! • dispose of your garden waste responsibly You might not realise you’re harbouring plants Plants that cause problems often originate • check with your local council before with the potential to become garden escapes, from regions with similar climates, such as you plant into parks, reserves and other or understand how they can ‘jump the fence’ the Mediterranean and South Africa. Thriving open spaces to become problems. Garden plants can in similar conditions, they out-compete SA’s escape into natural environments naturally, • join a local volunteer group to learn more local natives. They also don’t have the range accidentally or deliberately. about your environment and lend a hand of pests and diseases here to naturally control them. They: They can spread by: • call your local natural resources centre (details on back cover); or visit • can reduce habitat, shelter and • seeds being transported by birds and www.naturalresources.sa.gov.au/ food for native fauna other animals; wind and water (including adelaidemtloftyranges for information Be aware that different weeds need to be stormwater); humans (on clothing, shoes • can alter soil conditions on how to get involved controlled by different methods: there are etc.); and on machinery such as lawn mowers • clog up waterways and affect water • keep an eye out for emerging aquatic physical, biological and chemical methods for • being dumped in garden waste (seeds or quality entering Gulf St Vincent weeds, such as Water Hyacinth controlling weeds. Use the links on page 38 plant cuttings can establish up to several • harbour pest animals such as foxes, feral (Eichhornia crassipes) and Salvinia to find out more information on best practice months later) cats and rats which prey on native wildlife (Salvinia molesta) that may appear methods for controlling weeds. • being deliberately planted by people in • are costly to control and take resources in local creeklines or ponds, and our natural environments away from other important issues immediately report any occurrences to • growing through garden fences into • reduce the value and usability of our your local natural resources centre. our parks and reserves. open and public spaces. 7 Trees and tall shrubs Don’t plant me Grow me instead Desert Ash Drooping Sheoak Fraxinus angustifolia Allocasuarina verticillata (Western Mediterranean and Portugal) Tree to 8m, long weeping grey-green foliage. Flowers: winter Flowers in winter. Cone-like fruit. Responds to pruning. Reproduces: seed, vegetatively by root suckers Uses: windbreak, screening, hedges, or feature tree. Non-local Wattles Grey Box / Peppermint Box Acacia saligna / A. cyclops / A. iteaphylla / A. longifolia Eucalyptus microcarpa / E. odorata (Australia) Tree with single or multiple trunk to 20m. Coarse bark. Flowers: spring Flowers winter to spring. Uses: feature or shade tree. Reproduces: seed, vegetatively by root suckers Minimum 3.5m set back from property and sewage pipes. Hawthorn or May / Azarola Silver Banksia Crataegus monogyna / C. sinaica Banksia marginata (Europe, south-western Asia and north Africa) Feature tree 3 to 5m. Leaves green on top, silver below. Yellow flowers Flowers: spring on cylindrical cone, spring to autumn. Responds to pruning; can prune Reproduces: seed to single trunk. Interesting foliage and seed pods. Uses: feature plant, streetscaping. Slow growing. If foliage yellows apply chelated iron. Olive Southern Cypress-pine Olea europaea Callitris gracilis (Mediterranean) Cylindrical-shaped tree to 5m. Green foliage, dark brown cone fruit. Flowers: spring Responds to pruning. Uses: screening, hedging, and to line driveways Reproduces: seed (in fruit, autumn-winter) and paths.