Guide to Maintaining a Native Garden

Pruning

Pruning prevents plants becoming leggy, woody and enduring snapping branches. It helps the plants to look lush and keeps them contained so that they fit into a garden with a variety of plants that all look healthy and well maintained. It also promotes better flowering in the next flowering season.

The best time to prune is after flowering and it's simple. Remove up to a third of the growth while pruning to even up the plant's shape also.

Watering

In a garden with a collection of Australian native plants with differing water requirements, supplementary irrigation is essential. Use drip irrigation and do two to three deep soakings throughout the warmer winter months.

Feeding

A fallacy from the 70s is that Australian native plants don't need feeding. The truth is natives don't like manufactured or chemical based fertilisers that are high in phosphorous. But they like to be fed, ideally in spring and autumn, either with a specifically designed Australian native plant food or an organic based fertiliser such as blood and bone or pellitised chicken or sheep manure.

Australian natives, like all plants, need to be mulched and you can either choose an organic based mulch like composted tree pruning's or you can use pebbles and river stones - a great option for a bushfire-prone area. Apply a thick tree mulch to your natives at least 100mm to 150mm thick and top up each year.

Remember careful selection along with pruning, appropriate fertiliser, watering and mulching will guarantee success.