By Emma Young
There’s nothing wrong with ditching your half-dead grass and planting a verge garden. The council and the state government want you to. Some will even pay you to.
But West Australian garden guru and TV personality Trevor Cochrane urges you to think twice and dig once, as mistakes will be costly not only for your wallet, but for wildlife too.
Jocelyn Sisson’s effort in Floreat won Best Sustainable Verge Presentation this year in the Town of Cambridge’s annual sustainable verge garden awards. Credit: Town of Cambridge
The Water Corporation gives numerous Perth councils up to $10,000 to pass on as incentives to residents to quit verge grass, in the form of rebates, free plants, workshops, mulch and even cash prizes for verge garden awards.
Participating WA councils are Mandurah, East Fremantle, Fremantle, Cambridge, Albany, Bassendean, Bayswater, Canning, Cockburn, Harvey, Joondalup, Kalamunda, Mosman Park, Rockingham, Stirling, Subiaco, Serpentine Jarrahdale, Victoria Park and Vincent.
Last financial year the scheme co-funded 263 rebates, nearly 53,000 plants, six workshops, 427 trees and even one waterwise garden competition.
Trevor Cochrane, host of TV’s The Garden Gurus and author of multiple gardening books, said there were huge water savings to be had from replacing an irrigated lawn verge with waterwise plants, but there also could be unintended consequences.
“Gardeners are the most intensive form of farmers we have,” he said.
“They are such visionary people and see what something’s going to look like.
“But you have to pull yourself back, think about what you really do want.”
Cochrane said the term “native” could be grossly misleading. Plants from Asia, India, Northern Queensland or NSW – where a lot of plant breeding was coming from – were all sometimes being called native even on Perth councils’ official lists, he said, despite thriving in completely different climates.
He urged gardeners to look for plants endemic to Perth or even the Mid West, given climate and rainfall patterns were moving south – plants that could be established with winter rainfall, then cope without summer rainfall or irrigation.
Trevor Cochrane oversaw the Water Corporation’s own verge garden.
“The Water Corporation’s information is coming from 2-3 production nurseries in Perth,” he said.
“We should go to the people who are the real experts, the botanists from Kings Park – which is doing some amazing work with breeding Australian native plants. The blue kangaroo paw, the Geraldton wax flower … the work they’re doing should be the basis of what we’re thinking.
“Kings Park should be the pre-eminent source of gardening advice in the metro area.
“We are really leaning on the Water Corporation which is after all a water utility, albeit one trying to do the right thing.
“There is also the variance between councils.
“I don’t think the botanists from Kings Park would object to some of the exotic species going in, but some councils are saying ‘let’s keep planting jacarandas’ and others ‘let’s plant natives’ – and they mean east coast varieties, not really native.
“We are closer to Singapore than we are to Sydney.”
Meanwhile, good nurseries had staff willing to advise, Cochrane said, including Zanthorrea (Maida Vale), Apace (North Fremantle) and the Friends of Kings Park plant sales, held four times a year.
A Water Corporation spokesman said many councils preferred natives for their plantings and giveaways but in some contexts might prefer a non-native species in keeping with local character.
He said Water Corp’s waterwise plant directory was developed in partnership with Nursery and Garden Industry WA and featured predominantly WA native species and some non-native species, selected by climate suitability, watering and care needs, and availability, among other criteria.
More tips
- Don’t grow plants beneath the future canopy of a verge tree, as they will compete for soil and water.
- Enrich Perth’s poor soil with mulch and soil improvers.
- Help new street trees with food or at least some water until well established.
- Think about what use you will put your garden to – vegetable gardens need sun, swings for children (allowed in Vincent, Cottesloe, South Perth and Subiaco shires) need shade. Places for adults to sit and enjoy will need shade, shelter or misting to make them comfortable in all weathers.
The directory was reviewed annually, currently in collaboration with Kings Park, and Water Corp would welcome working with Kings Park to ensure the directory continued to meet its aims.
He said the matter of which species local governments called “native” was determined by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions and WA Local Government Association’s local government urban forest working group.
Cochrane is also concerned about edible gardens, saying they attract birds and native animals that are frequently hit by cars passing at 60km/h.
He said a trend in dwarf flowering eucalypts was of high risk to birds that fed in them, then took flight at vehicle height.
“We sure do [want birds in gardens] but not right on major traffic thoroughfares,” he said.
For these verges, Cochrane recommended plants with white foliage and hairy leaves, and non-flowering plants like strappy plants or herbs, as less bird-attracting.
He said herb gardens could also be community-enhancing.
“In built-up areas like Subiaco I’ve seen people put a little sign out and say, help yourself for dinner tonight,” he said.
People living in cul-de-sacs or low traffic areas could be a bit less cautious.
Finally, Cochrane said, now was the time to be planning the new garden, not planting it.
“Plants grown in nurseries with quality potting mix and huge amounts of water are very soft and to put them at this time of year into the ground without watering them is almost a death sentence,” he said. “Wait until April or May.”
The Water Corporation’s simple ways to save water
- Use a timer or your favourite 4-minute song to time your showers, which account for a quarter of a household’s water use.
- Water once, before 9am, on your household’s watering days.
- Use the handy leak detection tool on the Water Corporation’s website
- Check the recommended watering times for your sprinkler type.
- Choose waterwise plants. More than 40 per cent of Perth household water is used outside.
- Brush your teeth with the tap off. A running tap wastes up to 10 litres per minute.
- Swap to a water efficient showerhead and save up to 20,000 litres annually.
- Use the dishwasher (though only when it’s full); a four-star dishwasher uses less water than a kitchen sink.
- Use short cool clothes washing cycles where possible, and again, wait for a full load.
- Keep the pool cover on when your pool or spa isn’t in use.
- Mulch your garden
- Use a wetting agent on your lawn
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