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Everyone’s talking about Australian native plants, and with good reason. Not only do these plants represent Australia’s often unique flora, they also have special attributes and benefits for gardens. Many are highly attractive to insects, birds and small mammals for both food and shelter, which means growing them in your garden helps improve the local environment. Some are even edible...

In the past, there was a firm belief that if you wanted to grow Australian native plants, you had to have a completely native garden. This was partly due environmental beliefs, partly aesthetic and partly because native plants were considered to have special growing requirements which didn’t mix well with other garden plants. Well, times have changed. Australian native plants...

Long dry conditions, water restrictions and the high cost of water are all here to stay. It's not all bad news, though. Low-level water restrictions shouldn’t restrict gardening, as they actually reflect best practice when it comes to watering. The cool of the early morning, or overnight when evaporation is low as mandated by water restrictions, are the best times...

Cottage gardens have charmed for centuries. If you'd like a timeless garden of your own, that's easy to maintain, consider going native. Taking inspiration from the classic English cottage garden model, you can create a beautiful informal tapestry of colour using purely Australian natives - mixing flowering shrubs, groundcover, grasses, bulbs, annuals and climbing plants. Australian native plants are drought-hardy...

As summer warms up, all homeowners need to think about being bushfire safe. This means getting rid of rubbish, clearing weeds and debris and cutting back overhanging branches so they are clear of buildings. If you live close to bushland, also remove flammable wood-based mulches especially from around buildings. Replace flammable mulches with inorganic products such as gravel that don’t...