Australian Natives

Plant an Australian native garden and the wildlife arrives without an invitation: honeyeaters working the nectar, blue banded bees on the flower spikes, skinks patrolling the mulch. This collection is for gardeners who want their patch to be habitat as well as scenery, using the plants our birds and pollinators actually evolved alongside.

A habitat garden works best when something is always in flower. Grevilleas and correas carry nectar through winter when food is scarce, wattles light up late winter and spring, bottlebrush and tea tree peak through the warm months, and banksias bridge autumn. Aim for at least one nectar source per season and you will keep resident birds rather than passing visitors. Structure matters as much as flowers: small birds like wrens and finches need dense, even prickly, shrubs in the 1 to 2 metre range to shelter from cats and currawongs, so resist the urge to make everything open and tidy. Layer the planting the way bushland does it, with groundcovers and grasses below, shrubs in the middle and a small tree or two above, and skip the insecticides, since the insects you spray are the food supply you planted for.

One caution born of kindness: massive flowered hybrid natives feed aggressive larger honeyeaters that can drive small birds away, so mix in fine flowered local style species for balance. A shallow dish of water at ground level and a rock or log pile will do more for lizards and frogs than any plant purchase.

If your first priority is toughness and low upkeep rather than wildlife, the same range is organised around exactly that on our native plants page. To get the signature habitat species right, start with our grevillea care guide and banksia care guide, two families that between them can keep a garden buzzing and chirping all year.