Native Plants

If the brief is a garden that survives water restrictions, shrugs off heatwaves and does not need you every weekend, natives are the shortest route there. These are species shaped by Australian soils and rainfall long before irrigation existed, and this collection puts the practical workhorses of that group in one place.

The main thing to learn before planting natives is that they are not simply tough versions of exotic plants, they have different rules. Many, especially banksias, grevilleas and their relatives, are sensitive to phosphorus, so feed only with a low phosphorus native fertiliser and keep mushroom compost and manures away from them. Drainage beats richness every time: most natives would rather grow in lean, free draining ground than improved beds, and on heavy clay it is worth mounding soil 20 to 30 centimetres high and planting into the mound. Water deeply once or twice a week for the first summer, then taper right off, because a native kept on constant drip feed grows soft and short lived while one weaned onto natural rainfall becomes genuinely drought tolerant.

• Tube stock establishes remarkably fast and is the economical way to plant natives in quantity.
• Prune lightly after flowering every year from the start, as most natives resent hard cuts into old bare wood.
• Mulch with chunky bark or gravel rather than fine mulches that hold humidity against stems.
• Match the plant to the spot on drainage first and sun second, and most natives will do the rest themselves.

Gardeners planting for birds and pollinators as well as resilience should read the companion Australian natives page, which approaches the range from a habitat angle. For the two most planted low maintenance natives in the country, see our lomandra care guide and westringia care guide. Landscapers and anyone mass planting a large site can order through our wholesale program for volume pricing.