Designing Resilient Gardens

Condobolin District Landcare hosted a Garden Design Workshop focused on creating resilient, climate-appropriate native gardens for the Central West. The event combined a short presentation on garden design principles and fire-safe practices with a hands-on propagation workshop, allowing participants to take home endemic, fire-retardant plants to establish in their own gardens.

Capacity building - LEP23-005-Condo-05_LLC_008

The issue

The Condobolin community is experiencing increased climate pressures, including hotter conditions, reduced rainfall and higher bushfire risk. Many existing gardens are not suited to the local Central West climate, resulting in high water use, poor plant survival and ongoing maintenance challenges. There was a clear need for accessible, practical information to help residents design resilient, fire-safe gardens using native and endemic plants that are better adapted to local conditions.

The solution

Condobolin District Landcare addressed this issue by hosting a Garden Design Workshop focused on practical, locally relevant solutions. A 45-minute presentation was delivered by guest speaker Kate, covering resilient garden design principles, fire-safe gardening and the use of endemic plant species suited to the Central West climate. This was followed by a hands-on propagation workshop where participants used provided materials to propagate pigface, saltbush or billy buttons, allowing them to take home plants to establish in their own gardens.

The impact

The workshop increased community knowledge and confidence in designing resilient, climate-appropriate gardens using native and endemic plants. 50 participants gained practical skills in fire-safe garden design and plant propagation, and left with plants they could establish at home. This is important as it supports long-term climate adaptation, reduces water use and maintenance, and encourages the use of locally suited species that enhance biodiversity while improving garden resilience across the Condobolin district.

Thank you to Evolution Mining Cowal Gold Operations for the community grant that made this workshop possible.

Author: Tasha Hurley