A number of gardens within the Wetlands demonstrate how Australian plants may be used to enhance a home garden. They were designed and are maintained by the Australian Plant Society’s Southern Tablelands Group—which has also propagated many plants for the Wetlands as a whole.

The plants in these dedicated gardens are Australian, but not necessarily indigenous to the Goulburn area—as are all the other plants within the Wetlands. Species have been selected for qualities they bring to a garden—attractive foliage, form, flowers or bark; hardiness in the Goulburn climate; providing habitat for fauna; or fulfilling a particular function such as screening.

Caption: Australian plants: beautiful and functional.

Woodland Garden board

The Woodland Garden features Eucalyptus pulverulenta (Silver-leaved Mountain Gum) which are ideal trees for smaller spaces. Their beautiful trunks are revealed by peeling bark, while silvery leaves form an overarching canopy.

The understory includes low-growing shrubs such as Rhagodia spinescens (Spiny Saltbush), grasses including Poa species and Themeda triandra (Kangaroo Grass), as well as herbaceous plants which thrive in the dappled sunlight, Brachyscome multifida (Cut-leaved Daisy) and Chrysocephalum apiculatum (Yellow Buttons).

Caption: Artist’s impression of the woodland garden by Sue Pearson.

Bird-hide garden board

Australian plants are renowned for their bird attracting qualities. Low growing shrubs such as Crowea exalata and Correa species, combined with ground covering Grevillea species all flower prolifically to provide food and shelter for a range of smaller honeyeaters and insectivorous birds.

Upturned pipes not only help to highlight Xanthorrhoea australis (Grass Tree), but also advance slow-growing specimens by giving them immediate height, while ensuring excellent drainage.

Caption: Nectar-filled flowers draw Honeyeaters, while Magpies join volunteers every week for morning tea.

Carpark gardens board

Many Australian shrubs may be used to create garden rooms or as a quick growing screen or hedge. Most are adaptable, responding well to being pruned into formal shapes, but also may be allowed to grow more naturally, with a light tip prune after flowering, for a low-maintenance garden.

Acacia convenyi (Blue Wattle) and Callistemon citrinus (Crimson Bottlebrush) provide excellent shelter from the elements for humans and wildlife alike, while flowers provide a valuable food source for birds as well as for bees and butterflies.

Caption: Larger Australian shrubs such as Callistemon citrinus make attractive informal screens or hedges.

Banksia Embankment garden board (Disability Entrance)

The Banksia Embankment is the most challenging site on the Wetlands—combining a harsh, west-facing slope, rocky soil, and exposure to repeated flash flooding from the runoff after vegetation clearing above May Street. This is a garden of experimentation—finding the right blend of plants to cope with both extremes, as well as implementing measures to enhance the garden’s resilience, such as the mulch filled hessian tubes lining the path, strategically placed logs to redirect water and many loads of mulch.

Banksias (Bottlebrush), which form the core of this garden, come in a range of forms, from ground covers through to trees. Other flowering trees such as Leptospermum (Tea tree) and Acacia (Wattle) are inter-planted with shrubs and ground covers including the bonsai-like form of Homoranthus prolix (Barraba Heath Myrtle), several Grevilleas as well as a range of native grasses. Already the three layers of foliage from groundcovers and native grasses, through to shrubs and trees are ensuring that this garden is a wildlife friendly habitat.

Caption: The steep slope is stabilised through plantings, logs, hessian “mulch bags” and more mulch.

For further information about the plants used in these gardens, visit the Australian Plants Society website. https://austplants.com.au/Southern-Tablelands