Make your garden a habitat for wildlife

Your garden is home to many living things. Birds can be easily seen and heard, but animals such as lizard, frogs and insects may also be hiding in your garden.

Here are a few ideas to encourage wildlife into your garden:

Become an eco-friendly gardener

• Eliminate chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides and fungicides 
• Compost weeds and trimmings and return them to your garden
• Plant native plants that grow naturally in your area.
• Provide year round flowers and fruits by using a variety of native plants 
• Plant nectar producing species such as Grevilleas, Banksias and Callistemons for marsupial mice, possums, birds and bats. 
• Encourage smaller insect-eating birds by planting insect-pollinated plants such as Wattles, Native Peas and Tea-Trees.

Emulate Natural Systems

• Provide a range of habitats to attract a variety of wildlife. Include trees, shrubs and groundcover vegetation layers into your garden. 
• Plant in clumps to provide refuges for animals 
• Retain natural features such as rocks, logs, twigs and leaf litter and trees with hollows

More Information

Find out about your local wildlife and their habitats. Become an informed observer of the wildlife in your backyard.
Contact your local council or community nursery to find out how to obtain the native plants that grow in your area

Useful Books:

Clyne, D. (1990) How to Attract Butterflies to your Garden. Reed Books Pty Ltd. NSW
Fairley, A., Moore, P. (rev.ed.) (2001) Native Plants of the Sydney District. Kangaroo Press Pty Ltd. NSW
Pizzey, G. (1988) A Garden of Birds. Penguin Books, Australia
Robinson, L. (2000) Field Guide to the Native Plants of Sydney. Kangaroo Press Pty Ltd, NSW
Smith, B. (1995) Caring for Possums. Kangaroo Press Pty Ltd, NSW
Triggs, B. (1996) Tracks, Scats and Other Traces. Oxford University Press, Melbourne
Walraven, E. (1999) Care of Australian Wildlife. New Holland Publishers, Pty Ltd, Australia