Backyards for nature

The more variety of plants you have in your garden, the more animals will visit.

Go to your local bush and see how nature does it. You’ll notice a dense mix of groundcovers, shrubs, climbers and trees.

Create structure and variety in your garden. You don’t have to replicate nature exactly, but you can create a garden with different plant types and layers – from groundcovers and shrubs to a canopy of taller trees.

Don’t be afraid to cram a variety of plants in – denser plantings will bring more animals to visit and create more places for them to nest, breed and shelter.

Increase biodiversity in your garden

Plants

Limit paved and concreted areas to let water soak into your soil.

Use natural groundcover or leave bare patches of dirt instead.

Bare soil is important for insects that dig nests in the ground, like native blue-banded and teddy bear bees. Birds also like to forage in soil for insects, worms and other creatures.

Connect

If you live near bushland, you can link your garden to the bush by growing native trees and shrubs local to your area. This will create stepping stones or green corridors for wildlife to move around.

Your local council plant nursery will have native plants local to your area (they may have free local plant giveaways) and advice on how to grow them:

• Hawkesbury Community Nursery
• Hills Shire Council
• Hornsby Community Nursery
• Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Nursery
• Lane Cove Community Nursery
• Marrickville and Rozelle Bay Community Native Nurseries
• North Sydney Council
• Randwick Community Nursery
• Sutherland Shire Community Nursery.

If you choose exotic plants make sure they are easy to maintain, don’t require a lot of water and are unlikely to become weeds. Make sure you remove weeds from your garden on a regular basis.

Soil

Look after your soil. Use groundcover and natural mulches rather than woodchips.

Groundcovers (creeping plants) reduce evaporation from the soil, which means less watering, and prevent weeds from taking hold. 

Look for native groundcover plants like creeping boobialla, daisies, pigface, and prostrate grevilleas at your local nursery.

Natural mulches, like composted leaves, will improve your soil – unlike woodchips or synthetic weed mats. Avoid using woodchips because they:

• stop oxygen from reaching your soil which can kill beneficial insects
• repel water rather than letting it sink in
• may attract termites
• can be acidic and might change the pH of your soil.

Know your soil type to see what plants would suit it best. Plants suited to your soil will be healthier and more disease resistant, and produce more fruit and flowers.

You will need to care for your soil to get the most out of it.

Homes

Add nest boxes

Even if you don’t have much plant life in your outdoor space you can attract wildlife to your garden by installing a nest box or an insect hotel.

Hollows are natural holes in trees caused by disease, lightning strike or when old branches fall off.

Hollows vary in size and are homes for bees, birds, possums and microbats.

Trees take between 60 and 140 years to form a natural hollow so it’s important to preserve hollow-bearing old trees. These trees are being removed across Sydney, which means this important biodiversity resource is now in short supply.  

You can help our local wildlife by installing an artificial hollow in your garden. These are also known as artificial nests, or nest boxes, and are a great way to help hollow-nesting animals find a home.

Add a water feature 

Build a frog pond to add habitat and beauty to your garden.

You could also consider designing or retrofitting your swimming pool so that it is self-cleaning, free of chemicals, and cheaper to run. The birds will love it and you could even share a swim with native frogs and fish.

Water features like a birdbath or a pond will also attract wildlife, such as birds, bees and other animals, to your garden.

Make sure your birdbath is shallow enough for birds to stand upright and place it in the shade so the water doesn’t evaporate quickly.

You could also include a small, shallow bath for bees with pebbles in it so they don’t drown.

Paving

Limit paved and concreted areas to let water soak into your soil. 

Use natural groundcover or leave bare patches of dirt instead. 

Bare soil is important for insects that dig nests in the ground, like native blue-banded and teddy bear bees. Birds also like to forage in soil for insects, worms and other creatures.

Large properties and remnant patches of native bushland

Nearly 1,000 native species are on the verge of extinction across New South Wales and more than 70% of land is privately owned. For example, most of the critically endangered Cumberland Plain Woodland occurs on private land.

Private landholders play an important role in protecting remnant native bushland and conserving biodiversity. The NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust (BCT) works in partnership with landholders to establish private land conservation agreements to conserve and manage high-value biodiversity on private land. Find out about the BCT's programs.

Are you a landholder with a small farm or lifestyle block? Connect with like-minded people to improve your land, production capacity and the environment through the Local Land Service’s Every Bit Counts project.

Habitat Stepping Stones

Developed at Macquarie University, Habitat Stepping Stones is a project that helps you find beautiful food, water and shelter elements to add to your backyard, balcony, school or community centre to create a habitat stepping stone for local wildlife.

If you pledge online to add 3 or more habitat options to your place, Habitat Stepping Stones will send you a plaque for your front fence. It’s easy to support your local wildlife.

Find out more at Habitat Stepping Stones.