Australia is home to a beautiful diversity of native plants. More than 21000 species can be found here.
Many are well-suited and beautiful additions to any home garden, where they provide visual appeal, seasonal interest, habitat for local wildlife and an authentic sense of place.
It’s not a surprise that Australian gardeners have taken native plants into their hearts and their gardens. Propagating and selling native plants is now a multimillion-dollar industry, and many native plants have become firm favourites in gardeners’ minds. Think bottlebrushes, grevilleas, flowering gums and wattles.
But as this industry has grown, there’s also been a growth in misinformation about what it takes to garden with these beautiful and unique plants. It’s time to put some of these to bed once and for all, and do some native plant myth busting!
Native plants are drought tolerant
The first myth going around about Australian native plants is that they’re all drought loving survivors, happy in arid environments, dry soils and roasting sunlight.
It’s not true. With over 20,000 species of native plant in Australia, there’s something that evolved to fill just about every available niche. And that includes damp, boggy and wetland areas. Plants that are native to wet tropical Cairns or soggy Tasmania are just as native as something from Western Australia, meaning there are plenty of plants that need some water just to survive.
For home gardeners, this means that if there’s a damp shady corner in your garden, or pond, dam, or even a birdbath, there are plenty of native plants to fill that role.
Native plants are messy
A lot of people are hesitant to take the plunge and put native plants in their garden because they fear they wont fit into their desired garden aesthetic; one that’s neat, trimmed and tidy.
Many native plants do look better when they’re left to do their own thing. But there are also plenty that respond well to a hard prune, and can even be hedged. One of the most popular hedging plants going around is Ficus hillii ‘Flash’, and it’s a native. This doesn’t stop is from forming centimetre perfect walls of manicured green right across the country. Westringia is another native classic, widely used exactly because it can be pruned and clipped into almost any shape required. Even mallee eucalyptus can be pollarded right down to the base, from where they’ll regrow happily.
If you’re unsure how a native plant will do with a prune, ask at the nursery and have a look online for some inspiration pictures on how people are using them in their garden.
Native plants don’t need much care
Part of the fun of picking plants for your garden is checking out new varieties – things like new flower colours and shapes, or some eye-catching new frilly vegetation. Many of these creations are what’s known as ‘cultivars’; varieties of plants created by plant breeders for specific characteristics like flower size and colour, habit, shape or overall size.
These are distinct from the ‘wild type’ species that remain unchanged from those you would see growing in natural areas.
Native plants are no exception, and indeed many of our favourite native plants are actually cultivars; Banksia ‘Birthday Candles’ and Hardenbergia ‘Happy Wanderer’ are two famous examples. Compared to their original ‘wild’ parents, the cultivars will often have larger flowers, leaves and grow in a particular form.
Generally speaking, cultivars will need more water, fertiliser and tending than their origin plants. They’ve been bred to look pretty in a garden, not survive on whatever comes their way.
For the home gardener, that means if you buy a cultivar, be aware it will need slightly more upkeep to perform at its best. This means more feeding, water, mulching and weeding.
Native plants aren’t weeds
Weeds are a serious problem in Australia. They cost the government billions of dollars every year in limiting their damage, and more importantly they threaten the livelihood of our precious native plants and animals. Unfortunately, the vast majority of weeds causing problems in Australia started as garden plants.
Growing native plants is a good way to be more careful about what you’re putting in the ground at your place. But not all native plants are good guys.
While the vast majority of environmental weeds are exotic species, some are from Australia. It’s a big country, and when they’re grown outside their native range they may have the opportunity to exploit a niche they otherwise may not have made it into.
A good example is Acacia baileyana, or Cootamundra wattle, originally hailing from a very limited pocket in inland southern NSW. It’s use in gardens and as a street tree spread it around, where it was able to shed copious seeds. As a result, it’s not become naturalised and is a weed in WA, South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT. It’s even spread overseas and become a common weed in South Africa, New Zealand and the US!
As home gardeners, it’s important to do the responsible thing and check plants on our wish list for weediness online, before we take them home. The wrong native plant in the wrong place can be just as problematic as an exotic one.
Do you have any native plants in your garden? Could you add to this list? Why not share your thoughts in the comments section below?
Also read: How to revive this classic orchid favourite
