Episode: #9 28/10/06
Presenter: Phil Dudman

We all love our gardens, and times of drought can certainly make things tough, but with good design and sustainable gardening techniques, you can still have a beautiful garden while using a lot less water.

A new garden in Brisbane that is only 12 months old but is showing its potential already despite starting out during one of Brisbane?s worst droughts ever.

Much of the success is due to a great selection of attractive drought hardy plants. There are lots of natives like Kangaroo paw, which adds a great splash of colour, Grevilleas to bring in the birds and grasses like Lomandra and Dianella. There is a spot for a few exotic favourites too like Frangipani and fragrant Gardenias

Much of the planting will get up and create valuable shade and have a cooling effect over the whole garden. That reduces evaporation which in turn reduces the need for adding more water.

A good tip when planting is to group plants together with similar moisture needs so they benefit from one efficient watering.

Mulching works wonders and tests show that it will reduce soil moisture loss by up to 70%. Compost is terrific stuff too. It opens up your soil so that water can penetrate and acts like a sponge, releasing moisture to plant roots, as they need it.

If you are thinking of installing rainwater tanks, council rebates can make it a more affordable option. In Brisbane, already there has been 14,000 tank rebates registered since May last year. That is 9 million dollars worth of tank rebates.

The Brisbane City Council has a swag of information on how we can make our gardens more sustainable and they have more good advice coming our way through initiatives like their Green Choice Gardening Expos and the Green Choice Gardening Van.

Phil speaks to Lyndal Plant, Acting Principal Programme Officer, Parks and Landscape, Brisbane City Council who says that local residents are encouraged to think waterwise in their gardens with free information packs and local native plant giveaways. At the same time, Brisbane City Council encourages and welcomes waterwise gardening tips from Brisbane gardeners.

There are several Green Choice Gardening events held throughout the year, mainly in spring and autumn and they cover districts all over Brisbane.

If you want to find out when the next event is coming your way you can phone the Brisbane City Council or head to their website here you will also find more great ideas on waterwise gardening.

Brisbane City Council
Ph: 3403 8888
www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/greenchoicegardening

Look out for the Green Choice Garden Vans:
29 Oct 06
9-11am Wembley Park, Temple St, Coorparoo
2-4pm Mott Park, Logan Road, Holland Park

12 Nov 06
9-11am Downfall Creek, Rode Rd, Chermside West
2-4pm Upper Kedron Parkland, Upper Kedron Rd, Upper Kedron

Next Green Choice Gardening Expo:
19 Nov 2006 - Perth St Parkland, Perth St, Camp Hill