By Alastair Richards, Gardens for Wildlife Albury Wodonga
Gardens for Wildlife aims to encourage and recognise wildlife and environmentally friendly garden practices in urban gardens. On Sunday 5 June (World Environment Day) Gardens for Wildlife is coordinating an event at Willow Park Wodonga. There will be display of local plants and products as well as talks, food and activities for children. The event is Free. It will showcase simple practices and knowledge aimed at engaging the community in enhancing our gardens for our local wildlife.
The event hopes to highlight that wildlife in the garden is a great way to enhance your engagement and enjoyment from your garden. You can add interactivity through movement, sound and colour as well as a narrative as you become familiar with the activity that begins to take place. Many of us have childhood memories of a lizard basking on a rock or the sound of frogs as we fell asleep.
By creating your own ‘Garden for Wildlife’ you will be welcoming wildlife to share your garden and provide a healthy environment. The change can be anything from a few plantings or designating a small corner to a full makeover. Providing habitat in the garden is not only valuable in itself, it can also link to habitat nearby, providing safe corridors or ‘stepping stones‘ along which animals can move from place to place. However, environment-friendly practices are very important as what you do in your garden can affect other places far beyond your garden, for example, spread weeds to bushland.
Creating a garden to attract birds, frogs, lizards, insects and other animals doesn’t have to mean having a messy garden with ‘scraggy’ native vegetation. Your garden can be as formal or informal as you wish. You may can easily retain exotic plants and keep a vegetable garden.
Gardens for Wildlife encourages interested people to visit www.gardensforwildlife.org.au and join our membership. The website is aimed at becoming a resource for all gardeners and increasing knowledge of local flora and fauna. The site is an ongoing project and aims to grow as it pools together local information.
Gardens for Wildlife Albury Wodonga is a sister program to the long-running Land for Wildlife scheme, supported by Friends of Willow Park, Wodonga (http://friendsofwillowpark.org.au).
Gardens for Wildlife Albury Wodonga is on Sunday, 5 June between 10 am and 2 pm, Willow Park, Wodonga, Pearce St Entrance.