Native plants were in full bloom last weekend as community members rambled through three local gardens during GeoCatch’s Bay OK Garden Trail Day.
The Trail showcased the beauty of native plants in their flowering season and provided attendees with expert tips for growing natives successfully.
Margaret Moore opened up her Kalgaritch garden to share the Bay OK message with the community. Her garden demonstrates how large gardens don’t have to be dominated by lawns.
“I enjoy gardening every inch of my property and I find solutions to challenges such as shade and shallow soil with my plant selections; be they native, exotic or edible” she said.
Each garden was chosen for its unique plant species or garden design. One garden featured a diverse collection of Verticordias and Eremophilas, two genera of natives that grow very well in our Catchment’s challenging sandy soils. Another garden featured a series of natural garden spaces showing how native plants can combine with exotics, succulents and vegetables.
Bay OK project officer, Lisa Massey, will guide the tour and hopes it will inspire participants to track down new native plant varieties for their own gardens.
“The Bay OK gardens project encourages our community to adopt gardening principles that will create beautiful, healthy gardens with a positive impact on the environment,” she said.
“Having a Bay OK garden helps to protect our rivers, wetlands and Geographe Bay.”
This project is supported by the South West Catchments Council, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program; and the Revitalising Geographe Waterways program, supported by the State Government to improve water quality, waterway health and management of Geographe waterways.
