Heap on that Habitat!
Spring has sprung and it’s a great time to think about increasing the habitat on your land for our local flora and fauna. From the smallest of backyards in town to working farms there’s something we can all do improve our own quality of life and ensure the survival of the animals and plants that have called this land home for millennia.
Planting local native plants is a great start and with over 2000 different native species to choose from on the Sunshine Coast! What’s more there are so many ways we can utilise native plants to provide benefits to ourselves, our land use and to provide habitat for native fauna. Create a native garden, revegetate creek banks, plant bushfood orchards, establish wind breaks, plant trees for livestock shelters and fodder, put in a firewood lot, plant timber trees, stabilise a landslip and what’s more create a healthy, happy, healing environment in which you and nature can enjoy life!
Brush Turkey Enterprises wholesale nursery stocks a whole range of revegetation materials to help establish native vegetation, such as pink coreflute plant guards , Hardwood Stakes, Tree Starter™, Tree Booster™ and a range of mulch mats.
At our Brush Turkey Enterprises educational workshop in July 2012 we were treated to a great educational presentation by local ecologist Tony Bright. He reminded us of the importance of maintaining complex habitat for local fauna. Trees with hollows for nesting, hollow or rotting logs on the ground to provide homes and food for fauna, even small branches and twigs are invaluable and crucial habitat from which small reptiles, mammals and frogs can survey their surroundings for food and to watch out for predators.
When it comes to re-establishing native forests from scratch it can take decades or even centuries for some of these habitat types to be created. The process of habitat establishment can be accelerated by placement of logs and rock piles (even old concrete slabs) in areas to be revegetated. If no logs or branches are available consider planting some sacrificial Wattle trees that can be cut down between 5-10 years to create extra ground habitat.
Nest boxes are also crucial in creating habitat for local fauna. Many birds and the majority of our arboreal mammals and reptiles require hollows in trees to nest, rest and survive. Nest boxes can be installed on poles in open areas and even on young trees 5-10 years old in some Eucalypts and Wattles, which is fantastic for accelerating habitat for wildlife.
Remember it doesn’t have to be either us or them when it comes to our local wildlife, there’s plenty to share.
Check out our website www.brushturkey.com.au for more information on revegetation materials, educational workshops and so much more.
