By Spencer Shaw, April, 2014
When it comes to thinking about planting Native Plants we tend to only think about the trees such as Gum tree or Fig Trees, and that can be a sticking point with regards planting natives, because not everyone has room for them (in fact I’d strongly recommend against this unless you have a really, really, really big yard!)
However in South East Queensland where we have more than 3500 native plants to choose from, there’s got to be a few plants lower to the ground that are going to look great in your backyard and provide groundcover that won’t shade your solar system, block your view and as a bonus give you a lovely spot to sit and enjoy the winter sun.
For starters our native grasses are much under-rated and look great in dense plantings. Kangaroo Grass – Themeda triandra, Barbed Wire Grass – Cymbopogon refractus, Poa – Poa labillardierei, & Native Sorghum – Sarga leiocarpa are just a few of our local clumping grasses that are relatively easy to get hold of and when planted in clumps at 30-50cm spacing’s provide rapid cover and fantastic habitat for small birds such as Red Browed Finches. Mix in a few Paper Daisies, Indigofera’s, Pultenaea’s and Hovea’s and you’ve got a splash of colour too.
If you like perfume beneath your feet, we even have native Pennyroyals Mentha spp. that provide a delicious minty freshness alongside footpaths and tracks. We also have an array of native jasmines that can provide groundcover and even fruit for the birds!
For low growing groundcovers you can’t beat the familiar Native Violets in the shade, but some of our rainforest running grasses such as the Beard Grasses – Oplismenus spp and Slender Panic’s -Ottochloa spp. are great competitive grasses that love the shade and provide dense groundcover . We also have some remarkably hardy groundcovers for full sun, that love hot gravel and jumping over retaining walls such the Fan Flowers – Scaevola spp., Guinea Flowers – Goodenia spp., Midyim – Austromyrtus dulcis, Plectranthus spp., Yellow Buttons – Chrysocephalum spp. and Flax Lily’s – Dianella spp, just to name a few.
Then there’s the fern’s, but let’s leave that for another column! But before we finish lets discuss establishing groundcovers. A lot of our exotic weeds are groundcovers competing with native plants, and they must be controlled before planting native groundcovers. This can be done by blanket mulching the planting area, with weed free mulch such as sugar cane or bark or wood chip.
So plant a complex, diverse mix of native groundcovers and not only do you get to enjoy them, but they are also crucial habitat for the survival of our native fauna.
