Home gardeners’ work makes wildlife feel welcome

WHETHER your Ballarat home has minimal outdoor space, or acreage, a community organisation exists to make it a haven for local wildlife.

Gardens for Wildlife Ballarat is a program offering free support, ideas and resources for anyone keen to attract Australian animals to their property.

Sharon Gwynne is a volunteer, helping residents adapt their yard so wildlife like insects, bees, frogs, butterflies, lizards, bats, possums, and sometimes kangaroos, wallabies and koalas, can roam comfortably.

“If people are interested, a couple of us have a walk around their garden and talk about what they’d like to achieve,” she said.

“We give them a report with a list of indigenous plants that might suit their property, and a good rundown of what they’ve got already.

“We then give participants a number of plants for their garden from the City of Ballarat indigenous nursery.”

Joining the group last year, Ms Gwynne achieved a goal of her own.

“I really wanted to see wrens. I hadn’t seen any for ages. Gardens for Wildlife discovered we had an indigenous grass that we’d been mowing for years.

“We stopped mowing it, and we’ve got wrens back,” she said.

However, welcoming wildlife is not all about natives. Being mindful of groundcovers, medium and higher-level plantings, and mulching, while having bird baths and boxes is an easy start.

“There’s a lot of subdivision, more trees coming down and habitat getting destroyed. Whatever we can do on our little patch helps the wildlife that’s left continue on.”

Visit facebook.com/gardensforwildlifeballarat.