Episode: 1
Title: What is a Native Plant & How to Care for it
Broadcast: Mar 18rd 2018
Presenter: Julian Rose

If there’s one thing we would all agree on it’s that every year less and less water is making its way into our dams, which means we need to think a bit more creatively to conserve our supplies...

• Most of us use almost half of our household water on our gardens and a really simple way to change that is at the beginning when you’re choosing the plants to go in your garden.
• How do you choose a water wise plant and give it the best chance to survive? Well selecting the correct plants for your garden can be a hard decision but if you look to native plants that will suit your particular soil type and the climate in your region then you will be able to produce a great garden using much less water.
• Smaller plants will require less water to get established and they will develop a better root system a lot quicker meaning they will be more water wise over the long term.
• The ideal time to plant is autumn because the weather becomes milder and the winter rains are not far away, which help to get the plants established and ready for the heat of the next summer. It is always good to provide some supplementary water through the first summer by hand watering or drip irrigation.
• Even though our native are used to growing in average soil conditions it only helps to improve the soil with some organics like a good compost and also adding slow release fertiliser when you install the plants.
• When you’re doing your research one tool you can use is the Water Corporation’s waterwise plant search tool. Simply pop in your postcode and it comes up with a list of plants that would suit where you live.

Water Corporation
W: www.watercorporation.com.au

The Garden Gurus
W: www.yourlifestyle.tv