My Garden
Composting
Composting is a fantastic way to turn organic waste into valuable resources such as mulch and plant food. There are many reasons to compost, composting is very important if we are to protect Mulligans Flat and Gungahlin Grasslands and if we are to help slow Gobal Warming.
Many people are tempted to throw their lawn clippings and prunings over their fence or dump it in nearby "green space" such as in Nature Reserves. This green waste contains many seeds that can contaminate our reserves. Weeds can also spread from prunings as some plants can develop roots and take hold from cuttings.
When you throw your organic waste such as foodscraps in the rubbish bin, it gets taken straight to the tip. Here it breaks down without air and so produces methane, a greenhouse gas more potent than Carbon Dioxide!
Both these problems can be fixed if people compost their organic waste.
Here are some easy ways to compost and some trouble shooting tips if your compost isn't doing it's job!
Gardening in Gungahlin
As many people know, suburban development in the Gungahlin area is taking place extremely close to Mulligans Flat and Goorooyarroo nature reserves.
This puts Gungahlin residents in a unique position to help keep the reserves in great shape – and good gardening practices can make a big difference, both at the local level, and in a broader context too.
Here are just a few of the things that Gungahlin residents (and others!) can do to help assist local biodiversity.
Weeds
Gungahlin has some of the best grassland and grassy woodland reserves in Australia, but some highly invasive grasses are threatening the continued survival of these important reserves.
These grasses, if left unchecked, can rapidly set seed and out-compete native grasses in the reserves. We can all help stop their spread into nature reserves by ensuring that they don’t get a chance to establish in nearby gardens.
The big problem weeds are Chilean Needle Grass, Serrated Tussock and African Love Grass.
Local and Native Plants
A great way to replace any weeds in our gardens is with native plants, or even better, indigenous (local) species.
Using plants and trees that are native to the local area creates attractive habitat for local wildlife, and increases the chances of more indigenous plants establishing through self-seeding.
As well as this, indigenous species are perfectly adapted to Canberra’s rainfall patterns, hot summers and frosty winters, and are therefore quite low-maintenance (though some extra water during drought helps young plants to establish more strongly).
Attracting Wildlife
It’s not just local plants that we want in our gardens – attracting wildlife helps to (re)establish the ecosystems that are the key to long-term biodiversity.
In Gungahlin, birds are particularly important, as the local nature reserves are packed with rare and endangered native bird species.
The tricks to attracting birds to your garden are to provide food, water and shelter – but this must be done in the right way so that we help local species rather than hurting them.
Caring for Trees
Trees provide shelter and shade for humans, habitat for wildlife, add to aesthetic appeal, and help reduce greenhouse gasses by soaking up carbon from the atmosphere. At present, many trees in Gungahlin (and throughout the region) are suffering from pest infestations, and from lack of water.
More Garden Info
Resources and links to more information about sustainable gardening in Gungahlin and the ACT region.