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Bush-friendly and water-wise gardens

Book a bush-friendly garden pack and visit

We offer a free support to residents who want to make their gardens bush-friendly. Bush-friendly gardens are low maintenance, reduce water use, suit Eurobodalla's climate and provide flowers year-round, and attract birds, butterflies, lizards and frogs. Our package includes:

  • a voucher for the nursery at the Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Garden
  • a home visit from Council's environment team to identify plants in your garden that could potentially escape into local bushland, what to do about them, alternatives to plant, and other ways to make your garden more bush-friendly.

How you can make your garden bush-friendly

  • Remove invasive flora (weeds) and common garden escapees.
  • Mulch garden beds to help retain water and nutrients.
  • Avoid watering in the heat of the day.
  • Keep pets inside from dusk to dawn so they don't prey on native animals.

Book a water-wise garden check

Approximately 30 per cent of water used in a typical NSW house is used in the garden during summer. A few small changes can help your garden thrive while reducing water bills, minimising water use, and reducing the time you need to spend maintaining the garden.

Council's water-wise garden program aims to help Eurobodalla residents learn easy ways to stop wasting water and create and maintain colourful and water efficient gardens that can flourish in local conditions.

As part of this program, you can book a free water-wise garden check-up. The check-up involves:

  • a home visit from a member of Council's environment team who will talk with you about basic landscaping, watering systems, mulching and composting, and will provide you with tips to help make your garden more water-wise
  • a free garden hose trigger-nozzle and native plants for eligible households.

Tips for a more water-efficient garden

  • Ensure that your soil is always covered by mulch - mulching soil will prevent it drying out, protects plants from heat and frost, provides important nutrients and helps control weeds which compete with your plants for vital water.
  • Place moist newspaper over your garden beds before mulching - this assists with water retention and weed reduction.
  • Add compost and manure to your soil - these provide food for plants and enrich the water retention capacity of your soil, which means there's more water available for your plants.
  • Group plants with similar water needs together and water them in the early morning or evening for best results.
  • Replace your lawn with one of the warm-season grasses such as buffalo, couch or kikuyu, which require about 30% less water than cool-season grasses.
  • Get the right irrigation system - use a water-efficient irrigation system like leaky hoses and dripper systems as these provide smaller amounts of water directly to the base of the plant, close to where it is taken up.
  • Planting with hydrated water-storing crystals will lengthen the time between watering, and increases plant survival in dry periods. The crystals absorb up to 400 times their own weight in water and are effective for up to five years before they biodegrade.
  • Longer deep soaks are better than frequent watering - deep soaks encourage roots to move deeply into the soil.
  • Check your garden for pests and diseases on a regular basis, which will help you get to know your garden better and understand the watering needs of your plants.
  • Raise your lawnmower blades and use a mulching lawnmower or leave grass clippings to help make lawns more drought tolerant and stay greener for longer.

More information

Contact us

To book your free water-wise garden check or bush-friendly garden pack, please contact our natural resources team: