Help Nature In Your Garden

Gardens can help support the local fauna or wildlife, especially the birds and insects, our most mobile fauna. With suitable places to shelter and hide from predators, gardens can also support reptiles, frogs and mammals.

All animals need a place and space to live in. For some it is a large area, much bigger than a garden or town. These animals move through the Margaret River region using different parts at different times of year or even from year to year. For other animals it may be a smaller area, several gardens in size or a combination of native bush and gardens.

Urbanisation and clearing have changed the landscape for many fauna, however we can still provide resources for them to use. Our collective gardens, street trees and parks can be stepping stones or corridors for their movement in search of food, shelter and water. And if we are clever, we can provide sources of food, shelter and water in our very own gardens.

Gardens for Nature Information Sheets

You can help nature in your garden. Nature Conservation’s Gardens for Nature Information Sheets below provide gardeners with the advice needed to plan and grow a Garden for Nature.

The Information Sheets can be downloaded individually using the links below or visit our Publications page to download the set of sheets as one document. You can also contact our office and speak with a Biodiversity Officer if you have specific questions about your garden.

If you own a bush block or larger semi rural or rural property check out our Bushland Management Information Sheets to see how you can help nature on your property.

For Nature

What local wildlife might you see in your garden?

It helps to know what already occurs in the garden or local area. There could be skinks, parrots, possums, honeyeaters, fairy-wrens, native bees or butterflies to name a few. Some of the best sources of information on identifying our local fauna can be local birdwatchers and naturalist groups. There are also local publications, brochures and specialist websites. The Learn about the Environment page has further information and links on identifying the local visitors to your garden.

The critically endangered western ringtail possum can be a regular visitor to gardens in this area. The Nature Conservation publications Western Ringtail Possums and your Property and Western Ringtail Possum Spotlighting Tips are useful sources of information on this endearing animal. The western ringtail possum threatened species page has details of the work carried out by Nature Conservation.

Another iconic visitor to gardens in this region is the black cockatoo. Visit the black cockatoo threatened species page to find out more about the 3 endemic black cockatoo species. Birdlife WA’s SW Black Cockatoo Recovery Program provides a raft of useful resources to distinguish between the three black cockatoo species and learn about their conservation.

Attracting and supporting local fauna in your garden

Tips for making a garden attractive to our local birds and other fauna

– Plants are the crucial building block. Apart from the potential sources of food and shelter they provide, they also attract insects – a food source for many animals.
– Having sunny and shady patches in a garden at different times of day is useful. Do you know where they are in your garden? Many birds and reptiles love to ‘sun themselves’ or ‘bake in the sun’ from time to time.
– A garden can be a work in progress. Like in nature, it can evolve through stages. Even a patch of weeds can attract and help support insect populations.
– The more variety in a garden the greater the diversity of wildlife it will attract and support. This can include logs, rocks, slopes, flat areas, water sources, bare ground, leaf litter, variety of trees, shrubs, ground-cover and herbs.
– Providing a source of water that birds can drink from and bathe in.
– Allow areas where leaf litter can collect for reptiles, and creatures that live in the soil, especially frogs and earthworms.
– Keep an eye out for what visits your garden, especially as you make changes such as adding new plants. Birds in particular will notice any changes. You might see your resident honeyeater or wagtail investigate the new plant or soil you have dug. The buzz and busyness of insects in a garden are also a great sign.
– The rewards can be high, especially if you have places where you can watch the more visible birds in the garden without disturbing them, such as from a kitchen window or veranda.
– For the ecology of your garden to be healthy avoid the use of chemicals where feasible (detergents, snail bait, insecticides, artificial fertilisers, herbicides).