We have caught wind of a rumour this week that the Southern Highlands doesn’t have any native gardens worthy of note. Our extensive client base in the Highlands and the long list of native gardens we have personally established would refute this rumour.
The traditional Southern Highlands exotic garden is very formal and requires huge inputs such as water, fertiliser, and labour. Plants are extensively pruned to create a formal look and include elaborate hard landscaping such as garden walls, paving, etc. Not everybody desires a garden like this. Many prefer a more relaxed, natural garden that provides colour and interest all year round along with attracting myriad birds and other wildlife without having to be a slave to their garden.
Whilst in some parts of the Southern Highlands, exotic gardens appear to be in the majority, there are a significant number of local gardens featuring Australian native plants that should not be ignored. They play an important role in providing habitat for local fauna, improving the ecology and sustainable in their use of our precious water resources. They do not degrade our local natural environment by contributing to the disastrous environmental weed situation in our Shire. Nearly all exotic gardens contain environmental weeds as listed by our state and local governments which soon dominate our local environment once these gardens are not maintained to a high standard. See this article for some examples of our local environmental weed problem.