Converting front lawn to wild life garden

[PN]

Hi @EricL and @MitchellMc Hope you are keeping well. I am after some ideas and suggestions. Looking to transform the front lawn to a wild life garden. Wondering on ideas of how to start and how to go about it. I have enclosed photos of the left and right sections of the front lawn.

All suggestions greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Partha

Left section of front lawnRight section of front lawn

[PN]

Thanks @MitchellMc . Post storm recovery, latest progress update, added some grasses, including some prickly moses and also some other ground cover grass. 

Bird population is increasing - honey eaters regularly visit the Kangaroo paws to eat nectar I presume, they also peck on the grasses ,The sparrow population are regular visitors now. Trying to attract lorikeets and the like. 

Plants pending planting include some more grasses and ground cover with flowers. 

The Kangaroo paws and grassesBird bath and grasses

[BradN]

Nice one! Is there water in the bird bath? I need to top mine up as well. The wind evaporates so quickly...

[PN]

Hi @BradN Brad true the water evaporates we top up every day. 

[PN]

Hello All after some advice. We started converting the front lawn to a wild life garden. Started 5 months back. Most of the things planted do not seem to be growing well.

We are in Warragul - the prickly moses seems to be doing well, some grasses and ground cover we planted do not seem to have grown much.

Also 2 x grevilleas seem to have stunted growth or grows very slowly.

The Japaense Maple was a bad idea to plant in the open - it suffered greatly through the summer.

The kangaroo paws we have pruned recently and hoping they will grow back.

I wanted to know what plants should be plant for both ground cover and plants to cover larger areas of the grass and to attract wild birds and is also suitable for the soil in Warragul area.

Honey eaters visited the kangaroo paws. Other than that do not seem to have much joy with attracting birds so far.

Very grateful for any ideas, thanks in advance.

@MitchellMc @EricL 

Many Thanks

[MitchellMc]

Hi Partha (@PN),

Have you applied any native plant fertiliser over this period? Applying some will give the plants a boost and provide the nutrients they require. Autumn would be a good time to use the fertiliser. 

Some Australian natives can take quite some time to grow and spread out over an area. To fill an area this size would take many dozens of plants and several years' worth of growth. You might like to follow @sideshowmatt's approach by mulching a larger area and placing smaller plantings within it. You can also use other items to bulk out the area, making it look fuller. Matt's stream is a fantastic idea, or maybe a pond. You could add some edging and create a walkway/s. You'll need to use several elements to fill in this small and not rely solely on the plants.

Let me mention @BradN, @sideshowmatt, @Noelle and @Adam_W to see if they had any advice. You might also like to visit your local store and chat with our helpful Nursery team members about what plants from our native range would flourish in your area.

Mitchell

[PN]

Thank you @MitchellMc Mitchell. That is very helpful. I have applied Seasol to the plants couple of times. We are thinking of putting a dry river bed as a space filler and will use more plants also in groups to fill out some of the spaces. Looking at also using weed mat to kill grass and weed in sections of the lawn to prepare as garden bed. Lot of work to do to make this ship shape no doubt. Thanks as always for your help Mitchell. 

I will keep posted on progress update. 

Thanks

Partha

[PN]

@KatieC @MitchellMc @EricL 

Hope you are keeping well. Operation Weedmat to remove grass phase 1 is in the works. Three large strips of front lawn covered with weed mat and held down with weed mat pins half driven in and also some river stones as weights. Mats have gone in around 16th March - grand reveal will be around 17th April - will wait a month to see results. I have been advised as we are in autumn the solarizing process may take longer but I am eager to see how it looks after a month. 

We do get surprised looks from neighbours and walkers as to what this is all about...

Thanks 

Partha 

[KatieC]

Hi @PN,

I am loving the update photos! Definitely looking forward for the April 17th reveal. 

Katie

[PN]

Hi @KatieC @MitchellMc @EricL 

Hope you have been keeping well and it has been a while since last post. The 'reveal' of phase 1 of operation weedmat is here. Albeit three months late but the results are better than expected.

Removed one strip today and the grass underneath is totally gone ( see photo). Used Koolaroo Weed Mats for the pin-down. A little bit of dead grass was all that was left after three months of weed mat covering. Removed that and prepped the strip with the same weed mat. Then put on soil and dig holes and cut squares in the weed mat and the plants went in. Planted tussock grass and some other native grasses and also two Acacia verlata aka Prickly Moses. 

Two more weed mat strips left to uncover. 

Thanks

Partha

Grand Reveal Strip 1Weedmat back on ready for plantingPlanting with native grasses

[KatieC]

Hi @PN,

Oh wow, phase 1 of your front lawn reveal is amazing! The native grass is going to be such a feature when fully grown. Is it a quick growing plant? Looking forward to seeing the other 2 reveals. 

Katie