Habitat and Biodiversity Gardening
Notes prepared by Karen Sutherland of Edible Eden Design, March 2024
Local native Australian plants suit local wildlife and soil. Melbourne is expanding, so growing local native plants is more important than ever to help reduce the loss of wildlife due to land clearing. Local native plants provide corridors and green areas for wildlife, such as insects, birds, lizards, frogs and microbats.
Local native Australian plants suit local wildlife and local soil. Melbourne is expanding, so growing local native plants is more important than ever to help reduce the loss of wildlife due to land clearing. Local native plants can provide valuable corridors and green areas for wildlife, protecting biodiversity. Remember that you need a full ecosystem for a healthy habitat, from the tiniest insect to apex predators. They are all important in a healthy, biodiverse habitat.
Insect identification resources
| Name of resource | Type of identification | Link |
|---|---|---|
| CSIRO insect identification | Insects | http://anic.ento.csiro.au/insectfamilies/ |
| Australian museum | Insects | https://australian.museum/learn/species-identification/ask-an-expert/identifications-insects/ |
| City of Melbourne Biodiversity | Insects | http://biodiversity.melbourne.vic.gov.au/insects/index.html |
| Museum Victoria | Insects and animals | https://museumsvictoria.com.au/ask-us/identify-an-animal-or-object/ |
| Australian Bugs | Insects and other bugs | https://australianbugs.com/ |
| iNaturalist | Insects, plants, birds, frogs, lizards and more | https://www.inaturalist.org/ |
Habitat for birds
To encourage birds in your garden you need to include perching areas such as trees and prickly shrubs that small birds can hide in. Water source needs to be safe and away from cats with a system to refresh the water. Make sure to supply food sources, such as native grass seeds, flowers with nectar and plants that attract insects. Note that tall trees are essential habitat for large birds such as the powerful owl but may be challenging to include in urban garden environments.
Habitat for lizards
To encourage birds in your garden you need to include perching areas such as trees and prickly shrubs that small birds can hide in. Water source needs to be safe and away from cats with a system to refresh the water. Make sure to supply food sources, such as native grass seeds, flowers with nectar and plants that attract insects . Note that tall trees are essential habitat for large birds such as the powerful owl but may be challenging to include in urban garden environments.
Habitat for frogs
The presence of frogs in your garden is an indicator of a healthy habitat. Frogs need permanent or ephemeral water bodies to survive. Never use pesticides or chemicals in your garden as frogs are very sensitive to these. Check out these frog resources at https://frogs.org.au/frogwatch/bitg.html
Microbat hotels
If you are lucky enough to have them around your garden, microbats eat night flying insects such as pesky codling moth. You can learn to build a bat box to encourage these lovely creatures at https://www.abc.net.au/gardening/factsheets/building-a-bat-box/9432924
Insect hotels
You can encourage beneficial insects into your garden with an insect hotel. Always give insects a variety of shapes and materials to choose from. A project like this is great for recycling old bamboo stakes and other materials. Remember that native Australian earth dwelling bees such as the iconic native blue-banded bees prefer soft mortar in a protected position to make their burrows in.
Habitat and food gardens
Habitat gardening and food gardening can seem at odds with each other, but we can learn to garden to encourage a healthy habitat for wildlife as well as being able to harvest our own food. Remember that many of the principles of habitat gardening will help your food garden grow healthy food. For instance, growing lots of flowering plants in your garden will attract beneficial insects for pollination and natural pest control. Try growing some flowering natives along a fence line to attract both birds and pollinating insects. This also acts as a reservoir of natural pest controllers for your garden when needed. Remember that insects are pollinators for approximately 1/3 of the food we eat. Natural insect control by beneficial insects avoids the need for human intervention and also the need for the use of chemicals. Insects are also part of the food chain, providing food for birds and local wildlife, who in turn eat some problem insects. Encouraging beneficial insects in our gardens is part of healthy gardening practices and good for encouraging habitat and biodiversity.
Exclusion netting and bags
By law, the Victorian household netting standard for netting used on household fruiting trees or plants must have a mesh size of 5mm x 5mm or less at full stretch, to prevent wildlife becoming ensnared. Take care not to exclude beneficial insects & pollinators by lifting the sides of the net up during the day to allow bees to visit flowers. Note that birds may learn to peck holes in the bags. Also, fruit fly netting is more closely woven.
Cats and habitat gardens
If you are a cat owner, make sure to register and desex your cat. Keep a bell on your cat’s collar, keep it inside overnight and consider turning your cat into an indoors only feline Always have birdbaths away from trees and up high so cats cannot get to birds.
Rats and bird friendly bait
Rats are an increasing issue in urban areas, as more of us compost and keep chickens. However most commercial baits are ‘secondary kill’ types, which means that any other creature that eats the poisoned rat (they can take days to die) will in turn also die. Baits are responsible for killing many valuable predator birds such as owls. Keep your chicken and other domestic animal food in containers to prevent rats getting to it . Clean any outdoor storage areas such as woodheaps regularly to disturb nesting rats. Prevent access to compost and bags of manure to avoid rat numbers building up. Using worm farms for composting kitchen waste has worked for me as rats can’t seem to climb the plastic legs. And if you are going to use bait, use ‘first generation’ rodenticides. You can find more information on the Birdlife Australia website. https://birdlife.org.au/
Remember…
Here are some last points to remember in creating your healthy, biodiverse habitat garden. Remember, don’t use pesticides or chemicals in the garden, as even ‘safe’ pesticides such as homemade soap spray and white oil can kill beneficial insects. Plant a diversity of flowers and your garden, including local natives. Leave some areas of your garden a little untidy, with some cleared soil for earth-dwelling bees and some logs or fallen timber. Include water sources with floating sticks or similar to prevent insect drownings in areas where birds can be safe from cats but also at ground level for lizards. Note that snakes are also attracted to water at ground level, so keep these water sources as far away from your house as possible.