ENVIRONMENT

and there may be less 'showy blooms’ but what they lack in glamour is more than made up for by the knowledge of the staff. These wonderful people, frequently volunteers, help you select plants best suited to your soil, climate or need and for every plant purchased you can rest assured you are doing your bit to provide homes and habitat for local critters. Better still, the purchase is far more likely to succeed in your garden plot.

Are all garden centres created equal?

Too many of us get tempted by the bright colours of a carefully placed plant outside one of the many garden centres located across the Noosa hinterland. A flash of a credit card and the plant is yours. Several weeks later however, no matter how diligent you were with water and compost, the flowers are gone and the leaves already withering.

After berating your lack of green fingers, you head back to the same nursery for another shot at garden glory – often with the same results. What if it’s not your lack of gardening knowledge but the choice of plant that caused the problem? What if those brightly coloured petals were never meant for your backyard?

To better select plants suited to your semicoastal or hinterland home why not visit a native nursery? Such nurseries may appear less ‘glossy’

On 21 October an Urban Wildlife Gardens workshop showcased how not-for-profit Coolum Community Native Nursery can turn your pink fingers green. Sixteen of us marvelled at the knowledge and passion of nursery manager Tim Lang who demonstrated how locally-sourced seeds are subsequently germinated on-site to become hardy tube-stock. These are arranged for sale in increasing height order to meet every garden need – be it ground cover or a large eucalypt.

There are potting sheds for all stages of germination, a washing station to recycle used pots and more than 150 different species of local native plants on offer. If you have a larger landscaping project in mind they regularly supply 50,000-70,000 plants to private gardens and re-vegetation projects annually.

We left after a two-hour discussion and a delightful morning tea enthusiastic about our gardening and happy to know there are local experts who can help us protect the environment while pursuing our gardening dreams. For information about Urban Wildlife Gardens and their monthly workshops visit: noosariver.com. au/urban-wildlife-gardens.

Liz Stapleton