From the Lord Mayor's Office
How does your garden grow?
This morning, Friday 15 November, I dropped into the Wollongong Botanic Garden’s Greenplan Plant Sale and picked up some new pot plants.
I certainly wasn’t the only Wollongong resident visiting the monthly sale to purchase plants and to get expert advice from the Garden’s horticulture staff about the best plants for my needs.
Looking around there were plenty of Garden staff, easily identified in their hi-vis shirts, chatting with residents. There were also many passionate members of the Friends of the Wollongong Botanic Gardens also on hand.
I’m not surprised it’s so popular – there were loads of local native plants to choose from and it was so easy to park in the dedicated car park on Northfields Avenue that is right outside the entrance. Plus, for early morning arrivals, there is also an on-site coffee van.
While buying local products is always important, the value of this Wollongong City Council service is that many of the plants on sale are endemic to this area. So, not only are they grown and cultivated here, but they’re also more likely to thrive in our climate and soil conditions.
It’s this type of information about soil type and plant selection that formed part of this morning’s Community Creek Care Info Session that was held at the Greenplan Nursery. The session included advice around planting, learning about the responsibilities for private landowners who have creeks on their property and maintaining healthier waterways.
Given about 60 per cent of the creeks in Wollongong are on private land or land managed by other government bodies, it’s an important knowledge-building conversation to have. For those who weren’t able to make the session, there’s plenty of information on Council’s website that can assist.
