When people move to acreage for a lifestyle change, they usually have some idea of what they want to create. If you have bought a small piece of an old dairy farm, your dreams of creating a piece of paradise can come true, and faster than you think.
With the right planned native planning (integrate a permaculture food forest if you like) you can achieve a small miracle. You will have birds of all types and sizes, small animals, reptiles and a vast array of important insects. AS EVERYTHING IS DEPENDANT ON EVERYTHING ELSE, THIS IS SO IMPORTANT.
The key to this is DIVERSITY. And it is easier than you think. You just need a staged plan and a bit of free time occasionally.
With a mind to planting endemic base trees (they are the big ones) my focus would be to choose fast-growing species. Then the shrubs, followed by things like sedges (lomandra etc) and lastly choose your favourites when they have the working ecosystem to support them.
You may wish to temporarily fence that area off or use tree guards to protect your investment.
My suggestion would look like this:
5 BASE TREES
- River Red gum (fast growing)
- Forest Red Gum (fast growing and Koala preference)
- Brush Box and Swamp Box (both fast growing and attractive)
- Crows Ash (if you are planting on elevated land) or Black bean (if planting on creek bank)
5 SHRUBS- choose from:
- Callistemon (Bottlebrushes)
- Melaleuca (Bottlebrushes, Paperbarks and Myrtles)
- Leptospermum (Tea Tree)
Ground and cover;
- Acacias; Wattles are fast growing and will provide cover for emerging shrubs in the short term. All varieties are nitrogen fixing so choose a variety for a splash of colour.
- Lomandra, Dianella or mix of sedges (Grasses) – Don’t be skimpy, plant heaps. Small birds, in particular, love the cover these provide.
All of the above are fast growing, robust and quite hardy.
After that what you plant is limited only by your imagination.
In less that 3 years you will need a comfortable chair so you can sit and wonder at the oasis you have created.
This can be your own Field of Dreams. You know; Build it and they will come.
Remember, you don’t need to cover your whole block in one go- Do it in manageable stages.
It just starts with you and a visit to a Native nursery.
Pic; Old dairy flats planted with natives 2022
