Native plants are not just beautiful; they are sustainable, water-saving, cost-effective, and are perfectly suited to the unique local Perth climate. This means you don’t have to spend as much time or effort to maintain them and they are ideal for people wanting low-maintenance gardens who might not have a green thumb.
Native plants occur naturally in the area that they have evolved. But they are not just ornamental; they serve an ecological function.
They help preserve biodiversity because, without native plants, the wildlife, local birds, and insects that have evolved with them can’t survive.
Here is a list of the 7 best native plants that grow in Perth that you should consider while making your landscaping decisions.
The temperature has dropped and the colder months are coming – here are some lawn care tips you can use make sure your lawn comes out on the other side of winter happy, healthy and ready for you and your family to enjoy!
Fertilising Tips for Autumn:
If you have chosen to fertilise your lawn once a year, the best time to apply fertiliser is in spring – but as landscape gardeners, we recommend fertilising your lawn twice a year, and spring and autumn are the best seasons.
Giving your lawn a boost in autumn is a great way to prepare it for the colder, harsher months of winter, keeping it in the best condition to resist damage due to frost, cold and sudden temperature changes.
Choose a liquid fertiliser which contains seaweed, fish, organic compounds and amino acids – it might not smell great but your lawn will love it!
Mowing Tips:
The colder months mean you don’t have to mow your lawns as frequently, as the rate of growth slows down significantly – less work for you or your gardener!
Mow your lawn every 3-5 weeks during autumn and winter, and do not cut the grass lower than 2.5 cm. If you cut it too short in the colder months, you can damage your lawns, resulting in browning and ‘scalping’. Repeatedly cutting your lawns too short can weaken your grass and leave it open to disease and weeds. If you aren’t too sure how often to mow your lawn, just mow whenever your grass is longer than 6cm.
While leaving leaves and grass clippings on your lawns during summer can help provide nutrients, we recommend removing them during colder months to allow your grass to get as much access to the sunlight and air as possible. If you have trees which are blocking all the sun, you may also want to prune them more in the colder months for the sake of your lawn.
Watering Tips:
Turn off your sprinklers! Keep an eye on the rainfall, but unless your grass looks and feels very dry and it hasn’t rained in a while, you do not need to water it in late autumn or winter. And if you do water it – only do so in the early morning so it has all day to absorb the water it needs and let the rest evaporate. If your lawn is too wet, it can become vulnerable to fungi or disease.
Perth has such hot, dry summers that autumn and winter are great opportunities for your lawns to regenerate, soaking up the extra water and growing stronger, healthier root systems that will keep them in better shape when the temperatures rise again.
Talk to your gardener to see what steps you can take now to look after your lawns – or give our team a call to book in our lawn care services, from fertilising to mowing, weeding and general garden care.
Weeds are annoying and controlling their growth and spread in your lawns and gardens can be frustrating. But, at Perth Gardening Experts, we believe in using natural or lox-tox alternatives when it comes to weed control for our clients.
Keeping our soils free from chemicals is better for us, our families, our food and our planet – so here are our favourite natural alternatives to consider next time you spot those pesky weeds in your garden!
Use groundcovers to prevent weed growth
If you have empty or unplanted areas of your gardens – weeds are always happy to fill in those spaces for you! Planting groundcovers, such as natives, flowering plants, succulents, or even herbs, is a great way to prevent weeds from growing while creating lush, beautiful gardens.
Some great, fast-growing groundcovers for Perth soils are:
Prostrate grevilleas
Mondo grass
Creeping boobialla
Thyme
Pig Face
Australian Harebell (Isotoma)
Australian violet
Mulch to prevent weeds and create healthier gardens
Mulch is an ideal way to fill gaps if you want to a more spaced-out plating style to feature your favourite plants. Mulching prevents weeds from seeding, as well as preventing them from accessing the sunlight they need to thrive and grow.
You can mulch right over weeds and smother them while preventing new weeds from growing for a fast, easy garden makeover. The best way to do this is by using a layer of cardboard or newspaper over the weeds and gardens, then adding a thick layer of mulch on top (we recommend to use 50 to 100mm). This also creates healthy soils and increases water retention for a more water-wise garden. You will still get a few weeds, but these will be much quicker and easier to remove as their roots can’t grip into mulch like they do in soil (providing that you use a chunky mulch and none of those useless fine black mulch)
Use natural weed sprays
We don’t recommend using even natural sprays in your gardens, as any product that is acidic or has high amounts of dissolved salts will, in time adversely affect your soil’s microbiology, and any acids, such as vinegar, can burn and damage plants.
However, for those annoying weeds that spring up between pavers which are hard to pull out, using a natural alternative is better than chemicals. Just keep in mind that a spray is more often a temporary solution as it’s less likely to kill the roots – so hand-pulling, mulching or using a groundcover or filler between your pavers (such as gravel) are still the best chemical-free, long-term solutions.
While weeds are annoying and any garden-proud homeowner wants to have a weed-free landscape, before you resort to covering your lawns and gardens with toxic chemicals, consider if a chemical-free option would be the better solution for the health of your home and gardens.
In our goal to provide exceptional Gardening, Landscaping, and Reticulation services for our customers in Perth, we at Perth Landscaping Group have always exerted efforts to contribute in nurturing our environment.
Perth Gardening Experts has recently been recognized for its efforts to offset our carbon emissions and plant trees to support the Australian Native Reforestation.
Topdressing is a method used in lawn care and is the application of sand or a soil mix to the surface of your lawn. It is used to level out small indentations in the lawn and create a smooth level surface across the lawn.
