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Make the most of glorious spring lockdown

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Spring has officially sprung, with beautiful sunny mornings causing local Novocastrians to venture out of their homes and into the inviting warmth of their residential streets like sleepy bees emerging from their hive.

While this lockdown period is exhausting and challenging, we have become quite well practiced in crafty ways of creating entertainment within our home boundary.

One form of this has been through gardening; something I have loved seeing progress in my surrounding front yards in my suburb.

Over time, I have noticed that the plants which have been utilised in these endeavours, however, have been largely species which are typically marketed as “hardy” and have great aesthetic appeal in suburban gardens.

This got me thinking… What if we were to utilise these gardening activities to provide refuge with native food source and habitat species for our important pollinators and native insects and birds?

Growing up in Australia’s inner west country, I have been fortunate enough to have spent my childhood and much of my adolescence being witness to amazing pollination processes and mating rituals.

These include the beautiful processes of pollen collection onto the hind legs of our precious bees before taking flight back to their hive.

Or the intricate construction of willy wag tail nests and the lifelong loving companionship of galahs. What if we could use our lockdown gardening activities to plant native flora which would attract such species to our own very backyards?

It is my dream that more children, particularly those in suburban areas, be able to experience such incredible processes and gain a deeper love and appreciation for such species involved through their own experienced personal connection.

It is first-hand experiences that have been proven to be the biggest driver of establishing compassion for the creatures involved.

Once we gain a personal connection to these living beings, we can truly conceptualise them as real and important creatures.

This notion has long been used as a method of exotic species conservation in public zoos and threatened and cryptic native species in wildlife centres.

By forming compassionate views of our native animals, our passion to help support and conserve their populations grow.

So, why don’t we enable the growth of these important relationships for our younger generations by growing native species to help support our wildlife.

Together, we can establish compassionate and knowledgeable intergenerational relationships between our suburban residents and our native wildlife in our very own backyards.

The best way to do this is to become savvy customers.

To develop a broad change in the mindsets of our fellow suburban gardeners we need to change the way our society markets flower varieties by becoming increasingly conscious as consumers.

We must start to become more knowledgeable in our native flora species that are brilliant attractions to our insects and birds.

Native shrubs like banksia, bottlebrush, wattle, and spider flower as well as smaller flowers like native bluebells and everlasting daisies are perfect for providing gorgeous colour to your gardens as well as heavenly delights for our pollinators and beautiful native birds.

You may also attract other native reptiles and amphibians as they use your gardens as delightful foraging grounds to feast on insects.

So, get those gardening gloves on and let’s create our own private yard sanctuaries to conserve our essential wildlife.

You could even opt to get extra crafty in your lockdown free time by creating homemade beehives or beautiful birdhouses and birdbaths.

There are so many amazing ways to attract our precious native animals and the more we can provide for them.

The more likely they are to tick around and let you witness some of their amazing tricks just like I have been fortunate enough to observe.

You may even be fortunate enough to live in an area neighbouring a green corridor which may house some of our much-loved native arboreal animals like koalas, possums, and gliders.

If you have the space and means, you could plant larger nectar and sap-rich native trees and shrubs which can provide food sources for these creatures.

This is a very rewarding personal action in aiding the longevity of these species’ survival within your suburban region.

So, I suggest taking one of the glorious spring lockdown walks through these green corridors and see what’s out there.

It may help to do this at different times of the day, keeping an eye out for not only the animals themselves but also clues of their presence such as faeces and claw marks.

You could even go spot lighting with a torch and may even be lucky enough to spot some creatures eye shine.

  • Alexandra Cottle

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