Thursday, March 28, 2024
25.2 C
Melbourne

HOW NATIVE DOES YOUR STREET VERGE GROW?

Mick Pacholli
Mick Pachollihttps://www.tagg.com.au
Mick created TAGG - The Alternative Gig Guide in 1979 with Helmut Katterl, the world's first real Street Magazine. He had been involved with his fathers publishing business, Toorak Times and associated publications since 1972.  Mick was also involved in Melbourne's music scene for a number of years opening venues, discovering and managing bands and providing information and support for the industry. Mick has also created a number of local festivals and is involved in not for profit and supporting local charities.        

law academic awarded for partner violence research

Not every household has a garden but each one has a street verge and researchers from The University of Western Australia have uncovered the growing popularity of street verge gardening under way in metropolitan Perth.

The findings, published on the Clean Air and Urban Landscapes Hub website, found households gained a variety of benefits from verge gardening, including personal satisfaction, shade and cooling, privacy, connection to nature and social interaction.

Dr Natasha Pauli from UWA’s School of Agriculture and Environment and her team set out to uncover the benefits and challenges of these garden makeovers for local residents, key stakeholders and wildlife.

Dr Pauli said while they may be small in size compared with other sites of urban greening and restoration, verge gardens were highly visible in neighbourhoods dominated by vehicle and foot traffic.

how native does your street verge grow?

“When you think about street verges or nature strips, you may think there’s not much to be inspired by,” Dr Pauli said.

“But there is a growing number of keen Perth gardeners who see these spaces as blank canvases ready to be transformed.”

The researchers found a growing trend for residents to transform their verges to native gardens.

A companion report highlighted that almost all of the 31 local councils in Perth now permit native verge gardens, with interest from residents expected to increase.

Dr Pauli said people started verge gardens for a variety of reasons,” Dr Pauli said.

“For some it was a sense of environmental responsibility, others were motivated by incentive programs, such as those run by local councils.”

Insect surveys also found evidence of native bees, flower-visiting wasps and hoverflies visiting flowering native plants in street verge gardens.

Dr Pauli said the research could be used to better target programs to maximise community interest and meet local social and environmental goals.

“Verge gardens have the potential to act as sites of education, socialisation and contemplation for local residents,” she said.

“By providing residents with the means to improve the potential ecological and environmental values of verge gardens, these small sites may also collectively contribute to habitat for wildlife, and to other sustainability goals.”

The research project is supported by the Clean Air and Urban Landscapes Hub, funded by the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Program.

Mick Pacholli

Mick created TAGG - The Alternative Gig Guide in 1979 with Helmut Katterl, the world's first real Street Magazine. He had been involved with his fathers publishing business, Toorak Times and associated publications since 1972.  Mick was also involved in Melbourne's music scene for a number of years opening venues, discovering and managing bands and providing information and support for the industry. Mick has also created a number of local festivals and is involved in not for profit and supporting local charities.        

- Advertisement -
  • auto draft
  • tagg gig guide - add event
- Advertisement -
  • best in travel australia - sidebar 600x300
  • cocktails 300x600
- Advertisement -

CONTINUE READING