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| small plants for gardens
FROM THE FLORA OF BUSSELTON AND SURROUNDING AREAS
[see Browse our flora A - Z for a more comprehensive list of the Busselton flora]
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of the species listed here are drought tolerant, and can be planted in
an unwatered garden (water is required for establishment). |
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| The flora of Busselton (and surrounding areas) has many small plant
species, but only a few species are in cultivation. This page lists
some of our small species in cultivation and some that should be
in cultivation and ends with a note about small plants that are not
only difficult to propagate, but also often tricky to cultivate
successfully.
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| | small | For the purposes of this page, small means plants that grow up to about 1m x 1m. [It is relatively easy to find species which grow larger than 1 metre.]
Some plants listed, like Tall Kangaroo Paw, Anigozanthos flavidus, are taller, but as they are relatively compact, they are included. Other plants that can give a 'tall accent' are plants like Pale Rush, Juncus pallidus, and the smaller climbers grown on a small trellis or wire frame.
On the whole, small plants are harder to cultivate than the larger plants (trees and large shrubs), so a bit more effort is required to garden with these species.
Annual species which can be used in fine gardening.
| design and planting style
| Much contemporary garden design used in gardens and landscaping today use very few species, with some species like Dianella cultivars used as bedding plants in massed plantings and a few other species used as accent plants.
Many of the species listed on this page could also be used in more complex designs such as a planting of many mixed species championed by such garden designers as Beth Chatto in her books, perhaps especially Beth Chatto's Gravel Garden. In this kind of design, a great many species are mixed together, herbaceous plants as well as bulbs, woody shrubs, etc., to create a riotous effect as in the traditional herbaceous border, but with far less maintenance.
An Australian version of such a 'modified herbaceous border' can be relatively easily created using some of the species listed below, but it would be dishonest not to say that this kind of garden is a low-maintenance garden. This is a real garden for gardeners! It is a high-maintenance garden which will bring a lot of satisfaction to both the gardener and the visitor.
- Special care needs to be given to the spacing of plants so one species does not stomp out a neighbour.
- For novice gardeners, the easier-to-cultivate species should be attempted first, before attempting the more difficult species.
- Every year or so in this style of gardening (and more often if a dead plant needs to be removed and replaced), there is not a 'makeover' - as on the popular gardening programmes on television - but some plants will need to be lifted and divided.
An overview of designing with Australian plants can be seen on the ASGAP website. |
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| A green capital A has been placed beside species which are usually available from specialist Australian-plant nurseries like
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| Most nurseries welcome enquiries from gardeners seeking out local
species, and if they don't have the species in stock, they will attempt
to order it in for you, and if they are a production nursery (all of
the nurseries listed above are production nurseries), they may even
attempt to grow it for you!
Some of our Busselton area species grow further afield and are often available from plant sales conducted by the Friends of Kings Park, or from some Wildflower Society of Western Australia branches, for instance Eastern Hills, or the Mandurah Wildflower Group.
Species which are propagated by Geographe Community Landcare Nursery are shaded in red but are not necessarily presently available (our nursery grows mainly to order for revegetation projects).
A blue E has been placed by species which are relatively easy to cultivate.
Gardeners
often prefer to propagate their own plants. If you are a propagating
gardener and you live near our nursery, we'd love to have you help us
with our propagation tasks! In any case, please feel welcome to discuss
with us the practicalities and problems of bringing into cultivation
our local plant species, the gardening potential of many of them still
unrealised. |
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| Some categories of small plant species for gardens:
- Direct-seeded annuals
- Small, compact shrubs
- Grasses and grass-like plants (sedges, rushes, lilies, kangaroo paws, ...)
- Groundcovers
- Climbing plants
For small spaces and small gardens, and even for
container gardening, climbing and scrambling plants can be grown on a
trellis. See our page on Climbing Plants. - Water and wetland plants
Many of our local plants are suitable for bog gardens or
planting in ponds or around a pond, but they are not listed here.
| Other pages on this website:
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| Small, compact shrubs
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| Some of the following shrubs can grow much larger than 1 metre, and need careful pruning to maintain a small, compact shape. Two general rules for pruning: - As soon as the plant is established and growing in the container (container gardening) or the open ground of the garden, begin light tip pruning with fingers or secateurs.
- After flowering, prune lightly with secateurs.
An example of a compact cultivar of a local species is Olearia axillaris 'Little Smokie' (George Lullfitz). Our local Olearia axillaris is often straggly, but can be pruned to shape.
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under construction
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| Grasses and grass-like plants
(sedges, rushes, lilies, kangaroo paws, ...) |
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| under construction
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| Scientific Name |
| Common Name | Botanical Family | A
| Anigozanthos manglesii
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| Red and Green Kangaroo Paw | HAEMODORACEAE | | A | Anigozanthos flavidus
| E | Tall Kangaroo Paw | HAEMODORACEAE | | A | Austrodanthonia caespitosa
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| Common Wallaby Grass
| POACEAE |
| Austrostipa campylachne
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| [no common name] | POACEAE |
| Austrostipa flavescens
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| Coast Spear Grass
| POACEAE
| | A | Conostylis aculeata
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| Prickly Conostylis
| HAEMODORACEAE | | A | Conostylis candicans
| E | Grey Cottonheads | HAEMODORACEAE |
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Conostylis serrulata |
| [no common name] | HAEMODORACEAE | | A | Conostylis setigera
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| Bristly Cottonheads | HAEMODORACEAE |
| Dianella brevicaulis
| E | [no common name] | PHORMIACEAE | | A | Ficinia nodosa
| E | Knotted Club Rush | CYPERACEAE
| | A | Lepidosperma squamatum
[There are several dryland Lepidosperma that could be used in gardens. A species of the 'L.squamatum group' is planted in the excellent garden at the Western Australian Ecology Centre, Bold Park]. |
| [no common name] | CYPERACEAE | | A | Microlaena stipoides
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| Weeping Grass | POACEAE | | A | Neurachne alopecuroidea |
| Foxtail Mulga Grass | POACEAE | | A | Orthrosanthus laxus | E | Morning Iris | IRIDACEAE | | A |
Orthrosanthus polystachyus | E | Many Spike Orthrosanthus | IRIDACEAE | | A | Patersonia occidentalis |
| Purple Flag | IRIDACEAE | | A | Poa poiformis
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| Coastal Tussock Grass
| POACEAE |
| Poa porphyroclados
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| [no common name] | POACEAE |
| Schoenus grandiflorus
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| Large-flowered Bog Rush | CYPERACEAE |
| Sowerbaea laxiflora |
| [no common name] | ANTHERICACEAE | | A | Stypandra glauca |
| Blindgrass, Nodding Blue Lily
| PHORMIACEAE | | A | Themeda triandra
[Themeda australis]
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| Kangaroo Grass | POACEAE
| | A | Thysanotus multiflorus |
| Many-flowered Fringed Lily | ANTHERICACEAE |
| Tricoryne elatior |
| Yellow Autumn Lily | ANTHERICACEAE |
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| Groundcovers
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| Local groundcover species are listed on a separate page, providing a wide overview of species, and a broad definition of 'groundcover' which includes many shrubs.
The following species can be controlled by pruning to cover small areas.
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| Difficult Species
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| There are plenty of examples of difficult species!
- Quite often, a whole family is considered difficult, for example, the Epacridaceae or Ericaceae family (which includes the genera Andersonia, Astroloma, Conostephium, Leucopogon, Styphelia, ... ), the Restionaceae family, ...
- Sometimes, it is only a number of species from a family that are considered difficult, for instance, the Proteaceae family (e.g. Conospermum species, Persoonia species, Stirlingia latifolia, Synaphea species, ... ), the Dilleniaceae family (most Hibbertia species, including one of our most common plants, Hibbertia hypericoides), or the Cyperaceae family ( some genera like Lepidosperma, Mesomelaena, Schoenia, ... ).
Happily, many species once considered 'hard' are easier, thanks to breakthroughs by research teams at Kings park, Perth, and elsewhere.
Some of the more difficult species are propagated with specialised techniques - tissue culture, grafting, ...
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| Geographe Community Landcare Nursery
opening windows into our flora |
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