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Bring the bush to your backyard

Native gardens

Choose and care for Australian natives with confidence, from matching the right plant to feeding, watering and pruning.

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Start with these checks

  • Match the variety to your light and drainage.
  • Use a fertiliser suitable for natives, or none.
  • Water regularly until the plant is established.

Start with your Southern Plants™ care label

Southern Plants™ puts care into its labels to help you choose a suitable home for each plant.

Check your Southern Plants label for the variety’s light, soil and drainage preferences. Natives come from many different environments, so the label is a better guide than the word “native”. Look for any feeding or pruning notes specific to the variety.

Find your plant’s growing information →
Flowering Australian native plants in a garden bed

Australian natives

Native gardens

Australian native plants bring colour, structure and wildlife into the garden. Many are tough once established, but “native” does not mean “no care”. Natives come from very different environments — coastal heath, rainforest edges, dry inland plains — so choose each variety for your conditions rather than treating natives as one group.

Choose the right natives for your garden

Start with the conditions you already have. A plant suited to your light, soil and drainage will establish faster, need less help and stay healthier over time.

Match the plant to the place

Check the light, soil and drainage preferences on the label. A plant from free-draining coastal sand may struggle in heavy, wet clay, while a moisture-loving variety may suffer in a hot, dry bed.

Plan for wildlife

Nectar-rich flowers such as grevilleas, callistemons and kangaroo paws feed birds and insects. Dense shrubs give small birds shelter. Mixing flower shapes and flowering times supports wildlife across the year.

Allow for mature size

Check the mature height and width before planting. Natives look their best when they have room to grow into their natural shape instead of being cut back to fit a space that is too small.

Feed lightly — or not at all

Many natives, especially grevilleas, banksias and their relatives, are sensitive to phosphorus. Use a fertiliser labelled as suitable for natives, at the rate on the pack. If a plant is growing well, it may not need feeding at all. Too much fertiliser can do more harm than good.

Water until established

“Drought tolerant” describes an established plant. New plantings need regular water while their roots grow into the surrounding soil, usually through the first spring and summer. After that, water deeply but less often. Always check the soil first.

Prune little and often

Light tip pruning after flowering keeps many natives compact and encourages more flowers next season. Avoid cutting hard into old, leafless wood unless you know the variety reshoots from it, as many natives do not.

A simple native garden routine

  1. Check the label for light, soil and drainage, then choose the spot that matches.
  2. Plant at the same depth as the pot and water in well.
  3. Spread a coarse organic mulch around the plant, kept clear of the stem.
  4. Water regularly through the first warm season, then reduce as the plant establishes.
  5. Tip prune after flowering and feed only with a native-suitable fertiliser if growth needs it.

Leave some leaf litter under shrubs where you can. It holds moisture in the soil and is home to the insects that many native birds feed on.

Native plants available now

A selection of Australian natives currently available from Southern Plants™. Choose a plant to see its full growing guide.

Xeronidium Unity Everlasting Daisy Xeronidium Unity Everlasting Daisy Xerochrysum x Coronidium 'Xeronidium Unity' Bush Diamond™ Kangaroo Paw Bush Diamond™ Kangaroo Paw Anigozanthos hybrid 'Rambodiam' (Bush Diamond™) PBR Bloomin' Bloo® Lomandra Bloomin' Bloo® Lomandra Lomandra confertifolia subsp. rubiginosa 'PGSL001' 'Bloomin' Bloo'® Dianella Little Rev™ Dianella Little Rev™ Dianella revoluta 'DR5000' 'Little Rev™' Boronia Magenta Stars Boronia Magenta Stars Boronia heterophylla 'Moonglow' x pulchella 'Magenta Stars' White creeping boobialla White creeping boobialla Myoporum parvifolium alba (fine leaf) Local Hero Wax Flower Local Hero Wax Flower Chamelaucium uncinatum 'Local Hero' Boronia Celebration Boronia Celebration Boronia hybrid 'Celebration' 'KPB144'
See all native plants in the Plant Finder →

Your next step towards growing with confidence

You do not need to know everything at once. Start with your plant’s growing requirements, try the steps that suit your garden, and build confidence as you see what works.

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