Native Flowering plants and trees:

One of the best ways you can improve your garden/school environment for wildlife is to add plants
that provide food, in the form of nectar, fruit or seeds. Different birds and animals eat different things,
so the more variety of food plants you have, the more birds and animals you will attract and help.
Bottlebrush A very hardy plant, attracts native birds especially honeyeaters, lorikeets, rosellas, and
willie wagtails. hey also attract bees, as well as various other flying insects like butterflies who love
nectar and/or actively pollinate. !n addition to providing nectar, the shrub itself provides nesting
material and nesting sites. !nsects and pollinators like native bees also attract small insect"loving birds
like the yellow rumped thornbill and willie wagtail. he nectar and pollen is also a main food source of
many mammals such as possum
#revilleas !f you want birds in your garden, grevilleas are what attracts them the most$ %ectar"
eating birds and insects find them irresistible, and because a small tree can have a hundred or more
flowers during the peak flowering period, these animals find them e&tremely attractive. !t helps small
honeyeaters, spinebills, wattlebirds, parrots, rosellas, silvereyes, butterflies and moths. !t also attracts
insects which, in turn, feed small insect"eating birds like willie wagtails and golden whistlers.
Banksia Another good nectar plant$ he flower"heads are packed with nectar, and the shrubs
provide useful shelter and nesting materials. !t helps nectar"loving birds, native bees, butterflies and
insects. he nectar is also favoured by gliders and possums.
'ulberry rees " A very delicious fruit tree$ ! often go foraging for mulberries(as do birds, possum,
bats and other small animals with a sweet tooth. Also, silkworms love to feed on the leaves. hese
are great for shade in the summer.
)ig ree" a cool fact about these guys is that each species is pollinated by its own e&clusive wasp
species and the wasps rely on the tree to complete their lifecycle. *hen the female goes to lay her
eggs inside the flowers, she pollinates the new tree with pollen from the last fig she visited. o keep
these wasps alive, the fruit of the figs is produced all year round. Because of this, the fruit provides a
regular food source from many animals(fruit for generalist fruit eaters like bats and other small
mammals and birds.
Don+t forget about all the cool insects, like ants, that are attracted to the sweet sugar in the fruits of
fruiting trees$
#um ree here are so many different varieties ,! didn+t see which one in the photos-. hey have
pretty flowers that attract birds, insects and even some small mammals. 'y favourite bird, the
kookaburra, can often be found laughing away in a gum tree.
Water Source:
*ater helps most wildlife, and it+s not only used for drinking. Birds preen their feathers with it and
frogs need it to stop their porous skin from drying out. *ater sources will often attract more species
of birds than a feeder, and parent birds will bring their babies to show them where it is.
.hallow pond with rocks ,no water plants or living creatures- and a net over it this one is great for
bees and other insects to get their water because it has rocks for them to land on. )ish could not live
here because they wouldn+t have enough space and there aren+t any water plants for them to have
shelter or get o&ygen.
Bathtub pond with water plants and tadpoles )rogs love this kind of water source, as you can see
with all the tadpoles$ here is a free app for smart devices called Ribbit, which shows info about frogs
in the /u"ring"gai area ,perhaps some of the same ones in your neck of the woods-. Other animals,
like mos0uitoes, like to lay their eggs here too. !+ll bet if you looked at a sample of the water under a
magnify glass or even a microscope, you+d see all kinds of tiny little invertebrate ,micro fauna like
mayfly, dragonfly and damselfly-.
!f you don+t want to have a bunch of spawning mos0uitoes to bite you later, you+ll want to have water
that is constantly moving with maybe a pump or something like that.
.ome e&amples of the benefits of having native trees and plants ,and having an area/garden that
resembles native bushland-1
.upports native animals birds, bats, possums, bees, snails and other wildlife ,some of
which are in decline such as the 2egent 3oneyeater and is in danger of becoming e&tinct-
3elps save endangered animals from e&tinction
4rovides clean, fresh air
!ncreases rainfall by releasing water vapour and fine particles such as pollen, which are
re0uired to seed rain drops
4rovides food resources for people because about 5/6 of our food comes from plants that
re0uire native pollinators such as insects
3aving local/native plants and trees is always a terrific idea because they attract local/native animals
by providing the most suitable food and habitat for them$ !deally, it is best to have a mi&ture of plants
to reflect the balance ,trees, shrubs and groundcovers- that originally occurred before disturbance.
! think it+s super awesome that your school has a native bee hive$ ! used to be a beekeeper when !
lived in %orth 7ueensland, and ! miss not taking care of a bee hive.