Waterwise Garden Demonstration Site

We all love our gardens but many of the plants in our gardens require large amounts of water to keep them alive and looking well!

There are lots of things that we can incorporate into both new and existing gardens to ensure that they continue to look great whilst requiring minimal water.

We thought that an ideal way to help would be to construct a demonstration site for the community to visit whenever they want, to get simple ideas to incorporate into their own gardens.

  
Did you know? The average NSW home uses 63,000 litres of water outdoors each year and most of this is on the garden (ACF). 

The Objectives of the Garden are to: 

• Demonstrate methods of efficient watering
• Exhibit local species, that residents are able to purchase/acquire for their gardens
• Exhibit other non-invasive native species that do not require large amounts of water, that residents are able to purchase/acquire for their gardens 
• Demonstrate that native gardens can be visually appealing and do not necessarily look a great deal different to the typical common exotic and high water use gardens
• Provide habitat and resources for local fauna
• Reduce/use reused/use recycled materials in the construction of the gardens where possible, to ensure that natural resources are not exploited and to demonstrate that they can provide a feature in the garden  
• Provide interpretive signage that details the various features of the garden
• Bring together members of the community to learn more about sustainable gardening
• Incorporate a functional composting system, with the compost being utilised on the garden
• Incorporate, utilise and enhance the presence of the rainwater tanks into the design of the garden so that they do not impact on the visual appeal of the site 

How can you get involved or find out more?

• Visit the site in your own time and take a look around
• Volunteer to participate in the Garden Maintenance program and working bees - you will be able to learn and share ideas with others, including people from Australian Plants Society and the local Gardening Club
• Attend Community Workshops on gardening themes as they are held
• Let everyone know about the workshops and garden and encourage them to visit
• Information Sheets need to be developed as the Garden progresses

Contact Gerard Nolan on 9843 0533 or email gnolan@thehills.nsw.gov.au if you would like to find out more. 

We invite you to come along and visit the Waterwise Garden - cnr Currie Avenue and Annangrove Road Annangrove - behind the Community Environment Centre in Annangrove Park.