Native garden or indigenous garden: What’s the difference, really? And why does it matter?

This is a question I get asked a lot in my work, so I thought I’d write a little article to explain the difference. 

Wild Hardenbergia violacea (Happy Wanderer) plant in the Strathbogie Forest, VIC. Photo by Melissa Stagg

I’m a landscape architect who specialises in the design and implementation of indigenous gardens; but what does this really mean? In its purest form, an indigenous garden uses only plants that occurred in the local area pre white settlement (to the best of our knowledge anyway). Now, this sounds simple enough, but it’s not so straight forward. It doesn’t just mean species that occur in your local area, but the actual plants that occur in your local area. “Now what does that mean?” I hear you say. Well here’s an example; look at a species like Hardenbergia violacea, commonly known as Happy Wander or Purple Corel-pea. It occurs from southern Tasmania, right through to northern Queensland. Now lets say I’m designing a garden for a property in Euroa (Goulburn Valley, Victoria) and I use Hardenbergia violacea. For that plant to be indigenous, I can’t just buy it from a standard native nursery. I need to buy it from a local indigenous nursery. If I buy the plant from a regular nursery, then the seed the plant was grown from wouldn’t have been collected from a locally occurring wild Hardenbergia violacea plant. “And why does this matter?” I hear you ask. Well, if the seed the plant was grown from was collected from a wild plant in northern Queensland (or the progeny of one), then that plant has evolved and adapted to the conditions in northern Queensland, and might not survive too well in Euroa. The northern Queensland plant will have evolved for conditions of much higher rainfall and humidity, and likely won’t like the extreme dry heat and lower rainfall of Euroa. A plant from the local area on the other hand will have evolved for these conditions. Furthermore, there is so much we don’t yet understand about our complex ecosystems. As far as we know, the plant from northern Queensland might differ from a local one in some way, that makes it less beneficial to the local ecosystem. Maybe it doesn’t support the local pollinators in the same way. The scientific studies just haven’t been done to know all the answers. 

Now, the next logical question is “what is an indigenous nursery”? Well, it’s a nursery that grows and sells plants that have been produced from local wild plant material. This can be seeds or cuttings collected from wild plants in the local region. Now, not just any nursery can go out and start doing this. A permit (issued by DELWP) is required to remove native plant material from the environment. Doing this without a permit attracts a hefty fine and possible jail time.

Wild Brunonia australis (Blue Pincushion) plant, Strathbogie Forest, VIC. Photo by Melissa Stagg

Collecting seeds and cuttings from wild populations requires specialist knowledge and protocols. Collectors have to know how to correctly identify indigenous plant species, and have to know where to go looking for them. Countless people-hours of ‘boots on the ground’, out in the bush, is put into collecting seed and cuttings every year. The peak collecting season is in the hottest part of summer, when collectors can go out in 40-45 oC days, for hours on end, to collect the seeds when they are ready. All seed/cuttings collected are catalogued including their provenance. This means records are kept about where exactly the seeds/cuttings were collected from. Some indigenous nurseries take things a step further and establish SPAs, or Seed Production Areas. These are like orchards for producing indigenous plant material, which are planted out with plants grown from locally sourced seeds/cuttings. 

OK, I’ll stop here for now. I could go on for hours about indigenous plants and how they’re produced, but I’ll restrain myself. The reason I know so much, and I’m so passionate about all this, is because although I’m a landscape architect, I’m also a collector with an indigenous seed bank, work with an indigenous nursery and I’m in the environmental restoration industry. I get a little too excited about it all, and can talk peoples ears off, but it’s an area that is endlessly fascinating. Being involved in the entire lifecycle of indigenous gardens; from going out hunting for wild plants, collecting their seed, processing and cleaning the seed, rearing them in the nursery, through to choosing the best location for them to go in a new garden (or environmental restoration project, or public landscape etc.), then seeing our local wildlife respond and move in. Seeing how an indigenous garden can support the local environment is endlessly rewarding. There is no other type of garden that can play the same role. Even incorporating a few indigenous plants into your garden can make a difference and support our Australian birds, wildlife and pollinators. All our Aussie fauna have evolved with our indigenous plants, and each has evolved and adapted to the other. The plants are perfectly suited for the wildlife, and the wildlife is perfectly suited for the plants. Local plants are also perfectly suited to the local climate and conditions. You name a niche/condition, there is an indigenous plant for it. Plus they are endlessly beautiful and unique. That’s not to say other plants won’t suit these conditions, but they won’t necessarily suit the birds, wildlife and pollinators in the same way. 

Collecting rare Smooth Minuria (Minuria integerrima) seed, Youanmite, VIC. Photo by Andy Adem

So now that you know the difference between a native garden and an indigenous garden, and why it matters, why not explore indigenous plants for your own garden!

Article by Melissa Stagg - Principal Landscape Architect