Kadina plantings sprout local gardening inspo

More than 300 locally-sourced native plants are springing to life at SA Water’s Kadina depot as part of a landscaping project to enhance the area’s visual amenity, improve dust suppression and demonstrate  water-efficient gardening methods that can be easily replicated at home.

Working together with local Aboriginal business Stone Environmental and Northern Yorke’s branch of the Australian Plants Society, SA Water’s team designed the garden using 34 species of local native flora which were carefully selected for their heat tolerance and adaptation to the area’s alkaline soils.

SA Water Vegetation Services Specialist Shaun Kennedy said the rejuvenated space will inspire the community to adopt similar principles and help create more inviting streetscapes.

“Our Kadina depot is situated in the heart of the town which provided an exciting opportunity to showcase gardening with native plants, helping to educate the local community and beautify the surrounding area,” Shaun said.

“Maintaining a garden can be more challenging here on the Yorke Peninsula with calcrete sub-soils and lengthy, warm summers intensified by the northerly winds sweeping through.

“While some residents in the area maintain lush gardens despite these challenges, many others are opting to pave their yards or lay artificial turf instead, leading to gradually hotter and less attractive streetscapes.

“The use of native flora and considered irrigation can, over time, provide important shade cover to help reduce urban heat effects.

“We’re hoping the depot’s lively landscape will inspire the community to adopt similar water-efficient gardening techniques at home, while celebrating the region’s wonderful native flora.”

The depot’s yard was separated into garden beds to demonstrate three gardening styles, including a small courtyard garden, a shady woodland garden and a semi-arid garden – which all consist of interesting plants with broad ornamental appeal.

A range of native plants, including the Mallee Blueflower, Austral Bugle and Sturt’s Desert Rose, were sourced from the Northern Yorke Australian Plants Society and planted by local business Stone Environmental, drawing on the team’s years of experience in native revegetation.

Members of the Kadina community are encouraged to come by the depot and take a look for gardening ideas, or visit sawater.com.au for more information about how they can replicate a native garden at home.

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