The Illawarra hosts plant communities such as the Illawarra Lowlands Grassy Woodlands, and Illawarra Subtropical Rainforest, which are unique to our local area.
To help people grow great native gardens, Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama Councils have teamed up to develop the GROW LOCAL garden guides. The paperback guides - which were developed with support from the NSW Environmental Trust - cover everything from plant selection and garden design to growing bird-attracting plants.
This guide will help you find suitable local plants for urban and rural gardens of the Illawarra. It is by no means an exhaustive list, but will provide an introduction to those local native plants that are most readily available.
Click on the image to download a PDF copy of the Grow Local: Illawarra Native Garden Guide
Note: The guide is intended for use by residents of Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama Council areas. it is not designed to guide revegetation of natural areas such as Bushcare or Landcare sites or riparian zones. Planting in these areas should be guided by the naturally occuring suite of native species that occur in that location.
There are a number of things that Council is doing to protect and enhance our biodiversity, including:
- Funding qualified bush regenerators to undertake bush restoration and weed control in our bushland reserves.
- Seeking grant funding opportunities to increase our capacity to under more bush restoration.
- Supporting volunteers through the Bushcare program to help care for our bushland.
- Providing capacity building opportunities through workshops, and information resources to assist volunteers and landholders in increasing their knowledge about our local biodiversity.
- Implementing the Illawarra Biodiversity Strategy action plan.
- Assessment of biodiversity values through the development assessment process.
Together, Wollongong Council and the community can help protect and enhance our biodiversity. Read more for some useful resources on our local biodiversity, and the part we can play enriching and protecting our natural heritage.
Sign up to our Sustainable Wollongong newsletter sustainability@wollongong.nsw.gov.au to find out about upcoming workshops, events and education activities.
Hibbertia dentata
Biodiversity at Home
There are so many good reasons to use local native plants in our urban landscaping:
· They look good and will thrive.
· They are adapted to local conditions and will require less maintenance than conventional exotic plants.
· They attract native birds and will help deter pest birds such as the Common (Indian) Myna.
· Local native plants provide stepping stones for local native fauna moving through the urban landscape.
· Attracting local fauna is fun, and educational.
· Using local native plants reduces the chance of garden escapees.
Identification Guides
Frogs of the Illawarra - Learn how to identify 16 of the most common frogs in the Illawarra, and how to make your garden frog-friendly.
Illawarra Birds Over 350 different kinds of birds have been identified in the Illawarra. These are some of the most likely you’ll come across
Endangered Ecological Communities of the Illawarra – Learn about the nineteen Endangered Ecological Communities that occur in the Illawarra.
Red Crowned Toadlet - image courtesy of Martin Schulz
Threatened Flora of the Illawarra
Rare Flora of the Illawarra
Threatened Fauna of the Illawarra
Rare Fauna of the Illawarra
Weeds of the Illawarra
Vegetation types of the Illawarra
Migratory birds of the Illawarra
More Information about Threatened Species
NSW Office of Environment and Heritage
Federal Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities
Illawarra Bushland Database
The Illawarra Bushland Database is a fantastic tool that collates flora survey information from over 600 sites in the Illawarra. You can search the information by maps, or even search by suburb name to find out what is growing naturally in the bushland in your area.
Coming soon in November 2011.
Council and Community - working together
Wollongong Council is working with the community to restore connectivity between local remnant bushland fragments and endangered ecological communities through weed control activities and revegetation. Work undertaken includes weed removal, stabilisation of eroding banks and planting of native trees, shrubs and grasses.
During 2009-10, commercial bush regeneration contractors conducted bush restoration work at 60 sites across the LGA. Work undertaken included weed removal, stabilisation of eroding banks and planting of 13,071 native trees, shrubs or grasses over an area of 521,630 square metres. These projects aim to restore remnants of several threatened communities, riparian vegetation and habitat for threatened flora and fauna species. Endangered ecological communities where bush regeneration work was undertaken included Illawarra Dry-subtropical Rainforest, Littoral Rainforest, Bangalay Sand Forest, Swamp Oak Floodplain Forest and Illawarra Lowlands Grassy Woodland. Weed trees such as willows, privets and corals were removed from several reaches of creek including American Creek, Mount Kembla; Branch Creek, Figtree; Brooks Creek, Dapto; Collins Creek, Woonona; Cabbage Tree Creek, Guest Park; and Slacky Creek, Bulli.
There are many community groups across the region volunteering their time to help restore and preserve our natural environment. They’re always open to new members, so think about getting involved with –
Bushcare - works with community to conserve and restore the biodiversity in Wollongong’s natural areas. Wollongong City Councils Bushcare program has active volunteer groups at over 50 sites in the Wollongong Local Government Area.
Conservation Volunteers Australia - attracts and manages volunteers to participate in projects that protect or enhance our environment and heritage at several sites in the Wollongong Local Government Area.
Landcare Illawarra - is a community-based organisation which helps Illawarra residents living in the 3 local government areas of Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama on the NSW South Coast to get involved in a broad range of environmental activities. If you are looking to do some volunteer work and can spare a few hours per week, month or year, then get connected with your local Landcare, Coastcare, Dunecare or Bushcare group. Check out the Local Groups pages to locate a working group near you. Groups carry out environmental repair work all around the Ilawarra region and activities range from weed removal to native tree planting to maintaining and preserving natural regeneration.
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