Inspiring wildlife friendly gardens in our urban environment.
How to get involved
Geelong Gardens for Wildlife services most suburbs and rural areas of greater Geelong but not all.
If your property is outside of the City of Greater Geelong, please contact your local Council to see if there is a Gardens for Wildlife program in your area.
If you live on the Bellarine Peninsula (including Leopold), or in the Borough of Queenscliffe, please click on the link below to request a garden visit.
Join the Geelong Gardens for Wildlife Network
Stay up to date with what's happening in Geelong Gardens for Wildlife by joining their social media network. You can also get involved by attending events or volunteering as a Garden Guide.
Email: [email protected]
or connect online:
Instagram: @geelonggardensforwildlife
Facebook: @geelonggardensforwildlife
Victoria wide program: gardensforwildlifevictoria.com
Request a Garden Visit
Greater Geelong residents, who don't live on the Bellarine Peninsula, can complete the online form below to register their interest to have volunteer Garden Guides visit their garden and discuss strategies for making it wildlife friendly.
- Step 1. Register your interest in a garden visit by clicking the button below.
- Step 2. A Garden Guide will contact you.
After you’ve requested your visit, a volunteer Garden Guide will contact you to find a time that suits for your garden visit.
Geelong Gardens for Wildlife is a community run service who aim to contact people within 4 weeks of their registering. Response times, however, are dependent on the number of requests received and the availability of our volunteer Garden Guides. - Step 3. Your Garden Visit
During your one hour visit, your two Garden Guides will discuss ways you could modify your garden and introduce site-specific elements to improve nature. Your Guides will also provide information on the native plants and animals specific to your area and how you might create habitat for them in your garden. - Step 4. Receive your garden report and plant voucher (when available)
Following your visit, you will receive a report summarising the conversation with a list of achievable actions to enhance your garden for wildlife. This may take up to one month.
When grant funding is available, you'll also receive a voucher from a local indigenous plant nursery to help get your garden started.
Becoming a Garden Guide
You can share your passion for wildlife by becoming a volunteer Garden Guide.
A Garden Guide visits local residents’ gardens and suggests ways of improving habitat for wildlife through garden design and plant selection.
By becoming a Garden Guide, you can help others bring more native plants and animals into their neighbourhood. You will also become part of wider network of people making a difference for nature while improving your health and wellbeing. Win - win!
Download the Position Description for a Garden Guide below and don’t hesitate to get in touch via the Geelong Gardens for Wildlife email if you would like to know more: [email protected]
GARDEN GUIDE POSITION DESCRIPTION
About Geelong Gardens for Wildlife
Geelong Gardens for Wildlife is an affiliate of Gardens for Wildlife Victoria. The group is dedicated to improving biodiversity in our urban environment.
As Geelong grows, so too does the pressure placed on our native plants and animals. This is why it’s important we create as many spaces as possible where wildlife can find the habitat, shelter, food and water sources they need to live and thrive. This importance is multiplied because of urban sprawl and the additional pressures of our changing climate. The more wildlife friendly spaces available, the more wildlife we will see in our suburbs.
No matter the size of green space you may have, there are plenty of easy, low-cost ways you can help our local wildlife!
About the Victorian Gardens for Wildlife Program
The Gardens for Wildlife Victoria program commenced in 2016 in the Knox Municipality. The program facilitates networking between community volunteers and staff in local government agencies, with the intention of increasing community awareness and knowledge about the importance of creating and improving habitat for native flora and fauna.
The program offers free consultations from trained volunteer Garden Guides who visit local resident’s gardens to provide tailored advice to attract native wildlife.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, you do not need a large garden, any size garden has the potential to provide habitat.
About 1 hour at your garden. Your Garden Guide will spend additional time preparing for the visit and writing up a post visit report, which will be emailed to you after the visit.
The primary purpose of the Garden Guide is to look at ways to create or enhance existing habitat to attract and support local plants and animals and there are a range of strategies to do that.
You might wish to prepare for your visit by writing a list of the birds, animals and insects that are already present or visit your garden or local parks, as well as what your goals are for your garden, i.e. who would you like to attract? What opportunities do you see? When you book a garden visit, you will be encouraged to answer some optional questions about your garden as well, these can act as prompts to help you picture what you would like your garden to be.
Local gardens for wildlife
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