Beside the recently upgraded South Geelong Railway Precinct, was a weed-ridden patch of grassed nature strip. We’re all familiar with these grassed nature strips that make up a large portion of green space across the City of Greater Geelong.

These strips of land have potential to become green corridors, linking wildlife reserves across our city and supporting flora, fauna, and fungi alike.

Multiple environmentally minded groups and agencies have collaborated to transform this site at South Geelong into Geelong’s first demonstration meadow-style nature strip, designed to support pollinators and urban biodiversity.

This garden is achieved through:

• Dense and layered planting (see plant list below)
   
• Selecting species that together flower all year round
   
• Inclusion of habitat elements like logs and rocks for fauna shelter

Through this project, we hope to inspire any passersby to look at grassed nature strips through a new lens and wonder what else they could become.

We also wish to grow our community of carers of this land that we live on and share with all species.

Have a look at your nature strip out the front; imagine all the biodiversity it could support!

This project has been brought to life by Barwon Water, Tract Consultants, Geelong Gardens for Wildlife and GenU Nursery.

Geelong Pollinator Garden plant list:

Groundcovers

• Brachyscome multifida – Cut Leaf Daisy
• Calocepahlus lacteus – Milky Beauty Heads
• Chrysocephalum apiculatum – Common Everlasting Daisy
• Dichondra repens – Kidney Weed
• Hardenbergia violacea – Happy Wanderer
• Goodenia ovata – Hop Goodenia
• Kennedia prostrata – Running Postman
• Myoporum parvifolium – Creeping Boobialla 
  
   

Grasses

• Rytidosperma caespitosum – Common Wallaby Grass
• Poa poiformis – Coast Tussock Grass
• Carex appressa – Tall Sedge
• Austrostipa stipoides – Coast Spear Grass
• Dichelachne crinite – Longhair Plume Grass
• Lomandra longifolia – Spiny Head Mat Rush

Wildflowers

• Bulbine bulbosa – Bulbine Lily
• Eryngium ovinum – Blue Devil
• Patersonia occidentalis – Native Iris
• Arthropodium strictum – Chocolate Lily
• Arthropodium milleflorum – Vanilla Lily

Small shrubs

• Plectranthus parviflorus - Bush Basil