Sustainable Gardening Australia Workshops at Werribee Open Range Zoo

Do your bit to enhance your local environment by becoming more sustainable within your own backyard.

During Autumn 2010, Sustainable Gardening Australia (SGA) are offering four two hour workshops at Werribee Open Range Zoo.

Cost: $10.00 per workshop (includes Zoo entry but not safari tour) or $35.00 for all 4 workshops

The workshops focus on:

• sustainable garden design
• indigenous plants to the Werribee Plains
• creating habitat gardens for local wildlife
• gardening techniques to deal with low rainfall.

Take a tour of the Zoo's sustainable gardens with local experts and gain an insight into the sort of garden you can aspire to.

Workshop 1: Sustainable Garden Design

Date: Sunday February 21st 2010
Time: 10am to 12noon
Cost: $10.00 (includes Zoo entry but not safari tour)

Learn how you can create an attractive and functional garden using sustainable design principles. This workshop covers all elements in a sustainable garden including:

• organic soil management
• creating garden zones
• using recycled materials
• minimising chemical and fertiliser use
• successful plants for your area.

Includes a guided tour of Werribee Open Range Zoo's award winning Watersmart Garden to see sustainable garden design in practice.

Workshop 2: Garden Plants for the Werribee Plains

Date: Sunday March 7th 2010
Time: 10am to 12noon
Cost: $10.00 (includes Zoo entry but not safari tour)

The Werribee Plains are host to a unique yet vulnerable range of plant and animal communities. Growing some of these locally indigenous plants in your garden will help to protect them for the future. This workshop covers:

• the history and ecology of the Basalt Plains
• appreciating local soils and ways to improve them naturally
• mixing exotic and indigenous plants in your garden
• using local grassland species
• growing plants from seed or using tube stock, and
• tips for maintaining indigenous plants in residential gardens

Includes a guided tour of Werribee Open Range Zoo's Seed Orchard to see indigenous grasses and herbaceous plants in bloom.

Workshop 3: Creating Habitat Gardens

Date: Sunday March 21st 2010
Time: 10am to 12noon
Cost: $10.00 (includes Zoo entry but not safari tour)

Urbanisation causes fragmentation of local plant and animal communities. Learn how you can help protect locally vulnerable species by creating habitat areas in your garden. Workshop topics include:

• the importance of local ecosystems
• creating wildlife corridors
• designing habitat zones
• attracting birds, insects, frogs and other small animals
• using recumbent rocks, logs and tree hollows .

Includes a guided tour of the Werribee Zoo Volcanic Plains Walk to
observe successful habitat zones

Workshop 4: Gardening in Low Rainfall Areas

Date: Sunday April 11th 2010
Time: 10am to 12noon
Cost: $10.00 (includes Zoo entry but not safari tour)

The Werribee Plains area receives significantly less water than the rest of Melbourne. Learn how you can have a beautiful and sustainable garden through careful plant selection and choosing alternative water sources. Workshop covers:

• gardening through climate change and drought
• understanding soil and its ability to hold water
• choosing the correct water retentive mulches
• installing alternative water sources for the garden
• characteristics of drought tolerant plants
• using indigenous plants suited to the local ecology.

Includes a guided tour of Werribee Open Range Zoo's Watersmart Garden to see thriving dry garden zones using both indigenous and exotic plants

Bookings: On-line at Sustainable Gardening Australia
Location: Werribee Open Range Zoo, K Road Werribee.

		Information flyer SGA Workshops.pdf  ( 495.7 KB )