Great Gardens workshops are designed to teach us all how sustainable gardening practices can save:
- time
- money
- water
- fertiliser and
- attract birds and other wildlife while enhancing the WOW! factor of your garden
These free public workshops provide sustainable gardening practices and environmental education to reduce urban fertilizer and water use in the Swan Canning Catchment.
The Swan River Trust introduced the program in September 2003. It continues to be the main supporter of the Great Gardens Program delivered to community members in the Swan Canning Catchment.
Topics in these free public workshops include:
- environmental consequences of existing gardening practices
- understanding and improving the soil
- fertiliser wise tips and tricks
- greenwaste recycling
- suitable plants for your area
- design principles
- waterwise irrigation
- attracting wildlife to your garden
- lawn establishment and care
- gardening myths
The Great Gardens program also runs workshops on Great Food Gardens, Synergy Energy Efficiency, and the Heavenly Hectares series which is aimed at landholders.
Spreading the message
Since 2003, the Great Gardens team have run 223 workshops in the Swan Canning Catchment with 22,602 participants supported by the Swan River Trust. In addition to these workshops a further 76 have been held with 5,147 attendees. All workshops are supported by the 31 local government authorities in the Swan Canning Catchment.
Research has shown that the impact of these popular workshops has been a reduction of nutrient discharge from domestic gardens, by an estimated six to eight tonnes of phosphorus and nitrogen by 50-60 tonnes, since the program’s inception.
The Great Gardens program was created in 2003 by Chris Ferreira and Garry Heady, independent environmental consultants.
This award-winning program has grown to become one of the most successful privately-run community environmental education programs in Western Australia.