Stephanie has a larger, more traditional garden space in North Melbourne.

The garden is located on the busy Flemington Road, so plants and wildlife contend with many urban streetscape challenges such as road pollution, runoff and street lighting, and fragmented habitat.

Stephanie received a virtual garden visit as it was during COVID lockdowns in Melbourne. The visit was online and worked well as a video call.

‘The visit went beyond my expectations with the level of interaction and detailed assistance with plans.’

Following the visit Stephanie visited Bili Nursery to use the plant voucher, which is given to all participants in the program. Bili staff and volunteers suggested additional plants that would work in the garden.

Stephanie has kept her garden report as a plan that she can re-visit or refresh on ideas and garden info. Stephanie has implemented a number of ideas from the discussion such as a pond, smaller trees for smaller birds and more native plants which are thriving compared to non-natives. Stephanie also placed logs in the garden as insect habitat.

Stephanie would like to encourage all her neighbours to participate and apply to have a garden visit, ‘it’s a hugely important program for the city wildlife residents, biodiversity and creating greener spaces for us humans’.