From the Bible to Versailles, gardens are bound to their political and religious history.
Melburnians admire the first primrose to arrive in the colony, transported by a Wardian case, in Edward Hopley’s A Primrose from England, circa 1855.
Bendigo Art Gallery, Gift of Mr and Mrs Leonard Lansell 1964.
A wood and glass case invented in the early 19th-century transformed the movement of plants around the world. In Melbourne, several thousand people greeted a primrose on its arrival from England.
Sara Wilkinson, University of Technology Sydney e Fiona Orr, University of Technology Sydney
In a world of increasing urbanisation, density, pressure and, some say, isolation, there’s a natural salve for stress, pressure and mental illness. And it’s right above our heads.
Simply being exposed to nature can help children better cope with stress.
from www.shutterstock.com
Exposure to nature plays a positive role in brain development by providing children with opportunities to take risks, discover new things, and be creative.
Seed-eating birds like this male king parrot enjoy birdbaths - but they like food even more.
Glenn Pure
Is providing birds with food and water making them too dependent? Or are gardens just the new frontier of Australia’s urban landscape? New research aims to find out.
Native plants don’t need much space really.
Simon Pawley/Sustainable Outdoors
Lizzy Lowe, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau e Margaret Stanley, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
It is possible to use small spaces such as transport corridors, verges and the edges of sporting grounds for native wildlife habitat restoration, helping to bring biodiversity back into cities.
Bird baths are more than just ornamental splash pools. They’re also a site where animals socialise and intense rivalries play out. And bird bath design, location and cleanliness can have a big impact.
Time spent weeding, potting and pruning can be as good for the gardener as it is for the garden.
Image from www.shutterstock.com
There are birds we love to hate, such as the Noisy Miner. But much of the annoying behaviour on show may be a result of human-induced changes to habitats.