Flora and fauna safe havens on display at Garden Expo
May 26, 2011
The line-up of exhibitors and features on display at this year’s Queensland Garden Expo will have over 28,000 gardening enthusiasts from across South East Queensland buzzing in anticipation when the event returns for its 27th year to the Nambour Showgrounds from July 8-10.
One of the new additions to this year’s expo is the Living Backyard feature, an inspiring collection of displays designed to reflect various backyards showing how you can create a bio-diverse environment in your own outdoor space.
The Living Backyard display will be co-ordinated by Sunshine Coast Council’s Environmental Operations and ties in with Council’s vision for the Sunshine Coast to become Australia’s most sustainable region.
Michael Gilles, Nature Conservation Officer at the council says that this inaugural display features exhibitors who are passionate about preserving and enhancing our native flora and fauna within our community.
“With more and more people eager to create a sustainable, natural habitat to attract their local flora and fauna, we are delighted to be presenting such an innovative and eco-friendly display to provide the inspiration and guidance our gardeners are looking for.”
Visitors will discover how to make their own living backyard wildlife-friendly with simple ideas to attract butterflies, bees, birds and other backyard critters to their gardens by providing food, protection and nesting sites.
Marion Beazley, Expo Event Organiser said the shift towards fostering this type of outdoor garden has created a new interest in gardening and this exciting new area will assist in providing vital information for those searching for a sustainable way to protect their native plants and animals.
In addition to the practical and tangible concepts and interactive displays in each unique ‘backyard’, there will be four daily talks and how-to workshop sessions where the creators of each site will share their wealth of knowledge on what you can do to play your part in backyard nature conservation.
The intriguing line-up of speakers and topics include Ray Seddon, local driving force behind preserving the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly and Graham White from Witjuti Grub Bushfood Nursery who will share which bushfood and native plants you can nurture and enjoy from your garden.
And if planting and maintaining a healthy native garden is your focus, Barung Landcare and Coolum Native Nurseries will be on hand to demonstrate how best to design your living backyard, selecting and structuring the most suitable native plants along with nest box displays for attracting backyard critters.
The event is a three-day celebration of all things gardening, featuring the largest range of plants in one place, nearly 60 nurseries with over 50,000 plants on sale every day as well as a huge range of gardening products. Not only for the most ardent of gardeners, the Expo is a fun day out for the whole family.
For more information on what’s on at this year’s Queensland Garden Expo, please visit www.qldgardenexpo.com.au.
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