Native vegetation and habitat on your small farm

Managing natural resources on your small property

There are a range of different types of native vegetation which you may have on your small property, including scattered paddock trees, remnant vegetation patches, planted treelines and riparian vegetation. Each of these can provide important habitat and resources for native animals. This short video explains the importance of these different native vegetation types, and how best to protect them.

Revegetating your Property

Woodlots and wildlife: A guide for creating a woodlot to provide you with firewood and valuable habitat for local wildlife (Greta Valley Landcare Group). This brochure covers the principles of establishing and managing a woodlot (a small-scale timber plantation) for a sustainable supply of firewood. A wildlife woodlot is a woodlot comprising native plant species, including suitable trees for firewood and shrubs that provide habitat for wildlife. Managing the woodlot over time involves leaving some trees to mature, while other trees are selectively harvested for firewood. 6 pages. Download here.
Planting your patch: A guide to revegetation on your property (Central West Local Land Services). This guide covers the process of planning, planting and maintaining a revegetation site on your property. It includes details on site selection and design, species selection, planting methods, ground preparation, watering and weed management. 61 pages. Download here.
Planting a small bird habitat haven (Habitat Network). This poster demonstrates a simple but effective design for planting a small area to provide habitat for small birds. 1 page. Download here.
Recognising habitat features: A guide to identifying habitat on your property (Central West Local Land Services). This guide details the steps to help you identify, and understanding the importance of, the following habitat features: The overstorey (large trees), the understorey (small trees and shrubs), regeneration, groundcover (low shrubs, herbs, grasses and litter), rocks & soil, and watercourses, wetlands & dams. 42 pages. Download here.
Revegetation techniques: A guide for establishing native vegetation in Victoria (Greening Australia). This guide is a bit dated, and obviously it refers to Vic in the title, but it remains one of the most comprehensive references for revegetation you can find! It covers revegetation with planted tubestock, direct seeding and natural regeneration, with step by step descriptions for each. It has a detailed section on planning your revegetation site, and lots of tips and tricks. 131 pages. Download here.
Preparing and planting a revegetation site (Murrumbidgee Landcare). This fact sheet explains the steps involved in planting a revegetation site, from ground preparation and weed control through to planting tips and follow-up care. Good preparation and management can help minimise seedling losses and encourage healthy plant growth. 2 pages. Download here.

Revegetating your Property: Shelterbelts

Creating practical shelterbelts: A guide for creating shelterbelts using native species (Greta Valley Landcare Group). This guide covers the benefits of shelterbelts and techniques to design, plant and maintain a shelterbelt. It includes useful suggestions on things such as planting density, row design, species selection and siting. 9 pages. Download here.
Shelterbelts (ANU Sustainable Farms). This brochure summarises the outcomes of many years of research, undertaken by the team at ANU and others, regarding shelterbelts on farms. It covers the benefits of shelterbelts, along with tips for designing and locating them for the best results. 4 pages. Download here.
Improving linear corridors to increase farm productivity and support wildlife (Habitat Network). This attractive poster contains a surprisingly large amount of detail! Many of the original plantings done on farms were single row treelines. This poster explains how and why landholders can enhance these linear plantings to provide improved habitat benefits for native wildlife, especially small woodland birds. 1 page. Download here.
Establishing a shelter belt on your farm (Murrumbidgee Landcare). This fact sheet describes the role and benefits of shelter belts, and provides information on various design considerations, including location, height, length, continuity, width and orientation. 2 pages. Download here.

Revegetating your Property: Paddock trees

Scattered paddock trees (NSW Local Land Services). This brochure explains some of the benefits of scattered paddock trees for your farm and wildlife, why they are under threat, and how you can protect and regenerate paddock trees. 6 pages. Download here.
Paddock trees (Murrumbidgee Landcare). This fact sheet describes the importance of paddock trees, the threats they are facing, and ways in which landholders can help protect paddock trees. 2 pages. Download here.

Propagating Native Seedlings

Growers’ handbook: A step by step guide to growing strong native seedlings (Trees for Life). If you are interested in propagating your own native seedlings, then this handbook is for you! Filled with useful tips and information, it will guide you through the process from setting up a propagation area to caring for your growing plants. 54 pages. Download here.
Collecting and caring for seed from Australian native plants: Handy how-to guide (Rivers of Carbon). This guide provides an outline of the steps involved in collecting seed from native plants for use in propagation. View here.
Propagating native seedlings (Murrumbidgee Landcare). This fact sheet provides handy hints on seed collection and germination of various native plant species. It includes specific information for a selection of common species found in our region. 4 pages. Download here.
How to make and use seed bombs (Murrumbidgee Landcare). Seed bombs (or seed balls) are made from a mixture of clay, compost, seeds and water. They are a fun and handy technique to spread seed, and can be used for revegetation after bush fires and droughts, in barren areas, or in small scale garden plots. 2 pages. Download here.

Selecting Species to Plant

South West Slopes revegetation guide (Murray Catchment Management Authority). This comprehensive guide provides native vegetation profiles for over 35 catchments and districts within the South West Slopes, with detailed information on all species covered. It is an invaluable guide when determining what species are most suited to your location. 447 pages. Download here.
Riverina Travelling Stock Reserves vegetation guide (NSW Local Land Services). This guide describes the different vegetation classes in the Riverina region, where they occur and the main species in each class. The vegetation classes covered include Wet & Dry Sclerophyll Forests, Grassy Woodlands, Sandhill Woodlands, Riverine Forests, Floodplain Woodlands & Shrublands, Riverine Plain Woodlands & Grasslands, and Sand Plain Mallee Woodlands. 28 pages. Download here.
Wiradjuri plant use in the Murrumbidgee catchment (Riverina Local Land Services). This book is a contemporary guide to the identification of plants within the Murrumbidgee catchment and their significance and cultural use for the Wiradjuri people. For each species included, there is a brief overview of the plant and a description of the plant’s traditional uses. It is the only book of its kind for this region (that we are aware of). 114 pages. Download here.
Powerful pollinators: Encouraging insect pollinators in farm landscapes (ANU Sustainable Farms). This guide describes the importance of pollinators, and how to encourage them on your property. It also has a comprehensive table of native plants for our region, with the flowering season for each and information about which pollinators are attracted to each species. 6 pages. Download here.

Plantings and Bushfire Risk

Landscaping for bushfire: Garden design and plant selection (Country Fire Association Victoria). This booklet covers the principles of designing and planting a garden in a bushfire area. It is based on the principles of creating defendable space; removing flammable objects from around the house; breaking up fuel continuity; and careful selection, location and maintenance of trees. Plant selection information is based on plant characteristics such as flammability, moisture content, branching pattern and density, so while the guide is from Victoria, the information is still highly relevant to our region. 56 pages. Download here.
Planting in bushfire areas (Murrumbidgee Landcare). This fact sheet provides suggestions for landscaping in bushfire areas, with reference to vegetation placement, continuity, maintenance and species selection. It includes a selection of local plants which are generally thought to be more suitable in bushfire areas. 4 pages. Download here.

Monitoring your Habitat Plantings

Reading the landscape: Signs of impact in conservation areas (Central West Local Land Services). This guide is designed to help landholders better understand the signs that indicate whether management of native vegetation is having a positive or negative impact. Signs that things are going well include: biotic soil crusts, increased vegetation cover and increased species diversity. Signs that things aren’t quite right include: poor plant health, invasive species and poor water quality. 48 pages. Download here.
Checking for change: A practical guide to check whether sites newly managed for conservation are on track to improve (CSIRO). Sometimes it can be hard to tell if your work to regenerate your property is actually having an impact. This guide provides helpful techniques to check whether you are on track, with indicators which will show change within just 2 to 6 years. The techniques are straightforward, result in simple and accurate data, and are based on the latest scientific findings. 50 pages. Download here.
Vegwatch manual: Vegetation and habitat condition assessment and monitoring for community (Molongolo Catchment Group). This manual aims to give community groups and landholders the knowledge to be able to undertake monitoring using simple methodology. It is mainly aimed at measuring whether elements of ecological diversity, function and habitat are being maintained across the landscape. It takes you through all the steps in detail, and provides handy recording sheets to use. 111 pages. Download here.
Using photopoints for monitoring (Murrumbidgee Landcare). Photopoints remain the simplest and most commonly used method for monitoring changes on most properties. If you receive grant funding for work on your property, it is likely that you will need to provide photopoint monitoring as a minimum. So it is useful to know how best to do this! This factsheet provides a description of how to set up a photopoint site, to take repeated photo’s over time as a way of monitoring changes to your site. 2 pages. Download here.

Restoring and Regenerating Existing Native Vegetation

Guide to managing Box Gum Grassy Woodlands (Australian Government’s Caring for our Country program). Box Gum Grassy Woodlands are an Endangered Ecological Community which is found in our region, largely on private properties. For landholders who have remnants of this community on their property, this guide will be invaluable in helping you to protect and restore this precious habitat. 156 pages. Download here.
Protecting and enhancing remnant native vegetation: A guide to help you identify and care for remnant vegetation on your property (Greta Valley Landcare Group). This guide covers how to identify and care for remnant native vegetation on your property. It discusses native grass pastures, bush, woodlands, wetlands, paddock trees, riparian corridors and road reserves, with information on how to protect and enhance native vegetation. 19 pages. Download here.
Re-introducing traditional Indigenous land management practices (Kosciuszko to Coast). It is now recognised that an understanding of traditional Indigenous land management practices will provide insights into our current appreciation of landscape function and biodiversity, and lead to improved biodiversity and farming outcomes. The case studies presented in this booklet describe a range of traditional practices which were trialled on private properties in the Monaro. 41 pages. Download here.
Critical threats to native vegetation (Murrumbidgee Landcare). This factsheet explains the key threats to native vegetation, and the actions landholders can take to help protect native vegetation on their own properties. 2 pages. Download here.