Year 4 students at St Peter's Anglican College in Broulee, on the NSW Far South Coast, have planted about 1,000 native plants to turn a bare patch of their playground into a microforest. The plants are native to the region's endangered coastal littoral rainforest. The school is the first in NSW to partner with the not-for-profit Microforest Collective to research, design and plant a microforest as part of the curriculum. The project uses the Miyawaki method of dense planting, which the collective says can help plants grow up to 10 times faster than normal.
Wildlife experts say thousands of emaciated flying foxes are arriving at the Hills Wildlife Sanctuary in Sydney, a sign of a mass starvation event. Sanctuary director Ben Dessen says the numbers are unlike anything seen before. Native trees are flowering late and producing little nectar, at a time when mothers are feeding pups. Sydney Botanic Gardens chief scientist Brett Summerell links the shortage to an unusually dry winter and spring. Dessen says the sanctuary, run by volunteers and small charities, needs community support, and residents are urged not to handle sick bats.
Several native yellow-flowering daisies known as buttons are now in bloom in the Illawarra region, according to gardening columnist Emma Rooksby. Billy Buttons are flowering in planter boxes outside the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre in central Wollongong. Showy Copper-wire Daisies are flowering at Croom Reserve in Albion Park. Rooksby also describes Everlasting Buttons, a woodland plant with profuse yellow flowers, and Yellow Buttons, a plant common in local gardens and on verges.
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Waratahs are hardy native wildflowers that can be grown in home gardens with the right conditions. They need free-draining, slightly acidic soil and dappled light or morning sun, and should be protected from strong winds. Plants should be watered from spring to autumn but not in winter, when they are dormant. Pruning is done after flowering, and plants typically take two to five years to bloom, flowering from September to November.
A guide from Better Homes & Gardens sets out 11 front yard landscaping ideas to improve kerb appeal. The suggestions include picket fences, timber decks, pebble mulching and metal planters. It recommends tough, hard-wearing materials and native plants suited to Australian conditions. Readers are advised to test their soil type before choosing plants, as clay and sandy soils suit different species. Three low-maintenance plants are also suggested, including agave, correa alba and casuarina 'green wave'.
Delegates from the Round Square International Conference 2026 planted 800 native plants near the Quarry Loop at Hornsby Park on 30 September and 1 October. Barker College hosted the conference, which drew more than 1,000 students and teachers from over 150 schools worldwide. Delegates also learned about Indigenous storytelling and how a former quarry became a public park. The planting forms part of Hornsby Shire Council's wider restoration work. Mayor Warren Waddell thanked the participants, saying the plants would serve as a lasting reminder of the connections made.
