Wildlife-plant for shade?

Hi Scott, there are some cold-tollerant grevilleas, a group of wild species from mountainous regions, like the Snowy Mountains, withstanding temperatures down to minus ten degrees. Like Grevillea lanigera, or Grevillea victoriae. The clay should not be a big problem, make the hole big enough, twice the width of the pot, and loosen the soil well.
I have a question for you Woko: yes, Grevilles attrakt birds, and I have many in my garden(?),but in the bush in my area, I have never come across one growing in the wild!? If that is so,are they just like McDonnalds for the birds? Easy picking? I might be completely wrong here? M-L

Too right malakarim, we have just let areas (most !?) grow wild,we don't have, what people would call lawn, anymore. The difference is amazing, we get armies of seed-eaters marching and munching.We have fenced the area around the water hole off, to keep horses and dogs out. It'sturned into a little paradise. M-L

ScottTas, I suspect Lomandras will indirectly attract raptors, kookaburras & other relatively large birds which prey on lizards, skinks & other small creatures which use Lomandras for cover. You might find native bees & butterflies are attracted to Lomandra flowers & even use them for breeding. It's a complicated world out there! The seeds of a few indigenous Acacias would attract any bronzewings you might have in your area.

Araminta, it's certainly fascinating to see what will regenerate if we just leave the land undisturbed, especially, if the land is next to good quality bush like yours is. I like your style! When I'm doing my bush care I use the Bradley method of minimum disturbance since soil disturbance encourages weeds.
The neighbour on my north side has taken stock from his property & he now has wonderful stands of native grasses on his property, some of which are gradually making their way into my place, displacing the weeds. This requires no effort on my part whatsoever.

Yes, there's always something to learn about nature, ScottTas.
I wasn't aware that kookaburras were introduced to Tas. To WA, yes, but not Tas. They'd would certainly have changed the ecology. Grrrrr. Galahs & little corellas were once birds of Australia's interior, I believe, but settlers altered the landscape & the rest is history (as are many of our bird & mammal species.)
As far as I can tell noisy miners are a natural part of Tas but I imagine the clearing of understorey there has advantaged them just as has occurred in other parts of Australia. I guess if you thought that other bird species needed protection from noisy miner harrassment then planting thick understorey would help. However, I'd recommend you take a look at your nearest remnant bushland to get an idea of the vegetation structure there then try to replicate that in your garden. This would advantage all your local birds except, perhaps, the noisy miner. If you thought that this approach didn't provide the protection other bird species need then there'd perhaps be an argument fo planting understorey thicker than occurs naturally. Keeping records of bird species' numbers over several years would help provide a basis for whatever decision you make.

ScottTas, I think it's a really good strategy to ensure you have adequate habitat for birds before getting rid of the weeds. In the Mt Lofty Ranges near where I live some people have destroyed their blackberry bushes which provided habitat (mainly protection) for superb fairy wrens & red-browed finches as well as southern bandicoots. Unfortunately, the native animals had nowhere else to go or, if they did, they had to compete with the existing residents.
So, good on you!

Hi Scott, I live in the Shire of Cardinia, when we moved here, the rule was, if you wanted to cut down trees to build a house, you needed a permit to remove anything. Any native tree of a certain age had to be replaced by three new native trees. The council would come and inspect, to see if you did it.Someone with some knowledge of native vegetation would turn up and see if there was anything of importance growing on your land. We wanted to put up a shed, and the woman even loked up in the trees to find nests. Very good, but since the last fires ALL the good work went out the window, councils are scared sh....less of people sueing them if their house burns down.They still don't understand the fires yet, in a big fire, ANYTHING BURNS, even grass and dirt. Face it, it will burn, the question is not if, it is when! We should not sacrifice nature and wildlife on the "if"
(as my clever mother, a philosopher, used to say: Even if there is a possibility to get hit by a car is high, that shouldn't keep you fron crossing the road until it happens!She was a very wise woman!)
So not to plant anything, just in case, is not very clever!!
Not to provide food and shelter for wildlfe is shortsighted, and almost a crime! M-L

Love this thread because it allows me to dust off my soap box & set it up in a sunny place.
It grieves me deeply when I see housing developments, filled with exotic vegetation, replacing natural bushland. The funny thing is that the developers so often promote their developments as featuring wildlife.
I live near Mt Barker (SA, not WA where a lot of our mail use to go) & the Mt Barker Council developed the Laratinga Wetlands which are fed from the town's treated effluent. It's quite a nice wetland, even if it is artificial, & provides habitat for both bushland & water birds. However, development has been permitted to within about 30 metres of the wetland yet, to my knowledge, Council has done nothing to discourage people from keeping cats & growing exotic pest plants which are likely to invade the wetland.
And another thing. So many developments feature moss rocks which once provided habitat for mosses, lichens, lizards, butterflies, snakes etc. Areas from which they're taken not only provide lower quality habitat but also are now prone to erosion.
Sadly, while many Councils & other authorities make lots of environmentally responsible noises, many of their efforts are tokenistic & designed to protect their images rather than the environment.
All of this, of course, is not to decry the efforts that some Councils make to protect native vegetation & restore damaged habitats. Burnside Council in Adelaide is one of these. It is doing good things with the remnant vegetation in the parts of the Adelaide Hills face zone which fall within its boundaries. But we have a long way to go before all levels of government are genuine about protecting the environment.

I go to the nursery closest to me and pick their brains endlessly about what plants to put in the gardens I am building for my daughter. My daughter is a young woman with multiple disabilities and she enjoys the outside. We are lucky enough to have 19 old gum trees on our five acre block and under those gum trees I am building banks of native plants that vary in height, width, texture, smell, colour, the nursery people are great at helping me to choose plants to attract bees, butterflies, birds and to provide shade for our growing flight of kangaroos that visits our yard almost daily.

Bosch Nursery is where I go for my plants. It is at Cranebrook NSW just out of Penrith. There information is on the Internet and they are very helpful.

Regards

Cheryl