Living Connections

Superb Fairy-wren. Photo by Ian Davies, courtesy of Macaulay Library.

Living Connections is a free Council program to help you transform your outdoor space into an urban wildlife habitat. This program is open to all residents of the Waverley Local Government Area (LGA) with a garden, courtyard or suitable balcony. Residents planting a verge garden are also eligible.

Founded in 2019 with assistance from the NSW Environmental Trust, over 350 private gardens, schools and community gardens have all contributed to grow Living Connections that help our native wildlife move around the neighbourhood.

Help us establish 1000 habitat gardens by 2030 and reconnect important habitat.

Sign Up

Living Connections participants receive:

Free native plants (ground covers & shrubs)
Resources on habitat gardening
Living Connections fence sign to help spread the word
You may also be able to receive a garden visit from a horticulturist, depending on the size of your garden
Networking and support through the Living Connections Facebook group.

Participants will be asked to:

Keep an eye out for wildlife in your garden, particularly Superb Fairy-wrens, New Holland Honeyeaters, Blue-tongue lizards and microbats (insectivorous bats).
Collect your new seedlings from one of our plant collections days
Care for your new plants using instructions provided; and
Keep your cats inside or in an enclosure to protect native wildlife.

We particularly welcome participants who live in an identified habitat corridor (see map below), as your private garden could make a big difference to helping our local small birds thrive.

Sign up to the program here, and get started by reading the Waverley Habitat Gardening Guide.

Map
Biodiversity Habitat Corridor 2022. For an interactive version, use the Environment Map.

Phil's garden

“When I applied to join Living Connections, I was simply seeking some expert advice and suitable plants to encourage the small native birds that used to visit the garden to return. I used to see Superb Fairy-wrens in the garden but haven't for years.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Living Connections kit that was sent out. In fact, so much so that I had a total rethink of my original idea for our yard. I completely changed my plan and removed all the grass to be able to create an endemic scrub that would be a haven for small birds.

I received 30 native seedlings through Living Connections, including Flax-leaf Heath Myrtle, Native Fushcia and Prickly-leafed Paperbark and planted them using the provided layout. I have since added to these seedlings and now have 90 new plants in the garden.

I added other habitat elements including a bird bath, rocks for lizards, mulch and logs. Since the transformation of the garden there has been a noticeable change in the behaviour of the native birds and insects visiting the garden.”

Just planted
Before

after 5 months
After

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