Gardens of WA: Climate change means gardeners have to be resourceful and creative to protect environment

Climate change is increasingly reshaping the way we live and the world around us. It’s no surprise that some of the first people to voice concern for our climate, years ago, were farmers — people intimately connected to (and reliant on) the land. Well, if you are a gardener, I’m sure you’re noticing it too. The seasons are less predictable, the rain is more sporadic and precious, the droughts and bushfires more intense. It is, realistically, probably going to be harder to grow a garden in WA in the next decade than it was in the last. But this is no reason to give up. In fact, with diminishing bushland, increasing temperatures and endangered wildlife, turning our gardens into shady, hospitable, vibrant ecosystems is perhaps one of the most beneficial small acts we can take. The gardeners of tomorrow need to be resourceful and creative, embracing tough plants, conserving water, protecting wildlife and repurposing materials that might once have been discarded, giving them a new life in the garden instead. If anyone understands this, it’s Soozie Ross. “Every summer that comes round, you think, please, please survive”, she laughs from her shady backyard. Soozie’s garden is built to survive. Filled with Australian natives, it spreads out from her house as a series of rooms connected by wooden paths. A bridge hangs over a dry riverbed filled with native sedges and coffee rock. Beyond the bridge is a gazebo with mismatched salvaged chairs and a firepit that Soozie’s son made for her. Overhead, a tall eucalyptus tree is adorned with nesting boxes for local bats. “It’s like living in an aviary” Soozie grins. “I get quenda from the park, I get blue-tongued lizards — I’ve got a couple who live here. They’re territorial; they mate for life and make babies every year.” Soozie’s approach to her garden is one of discovering the beauty and utility in things others wouldn’t hesitate to throw out. At the back corner of the garden, an old car bonnet sits upright, pockmarked with dents from the legendary hailstorm of 2010. “‘I couldn’t let it go” she chortles, adding “of course some members of my family thought I was mad.” Elsewhere in the garden, a disassembled bike hangs from a tree, and the pool gate is held open with part of an old telegraph pole. “I can’t help myself, I find things and I want to use them,” Soozie smiles. This ethos extends to the garden itself — when a tree dies in her yard, instead of removing it, Soozie uses it as a climbing frame for Hardenbergias to trail up. “‘Why pull out a dead tree if it’s not endangering something,” she remarks. With a house designed to be passive solar, and five interconnected rainwater tanks that supply her garden throughout winter, Soozie has created a backyard that is as strong as it is beautiful, offering a little inspiration for those of us who hope to continue growing wild, healthy and full gardens in the decades to come.