Rewild your backyard with this workshop series

Would you like to attract native bees, frogs, butterflies and birds into your garden or build a nestbox for your backyard? Then this event series is for you.

Back by popular demand, The Backyard Series is proudly hosted by Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanic Garden and offers practical weekend workshops about how to create beautiful native gardens in any backyard.

The inspiring 2024 program focuses on local plants and learning to choose which ones will grow best at your place.

It digs into soil types, coastal flowers, delicious bushfoods, small space design tips and, the best ways to tackle weeds.

There are opportunities to bring the kids along and build a nest box, a home for bees and butterflies or a frog hotel.

Sunshine Coast Environment and Liveability Councillor Tim Burns said The Backyard Series offered practical advice on how to nurture and enhance our environment.

“Each workshop gives you the knowledge to transform your backyard into a healthy, beautiful garden, brimming with local plants, while improving habitat for birds, bees and butterflies,” Cr Burns said.

“Choose one-off workshops or treat yourself to an affordable multi-weekend gardening course.”

Division 5 Councillor Winston Johnston said the workshops offered an opportunity to learn from the region’s leading native plant nurseries and gardening experts.

“Everyone is welcome, however the knowledge gained would particularly suit people with small to medium sized blocks who would like to improve their backyards to suit our climate, soils and local wildlife.

“These workshops are perfect for people who are already interested in gardening, or for people who are just starting their journey into native gardens and designing for biodiversity.”

Registrations are essential for each event, and start at $20 per adult.

August 3 - Build a hollow home

Join Stacey and Alan from Hollow Log Homes and build your own to improve backyard habitat. Come along to this practical workshop where you will learn about the importance of hollows as habitat and build a high quality nest box, to take-home and install in your own backyard.

Book for nestboxes

August 17 - Make a microforest

Join Trevour Pitt from Barung Landcare to learn how to implement a multi-species microforest at your place. Mircoforests are a planting method designed to deliver compact, rapid growth using a palette of local native trees. The ultimate garden for wildlife, this workshop gives you the know-how to make your very own microforest, creating biodiversity rich stepping stones through the landscape.

Book for microforests

September 7 - Explore coastal plants

Join Tim Lang from Coolum Native Nursery to discover the incredible diversity of plants in the Sunshine Coast's wet and dry heathlands. Tim will share his passion for local flora, particularly wildflowers of coastal wallum environments. He will explore the role of endemic plant diversity in supporting local fauna.

Book for coastal plants

September 21 - Soils and plant selection

Join Ethan Mimnaugh from Mooloolah River Landcare to understand different soils and how to select local plants that will thrive in them.

Participants will enjoy a hands-on demonstration of different soils and the types of plants that suit them. Ethan will share tips on how to select appropriate local species and take care of your soil.

Book for soils and plants

October 5 - Homes for native bees

Join Steph from The Urban Bee Co for a hands-on workshop about native bees and how to support them.

Participants will have the opportunity to make a solitary bee hotel to take-home and also discover tips on actions we can all take in our backyards to support pollinator survival.

Book for bees

October 12 - DIY frog hotels

Join Trevor Morrison from ECOllaboration to learn about amphibian-friendly gardens and make your own frog hotel. Make your garden frog-friendly in this informative and practical workshop. Learn about local frogs and their habitat needs, how to identify species, use citizen science tools and tricks for discouraging toads.

The second half of the workshop is hands-on: learning how to build your own 'frog hotel'!

Book for frogs