Horticultural Advice & Support

About Us

The Horticultural Advice and Support team is a group of Friends of Kings Park volunteers who provide expert gardening advice to the public over the phone and by email, as well as undertaking duties to support BGPA Horticulture staff.

Formerly known as the Volunteer Master Gardeners, the HAS team has a long-term history of volunteering in Kings Park.

Don’t forget to look for us at the Friends of Kings Park plant sales. We’d be happy to give you some advice while you shop.

How We Can Help

We are here to give advice to home gardeners about common issues with Western Australian native plants. This includes:

  • Which WA native plant to purchase
  • Where and when to plant it
  • How to plant it
  • How to take care of it
  • What to do when it doesn’t go to plan

Please see if your query can be answered by the FAQs below, then send us an email and we’ll be happy to help!

Get in Touch

We would love to hear from you! Please email us on garden.advice@friendsofkingspark.com.au or phone us and leave a message on (08) 6186 6657. We will call you back for a chat as soon as we can (usually on Thursday afternoons).

So that we can give you the best advice possible make sure you tell us everything you can about your garden situation, especially the following:

  • Your suburb
  • The soil type
  • Is it in sun or shade?
  • Watering – is there reticulation?

Frequently Asked Questions

Unfortunately we don’t offer a plant identification service. We recommend you contact the WA Herbarium here. If the plant belongs to you or you have permission from the owner to take a sample, we suggest you take the sample to your local nursery. There are also plant identification apps you can get for your phone that you might like to try.

We are not able to diagnose diseases and pests, or give detailed advice about how to treat them. We suggest you contact the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development Pest and Disease Information Service.

At the moment, we aren’t in the position to give out information about native edibles (or “bush tucker”). We don’t have the expertise to give advice about what is safe to eat.

However we can give you some tips about how to care for your plants and how to get the best from your native plants. Please email us on garden.advice@friendsofkingspark.com.au with some information about your plants and their growing conditions.

The diversity of WA native plants is spectacular, and it is well worth learning about how to grow them in the home garden. Many species are hardy, and require little water once established.

If you are interested in WA native plants you might like to become a member of the Friends of Kings Park. The Friends sends a monthly newsletter and quarterly magazine with plenty of plant information. There are regular events with guest speakers, where members can learn about WA native plants. Members also have the amazing opportunity to volunteer in Kings Park, and get hands on experience with the experts.

Come to the Friends of Kings Park plant sale, visit a nursery that specialises in WA native plants, or look  in your area for a garden club or society. You might like to contact our garden advice team on garden.advice@friendsofkingspark.com.au if you have a specific question.

You can also find plenty of inspiration for your native home garden by taking a free guided walk through the Western Australian Botanic Garden with the Kings Park Volunteer Guides.

The Friends of Kings Park holds native plant sales four times a year. More information is here.

A list of what is available goes online about two weeks before each sale. If you would like to discuss which plants on the list would be best for your garden please give us a call on 9480 3672 and leave a message – we will respond within a few days.

Don’t forget Friends of Kings Park members get a discount on purchases at the plant sales, as well as opportunities to purchase from our members only online sales. More info about membership is here.

If the Friends doesn’t have what you are looking for there are a number of nurseries in Perth that specialise in native plants. We recommend Zanthorrea Nursery in Maida Vale.

Dig – dig a hole at least twice the size of the pot.

Mix – in the hole, mix together equal quantities of soil and soil improver. Add a slow release native fertiliser (read the packet instructions for quantities). Blend well.

Plant – tip the plant out of the pot. Place it in the hole at the same level as the surrounding soil. Fill with soil mix and gently firm the soil.

Water – water in well to settle the new plant. Water daily in summer for the first month, and gradually reduce.

Care – add slow release native fertiliser about every six months.

Yes, you should fertilise your native plants about every six months but be sure to only use a fertiliser formulated specifically for native plants. Read the label for quantities.

A lot of Western Australian native plants are waterwise once established. If you email some details about your garden to garden.advice@friendsofkingspark.com.au we can suggest some specific plants. You can also use our database here to narrow down your search.

Our database has a category for bird attracting plants. Please have a look here – you just need to tick the boxes for bird attracting and black cocky food and press search.

Yes, you definitely can. A row of hedge in the garden is always beautiful. It has a number of purposes as well. It defines garden rooms, covers unsightly fences, maintains privacy and so on.

A hedge will need attention since it must be pruned regularly to keep its height, width and thickness.

The selection of plants that you will need is dependent upon:

  • where you live—coastal, in the hills or on the river plain
  • where the hedge is going to be established in your garden—in full sun or semi-shade
  • the height of the hedge itself.

To establish the hedge, position each plant half the width of its full size (check the height and the width of the plant).

Here are a few suggestions of plants that can be used as hedges.

Tall hedge (2—3 m) Adenanthos sericeus, Leptospermum sericeum, Melaleuca nesophila, Murraya paniculata

Medium hedge (1—2 m) Agonis flexuosa nana, Melaleuca huegelii, Murraya paniculata, Olearia axillaris

 Low hedge (0.5-1 m) Astartea fascilucaris, Leucophyta brownii, Grevillea thelemanniana, Eremaea pauciflora

If you would like more information, please get in touch.

No, we only offer advice about Western Australian native plants. Please contact your local nursery for advice about non-natives.

We can give you tips about what to plant and where you should plant it, but for a complete landscape design service it is best to engage a professional in the field. We are happy to talk you through the basics of your garden planning, based on what you tell us about your garden conditions (soil type, sunlight, watering) and suggest some species that would be suitable.

We are based in Kings Park and are not able to give advice off site.

Sorry, we are only able to give advice to home gardeners and are not able to provide detailed or technical advice for commercial or research purposes. We are not able to assist with school or uni assignments.

No, we can not give advice about verge trees or trees on neighbouring properties. These are both council issues. Please contact your local government.

You can’t pop in to chat with us, but give us a call on 9480 3672 and leave a message, or you can send us an email. Include your phone number and we will call you back.

Plant Notes

Anigozanthos viridis Green Kangaroo Paw

Allocasuarina humilis Dwarf Sheoak

Acacia aneura Mulga

Banksia ashbyi subsp. boreoscaia Ashby’s Banksia (dwarf form)

Banksia baueri Woolly Banksia

Banksia menziesii Firewood Banksia

Banksia pilostylis

Baumea articulata Jointed Rush

Baumea preissii Broad Twig Sedge

Callitris preissii Rottnest Island Pine

Carpobrotus virescens Coastal Pigface

Cephalotus follicularis Albany Pitcher Plant

Crotalaria cunninghamii Green Birdflower

Dianella revoluta Blueberry Lily

Drosera binata Fork-Leaf Sundew

Drosera hamiltonii Rosy Sundew

Eremophila glabra Tar Bush

Gomphrena affinis Bachelor’s Buttons

Gomphrena canescens Bachelor’s Buttons

Gomphrena cunninghamii

Growing Grevilleas

Grevillea bipinnatifida Fuschia Grevillea

Grevillea nudiflora

Hakea multilineata Grass Leaf Hakea

Hakea orthorrhyncha Bird-beak Hakea

Hardenbergia comptoniana Native Wisteria

Hemiandra pungens Snakebush

Juncus pallidus Pale Rush

Kennedia lateritia Augusta Kennedia

Kennedia nigricans Black Kennedia

Kennedia prostrata Scarlet Runner

Kunzea baxteri

Lechenaultia biloba Blue Leschenaultia

Lepidosperma gladiatum Coast Sword-sedge

Macrozamia fraseri Zamia

Marsilea drummondii Common Nardoo

Melaleuca hueglii Chenille Honeymyrtle

Melaleuca lanceolata Rottnest Teatree

Nuytsia floribunda WA Christmas Tree

Olearia axillaris Coastal Daisy Bush

Ornduffia albiflora White Marsh Flower

Ornduffia calthifolia Mountain Villarsia

Orthrosanthus laxus Morning Iris

Patersonia occidentalis Purple Flag

Pimelea ferruginea Pink Rice Flower

Ptilotus exaltatus Tall Mulla Mulla

Rhodanthe manglesii Mangles’ Everlasting

Santalum acuminatum Quandong

Scaevola calliptera

Schoenia filifolia subsp. filifolia Thread-leaved Everlasting

Schoenia filifolia subsp. subulifolia Showy Everlasting

Schoenoplectus pungens Sharpleaf Rush

Senna artemisiodes Silver Cassia

Swainsona formosa Sturt’s Desert Pea

Templetonia retusa Cockies Tongues

Xanthorrhoea preissii Grass Tree

Xerochrysum bracteatum Golden Everlasting

WA Native Plants Database

For more information about individual species search our plant database – it contains over 1,300 Western Australian native plants. Links are provided where possible to FloraBase where you’ll find further information about each species.