Have you thought of using Western Australian Banskia groundcovers in your garden?

Most people think of Banksia’s as shrubs and trees, but did you know that there are a large range of garden friendly WA ground cover Banksia’s? One thing they have in common is they have unique interesting foliage which is quite dense and spreading. As a bonus some have very interesting flowers that appear to be coming out of the ground. Once established they are really waterwise however I still recommend some water during the hottest months if you are in Western Australia or anywhere with hot/dry summers. If you want to see a wide range of WA ground covers then you can visit Kings Park where they have dedicated Banksia gardens show casing allot of Western Australia’s ground cover Banksias. 

**As with all Banksia’s and Grevilleas make sure you use a low phosphorus native fertiliser as they have cluster roots (proteoid root structures that are visible to the eye) and these are very efficient at getting phosphorus out of the soil so it’s toxic if you add extra from fertilising. 

In recent years Banksia blechnifolia (sometimes referred to as Fern leaf Banksia) has become popular in Eastern Australian gardens. It is native to the Southwest of Western Australia.  It has been widely used as a verge plant mass planted by councils or in Kings Park here in WA as it is really drought tolerant once established. Each plant spreads to 2m each and 50cm high. 

Banksia repens to the untrained eye looks like Banskia blechnifolia however the foliage is slightly different, and the flowers are quite different. Having them growing next to each other can look quite attractive. They can spread up to 3m and are about 50cm high. 

Banskia petriolaris has tough leathery leaves and has flowers which are coming out of the ground. It also forms quite dense foliage and is a nice addition to any garden. 

Banskia gardneri has similar looking leaves with different flowers that are interesting. 

Banksia nivea is more a mounding ground cover than a spreading ground cover like the above ground covers however it looks good amongst other Banksia ground covers as it will sit above and has darker green foliage with thinner leaves. 

**A tip is to plant all the above ground cover Banksias in groups of 3,5 7 and have groups of each of these growing next to each other. Repeat your favourite Banksia(s) throughout the garden to create some cohesion.