Planting Northern Beaches

Autumn and spring. The soil is warm and the weather mild, so roots establish before the summer heat.

Sydney guides put a new garden bed, with soil preparation, edging, plants and mulch, at about $57 to $205 a square metre, typically $115 (What's The Damage?, October 2026). Plant size makes the biggest difference: tube stock costs a fraction of advanced plants. Soil improvement, salt-tolerant species, clearing old plants and access also change the price. Your price is set at the free site visit.

Lilly pilly is a popular quick screen in Sydney. Westringia grows more slowly but handles salt wind well.

Every day or two for the first few weeks, then about weekly through the first summer, more in hot dry spells.

Yes. We remove old plants, weeds and roots and improve the soil, so new plants aren't competing.

On the front line, coast banksia, coast tea tree, coastal wattle, coastal rosemary, white correa and pigface take the salt. A street or two back, lilly pilly, grevilleas, bottlebrush, lomandra and dianella grow well. Sheltered gullies suit cabbage tree palms, tree ferns, maidenhair fern and water gum.

Shade-tolerant natives such as dianella, lomandra, native violet, maidenhair fern and, in damp spots, native river mint, plus clivia and Philodendron 'Xanadu' where an exotic is fine. Under gums, plant small tubestock between the roots, mulch and water through the first summer.

Swamp oak tolerates swampy and salty soil but grows into a big tree, 8 to 20 m. Swamp paperbark, knobby club rush and water gum suit damp ground in smaller gardens. Near the lagoons, these do better than lawn or plants that need good drainage.

Nothing climbable in the 900 mm outside the fence. NSW pool rules keep trees, shrubs, pots and planter boxes out of that zone, and out of 300 mm inside it. A screening hedge can go beyond it, with branches trimmed so they don't reach over.

Council's weed list includes asparagus fern, lantana, privet, bamboo, morning glory, Mickey Mouse plant, cockspur coral tree, pampas grass and fountain grass. On bush-edge blocks especially, local natives are planted instead, so nothing spreads from the garden into the reserve.

Yes. Layered planting works best: a few trees, flowering shrubs such as grevilleas, banksias and correas, and dense prickly shrubs where small birds can shelter. Council's Backyard Habitat program lists 66 local natives suited to home gardens.