Ali Babington, Murdoch University

I think the day that I realised I had landed myself researching something I love was when I was playing a drinking game and the question ‘do you have a cause that you would die for?’ came up. Everyone else in the room didn’t really have an answer, but without a second thought I said urban greening. 

Growing up in Perth I didn’t fully appreciate just how incredible and diverse our flora is. I thought it was normal to have whacky flowers and unique leaf shapes in plants. It wasn’t until I studied a Master of Urban Horticulture in Melbourne that I realised just how good we have it here in sandy Perth, Western Australia. Yet rapid urbanisation, land change uses, and climate change are threatening our globally recognised biodiversity hotspot.

Although urbanisation is a huge contributor to the unprecedented loss of biodiversity the world is facing, it can also offer some hope in the fight to reduce this loss. There is the potential to expand traditional ecological conservation methods to better reflect the current landscape of our country. Specifically, the urban landscape, which is rapidly expanding. We need to find better ways to integrate nature into our built environment to create thriving and exciting places to live, and to ensure our incredible flora and fauna can be enjoyed by generations to come. 

Cue the Woody Meadow Project 

The Woody Meadow Project creates aesthetically pleasing urban plantings that support biodiversity conservation and celebrate the incredible flora of Australia. This innovative project aims to create quality urban plantings that benefit both humans and wildlife. Highly diverse mixtures of Australian shrubs that are densely planted and coppiced (cut to 100–200mm above ground level) every few years are used to create long-lasting plantings that require minimal maintenance and produce lots of flowers. 

My PhD looks at what plant species from around Perth and Geraldton are suited to woody meadow plantings from an environmental and social perspective using a trait (plant characteristics such as leaf size and colour) based framework. Given the huge diversity and number of plant species in Western Australia, it is impossible to individually assess all species for their suitability in an urban planting. My research aims to understand which easily identifiable characteristics of plants are linked to success under drought conditions, resprouting after coppicing, and the provision of aesthetic value to humans. 

Finding the plant traits in the nexus between environmental suitability and favourable public perception will ensure the success of future woody meadow plantings. It potentially greatly expands the list of appropriate plants, as plant selection will not be confined to species with known environmental tolerances. Instead, plant responses to drought and resprouting as well as how much humans will like the look of the plant can be inferred from the mixture of traits they possess. 

I hope this research contributes positively to the changing landscapes around us and inspires others to appreciate the amazing flora on our doorsteps. 

Images: (L) Planting a woody meadow in East Cannington in July 2021. The planting is divided into plots that have plants from Perth, Geraldton, or from Perth and Geraldton (Tom Mansfield). (R) The East Cannington woody meadow planting in September 2021 (Ali Babington).