Cooloola City Farm reopens

City Farm - Photograph: Queensland Museum

Photograph: Queensland Museum

City Farm has been closed, but we plan to re-open on June 2, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8am – 2.30pm, unless governmental restrictions are re-imposed.

In recent articles, we have discussed attracting native animals into your garden. This month, we discuss lizards.

Why would you want lizards in your garden? Well, they eat insects such as cockroaches, moths, flies and beetles and spread the seeds of native plants and may pollinate flowers. They are a sign of a healthy native garden.

As with other native animals, lizards need an environment that allows for their special needs and provides food and protection. Lizards require places to hide as they are vulnerable to    predators such as birds, dogs and cats.  They love logs, mulch, leaf litter and twigs. Logs provide snug holes, mulch creates a humid environment that attracts insects and leaf litter and twigs give protection.

Lizards also appreciate stone walls or rocks in sunny, protected places for basking and the sanctuary provided by crevices or spaces underneath.

Lizards rely on insects for food, but will also eat fruit, so plants that produce small fruit and berries will help them survive in your garden. Grow vines up trees so lizards can scale them while remaining hidden from predators. Groundcovers will enhance survival chances too.

As with other native animals, lizards will not survive where they don’t have food sources and protection from predators, so consider providing for lizards in your garden, as it would be a pity to miss out on these helpful creatures.

City Farm is opposite the Community Centre, on Tin Can Bay Road, 07 54862304. ccfni09@gmail.com, website: cooloolacityfarm.org

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