The region's native plants have been here since before Playford was settled, however the region is now only home to three percent of the original native vegetation. It is critical to our community’s biodiversity that we protect these local-native plants and animals.

You can help by growing local-native plants in your own backyard – you’ll be helping support our local wildlife in a way that’s easy to maintain. For information on various plants you can grow, download the Creating a Wildlife Friendly Garden booklet or check out the native plant selector tool.

Established in 1999, the Playford Greening and Landcare Group (PGLC) is a community organisation working with the City of Playford on local conservation. They focus on revegetation, nurturing local native plants and planting them in reserves across the community. Membership is open to all residents in Playford; you can see the current calendar of activities and contact Council to get involved!

If you're interested in seeing what our volunteers get up to at various activities, such as nursery days, field trips and community events, check out our image galleries on Flickr via the link below.

The City of Playford offers a rural revegetation scheme called Buffers to Bushland – the scheme sees local native tubestock seedlings distributed to rural properties, schools and community groups across Playford each year. Since the program’s inception in 1999, Buffers to Bushland has distributed more than 300,000 seedlings!

If you own or manage a rural property, work for a school or part of a community group, you can place plant orders in March and April at no cost.

Plants are available in boxes of 50 with the mix of species determined by what is suitable for the location of the property registered. See the Buffers to Bushland Factsheet, and Species Listsfor more information. We can also provide advice on what you need for your area.

Landholders are residents that work on or produce from their land and play a vital role in natural resource management – it’s important as a community to work together to protect the natural surrounds from degradation.

Natural Resources Adelaide and Mt Lofty Ranges Land Management Program provides rural landholder support and advice on sustainable land use, remnant vegetation protection and pest weed, as well as animal management.

Do you need help to assess potential issues that may exist? District Officers can visit your property at no cost, and some restoration activities are eligible for funding support! You can discuss this with your local District Officer - call Council on 8256 0333 for further assistance.

For further information, see the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI)’s Guide to Using Native Plants on the Northern Adelaide Plains to Benefit Horticulture.

The City of Playford is fortunate to be home to over 800 hectares of Council-owned reserves, many of which are linear reserves along creek lines and major roads. Managing our bushland areas means undertaking revegetation projects and weed control, as well as providing advice on proposed new developments.

Council works with Trees for Life to manage 16 biodiverse Bush for Life sites across the Playford area. These sites have the potential for further rehabilitation through targeted weed-control work. Want to get involved? Protect a local Bush for Life site by joining a local team!

While the City of Playford is home to some beautiful areas of native bushland and grassland, unfortunately less than six per cent of the original native vegetation now remains in the Adelaide area. Often all that is left are the strips of bush and native grasses on our roadsides, meaning some of our roadside reserve areas are vitally important environmentally; in some cases they are the last sanctuary for a variety of plant or vegetation.

It is important to protect these sanctuaries from damage during road maintenance, so they are marked with small signs which are used throughout the state. If you see this sign, please take care and appreciate the nature that remains there.