Environmental researchers have surveyed almost 1000 Perth residents to identify what the perfect verge looks like, as part of a project looking at how we can improve urban greening.

“The land along streets and roads can make up more than 30% of public open space, which offers huge opportunity to increase the quality of greening without increase land use,” Ali Babington said, who led the research as part of her PhD on The Woody Meadow Project.

Survey respondents were asked to rate a range of images to understand preference for structure - low, mid or high vegetation - flower presence, foliage colour, and visual symmetry. The most preferred was image ‘f’.

“We found that 88% of respondents like the appearance of Woody Meadows, and a comparison lawn picture was disliked by 87%.”

Woody Meadows are structurally diverse and species rich naturalistic plantings of Australian shrubs and trees. The Woody Meadow Project aims to rejuvenate underutilised spaces in urban areas with this type of planting.

They are maintained through coppicing, which involves hard pruning 10cm to 20cm above ground level every couple of years to keep the plantings bushy and maximise flowering.

This approach to greening our verges offers a novel and cost-effective way to introduce quality plantings into our urban landscape for social and environmental benefits.”
Ali Babington 

“We have incredible flora around us that does well in urban areas. If these plants are used in high density with high species richness, we minimise the risk of failure whilst reaping the rewards of integrating more diverse local plantings into our lives.” 

The research found the most preferred Woody Meadows featured a range of plant heights, flowers, and a mix of green and grey foliage.

Another focus of the research has been to trial plants from around Perth and Geraldton in a Woody Meadow. All plants have responded well to coppicing, and plants from Geraldton had the best survival.

“We hope this research will inform future urban landscape design and planning and encourage practitioners to have fun and be experimental in their planting choices, especially with local Western Australian plant species.”

Naturalistic plantings have gained popularity as a way to improve vegetation diversity without requiring additional land or maintenance costs – this research aims to further that effort.

“Integrating local vegetation back into our urban landscapes has huge benefits for biodiversity, temperature regulation, stormwater management, our health and wellbeing – the list goes on and on,” Ms Babington said.

“Importantly for me, it’s about creating a landscape that celebrates our local flora, with a unique sense of place, that offers people the opportunity to connect with country and nature in their everyday lives.”

Ali Babington is PhD candidate at the School of Environmental and Conservation Sciences at Murdoch University.