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Free Native Plants program

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Find out how to claim free native plants for your home or a club on Council-leased land. Learn more about your eligibility.

A female resident getting advice from a Council officer about free native plants at Karawatha Forest Discovery Centre.

What is the Free Native Plants program?

Council’s Free Native Plants program offers a range of plants to Brisbane residents and lessees on Council-leased land.

Eligible residential properties and lessees on Council-leased land in the Brisbane City Council area can claim free native plants each financial year.

Redeem your free native plants to:

  • beautify your garden 

  • create habitat for local wildlife

  • contribute to a greener, more sustainable Brisbane

  • provide shade and grow our city’s urban forest with native species. 

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Note

Plants must be planted on private property. They are not for planting on Council land or waterway revegetation.

Benefits of native plants

Easy to grow

Native plants are well-adapted to the local climate and soils. This makes them more resilient. 

Use less water

Over time, native plants have developed efficient systems to absorb moisture and conserve water. This means they need less irrigation.

Low maintenance

Once established, native plants have greater resistance to pests and diseases. Taking care of them takes less time, resources and money.

Help soil health and erosion control

Native plants’ deep root systems improve soil structure, enhance water absorption and prevent erosion. Planting native species can improve the overall quality of your garden's ecosystem.

Improve biodiversity and support habitat

Native plants provide habitats and food sources for local wildlife, including birds, butterflies and bees. This contributes to the health of our local ecosystems.

Who is eligible

The Free Native Plants program is available to the following individuals or organisations within the Brisbane Local Government area.  

  • Residential properties – including detached houses and units in a duplex or townhouse complex or a residential apartment building (excluding hotels, motels and retirement villages).

  • Owners or tenants of homes built in selected suburbs within the past 12 months.

  • Lessees on Council-leased land.

  • Official citizenship ceremonies held by a Council ward office and registered community group.

  • Schools for Arbor Day.

Free Native Plants are not provided for:

  • small or large-scale events

  • fetes

  • promotional programs or fundraisers 

  • giveaways or on-selling activities

  • prizes

  • commercial businesses

  • universities and TAFE campuses

  • government departments.

How many plants you can claim

Group Number of free native plants each financial year
Residential properties 2
Owners or tenants of homes built in selected suburbs within the past 12 months 4
Schools for Arbor Day up to 50
Lessees on Council-leased land up to 20
Official citizenship ceremonies held by a Council ward office or a registered community group 1 plant for each new citizen

How to claim your native plants

Residents can collect their free native plants from participating nurseries and Council's environment centres.

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Before you claim 

  • If you rent a detached house, unit or townhouse, you can collect plants on behalf of the property owner. You need written approval that includes:
    • the owner's name/s 
    • full property address
    • rate account number
    • signed authorisation for the current financial year.
  • If you’re claiming vouchers on behalf of another residential ratepayer (e.g. relative or neighbour), you need their written permission. 

  • You can’t use rates notices from previous financial years to redeem unclaimed plants.

Collection option 1: From a participating nursery

There are steps you need to take before collecting your free plants from a participating nursery.

1 Confirm your eligibility

Take a paid rates notice or written approval from your property owner to:

 

For recently built homes in select suburbs

Recently built homes in select suburbs are eligible to receive additional plants. 

  • Bellbowrie
  • Bracken Ridge 
  • Bridgeman Downs 
  • Bulimba 
  • Calamvale 
  • Carindale
  • Carseldine
  • Chapel Hill
  • Doolandella
  • Durack
  • Eight Mile Plains
  • Ellen Grove
  • Everton Park 
  • Ferny Grove
  • Fig Tree Pocket
  • Fitzgibbon
  • Heathwood
  • Hemmant
  • Hendra
  • Kenmore
  • Kuraby
  • Mackenzie
  • Manly West
  • McDowall
  • Mitchelton
  • Moggill
  • Nudgee 
  • Oxley
  • Pallara
  • Rochedale
  • Runcorn
  • Sunnybank Hills
  • Taigum
  • Tingalpa
  • Upper Kedron
  • Wakerley
  • Wynnum West

Email the Free Native Plants team and attach a copy of the final inspection certificate for your house construction issued within the past 12 months.

2 Receive a voucher

Once approved, we’ll post a voucher to you.  

3 Claim your plants

Take your voucher to a participating nursery to claim your plants.

When collecting plants from a nursery, you must redeem all your yearly allocated plants in the same visit.

City Farm Nursery

16 Victoria Street, Windsor Qld 4030 07 3857 8774

Tuesday to Friday: 8.30am-12.30pm

Sunday: 6.30am-12.30pm

Monday: Closed

B4C Sustainability Centre

Corner of Wright Street and 1358 Old Cleveland Road, Carindale Qld 4152 07 3398 8003

Monday to Friday: 7am-3.30pm

Saturday: 8am-12pm

Sunday and public holidays: Closed

Access via 21 Wright Street

Daly's Native Plants

57 Weedon Street West, Mansfield Qld 4122 07 3349 0807

Monday to Friday: 7am-3.30pm

Saturday: 6.30am-12 noon

Sunday: Closed

Paten Park Native Nursery

57 Paten Road, The Gap Qld 4061 07 3398 8003

Tuesday to Sunday: 9am–4pm

Monday and public holidays: Closed

Crossacres Garden Centre

58 Crosscares Street, Doolandella Qld 4077 CrossacresGarden@gmail.com

Tuesday-Friday: 8.30am-4.30pm

Saturday-Sunday: 8.30am-5pm

Monday: Closed

Collection option 2: From an environment centre

1 Confirm your eligibility

Take your paid rates notice for the current financial year or written approval from your property owner or property manager to one of Council's environment centres:

  • Downfall Creek Bushland Centre, Chermside West 
  • Karawatha Forest Discovery Centre, Karawatha
  • Boondall Wetlands Environment Centre, Boondall. 

Find the location and opening hours of Council's environment centres

2 Claim your plants

Collect your plants from the Council display stand at the environment centre.

Lessees on Council-leased land and official citizenship ceremonies

You can apply online to claim free native plants for a:

  • lessee (e.g. a club) on Council-leased land

  • official citizenship ceremony.

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Before you apply

  • We can’t split or divide plant orders. To redeem your yearly allocation of free native plants, request as many plants as you can use in your application. You can only make one application each financial year.
  • Lessees on Council-leased land must seek written approval from their Leasing Officer before applying for plants.

Application process
1 Complete the online form

Complete the online application form to place an order your free native plants.

2 Receive approval and collection details

Once approved, you will receive information regarding collection of your plant order.

Selecting your native plants

Every plant enriches our city's urban forest, supports our iconic wildlife and makes our city more sustainable.

We offer a range of native plants that suit Brisbane soils and our subtropical climate, including:

  • groundcovers
  • tufting plants
  • climbers
  • small and medium shrubs
  • feature trees.

While we endeavour to supply the variety of plant species on offer throughout the year, seasonal availability means this is not always possible. If a species is not available at the time of request, it may be substituted with a similar plant type and size available through the Free Native Plants program.

Plants are supplied in either 90 mm or 140 mm pots.

Groundcovers

Species Description and growing requirements Attracts
Cut Leaf Daisy (Brachyscome multifida) Hardy eye-catching ground cover to 60 centimetres with purple daisy flowers throughout the year. Best grown well drained soils in full sun. Especially effective in rockeries, mass plantings, pots, hanging baskets and borders Bees, lizards
Creeping Boobialla (Myoporum sp.) Hardy prostrate groundcover that grows to 1 metre. Purple or white flowers during the summer months. An excellent spreading groundcover for a sunny well-drained position. Suitable in pots or containers. Birds, lizards
Fan Flower (Scaevola aemula) Spreading groundcover that grows to 60 centimetres with dark green foliage and small mauve-pink flowers in spring and summer. Prefers well-drained soils. Great for hanging baskets. Bees, lizards
Native Violet (Viola banksii) Attractive dense groundcover that grows to 15 centimetres suitable for damp shady areas. Small, round, light green leaves with violet flowers throughout the year. Ideal for rockeries, mass plantings, pots and hanging baskets. Lizards, frogs

Tufting plants and grasses

Species Description and growing requirements Attracts
Blue Flax (Dianella caerulea) Hardy plant with long, strappy leaves that grows to 45 centimetres. Blue flowers on branched spikes appear in spring. Bright blue berries occur after flowering. Prefers a sunny position in well-drained soil. Birds, lizards
Knobby Club Rush (Ficinia nodosa) Tough, fast-growing, spreading, tufting grass with upright, dark green foliage up to 1 metre. Grows best in a full sun position. Brownish flower heads are produced on spikes throughout the year. Great plant for water features, ponds and effective in mass planting or containers. Birds, frogs, lizards
Mat Rush (Lomandra sp.) Deep green, glossy, narrow strap leaves to 1 metre. Small yellow-cream flowers in spring and summer. Grow in a full sun to partial shade position. Lizards, frogs

Climbers

Species Description and growing requirements Attracts
Guinea Vine (Hibbertia scandens) A vigorous twiner with glossy, dark green leaves and large, golden yellow flowers over spring and summer. Grows to 3 metres and makes an excellent screening plant on walls or fences. Prefers well-drained soil. Grow in full sun to partial shade in an open position. Suitable for tubs and containers or as a groundcover. Birds
Pandorea (Pandorea sp.) A hardy, vigorous, fast growing, evergreen twining plant with bell-shaped pink or white flowers in spring followed by large oblong shaped seed pods. Spreads up to 6 metres. Prefers an open, sunny position in well-drained soil. Great as a screening plant on a fence or trellis. Will grow in a large pot. Butterflies, bees, insects
Sarsaparilla Vine (Hardenbergia sp.) Fast growing, low maintenance, heavy flowering climber with dark green leathery leaves. Grows to 3 metres. Long lasting dark purple flowers, appear over winter and spring. Plant in a full sun to semi-shade position in a well-drained soil. Plant to trail over fences for privacy, retaining walls or on a trellis. Will grow in a large pot. Stunning when mass planted.  Bees, Birds, butterflies, insects

Small shrubs (0.5-2 metres)

Species Description and growing requirements Attracts
Bottlebrush (Callistemon sp.) Fast growing, hardy, woody shrub that grows up to two metres that produces beautiful blooms in a variety of single colours in spring and summer and sometimes again in autumn. Plant in a moist, well-drained, sunny position. Regularly prune to encourage bushier growth and increased flower production. Great for containers, edging, rockeries, hedges and borders.  Birds, insects
Coastal Rosemary (Westringia sp.) Hardy, small, fast-growing, evergreen shrub that grows to 1m². Long flowering and suitable as a hedge or screening plant or for low maintenance gardens, exposed sites and coastal gardens. Suitable for container planting. Birds, butterflies, insects
Grevillea (Grevillea sp.) Showy, evergreen plants that grow to two metres with nectar-rich flowers. They produce a 'spider flower' in a variety of single colours throughout the year. Grevilleas do best in a sunny position with light, gritty, free-draining soil. Birds, bees, butterflies
Lilly Pilly (Syzygium sp.) Hardy evergreen plants to two metres with glossy, green leaves with fluffy, pom-pom, white or pink flowers in spring and summer followed by pink or red berries. Prefers a sunny position with well-drained soil. Lilly Pillies make excellent screens, windbreaks and hedges and can be pruned to size and shape.  Birds, bees
Swamp Banksia (Banksia robur)  Hardy, evergreen shrub to two metres with bold flowing spikes in a variety of single colours. Flowers appear from autumn through to spring. Plant in an open, sunny position in well-drained soil. To encourage flower production and thicker foliage, cut flowering spikes and use in a floral display. Birds, bees, butterflies, insects
Tea Tree (Leptospermum sp.) Attractive small shrub ranging in size from 80 centimetres up to two metres. Showy pink or white flowers in spring and autumn. Prefers moist well-drained soil in full sun or light shade. A useful feature plant for rockeries or over retaining walls. Insects, bees
Thyme Honey Myrtle (Melaleuca thymifolia) Small hardy shrub to 1m². Mauve claw type flowers occur in clusters and are borne during summer. Grows best in full sun with good drainage. Suitable for large pots or containers. Insects

Medium shrubs (3-5 metres)

Species Description and growing requirements Attracts
Banksia (Banksia sp. Hardy evergreen shrubs with attractive foliage with bold cream-golden flowering spikes appearing over late summer to spring. Grows to 3 metres. Plant in an open sunny position in very well-drained soil. Regularly prune to encourage dense growth. Birds
Bottlebrush (Callistemon sp.) Hardy, woody shrub that grows up to five metres that produces beautiful blooms in a variety of single colours in spring and summer and sometimes again in autumn. Plant in a moist, well-drained, sunny position. Regularly prune to encourage bushier growth and increased flower production. Bottlebrushes make excellent screening plants and are quick growers. Birds, insects
Grevillea (Grevillea sp.) Showy, evergreen plants that grow to 5 metres with nectar-rich flowers. They produce a 'spider flower' in a variety of single colours throughout the year. Grevilleas do best in a sunny position with light, gritty, free-draining soil. Birds, bees, butterflies
Lilly Pilly (Syzygium sp.) Hardy evergreen plants to 5 metres with glossy, green leaves with fluffy, pom-pom, white flowers in spring and summer followed by pink or red berries. Prefers a sunny position with well-drained soil. Lilly Pillies make excellent screens, windbreaks and hedges and can be pruned to size and shape. Birds, bees, flying foxes
Tea Tree (Leptospermum sp.) A bushy rounded shrub that grows to 5 metres. White or pink flowers cover the shrub in spring. Prefers well drained soil in a sunny position. Ideal as a screen, hedge or windbreak. Insects, bees

Shade and feature trees (over 5 metres)

Species Description and growing requirements Attracts
Blush Satinash (Acmena hemilampra) An evergreen tree with a dense crown, glossy green foliage, bright copper-tan new growth.  Quick to establish and grows to 8 metres. Clusters of small white flowers appear in spring. Plant in full sun in well-drained soil. Suitable as a feature tree, screen or hedge. Birds, bees, butterflies
Golden Penda (Xanthostemon chrysanthus) An attractive specimen tree up to 8 metres. Showy, dense cluster of golden yellow flowers appear from summer to winter. Plant in full sun to part shade in well-drained soil. Suitable as a hedge, windbreak, screen, or feature tree. Birds
Ivory Curl Tree (Buckinghamia cellsissima)  seasonal Fast-growing evergreen tree that grows to 8 metres. Striking, long, creamy- fragrant, honey-producing flowers appear from spring until autumn. Prefers moist, well-drained soil in a full sun to semi shade position. Birds, bees
Tuckeroo (Cupaniopsis anacardioides) seasonal Attractive evergreen shade tree with rounded canopy. Grows to 8 metres. Green-yellow flowers are produced in autumn followed by orange fruits in winter. Plant in a full sun to partial shade position in organic rich soil. Ideal as a shade or specimen tree.  Birds, bees, insects
Tulipwood (Harpulia pendula)  A hardy, fast-growing, evergreen tree that grows up to 10 metres with attractive, pale green foliage. Large sprays of light green-yellow, slightly fragrant flowers appear in summer followed by orange fruit. Requires open sunny position in a light to medium soil type. Excellent shade tree. Birds, bees
Wattle (Acacia sp.) Stunning and iconic Australian tree with masses of bright or pale-yellow ball shaped flowers in winter and spring. Grows to 6 metres. Prefers a sunny position in well-drained soil. Wattles are suitable as a hedging plant or as a screen. Birds, butterflies, bees
Weeping Lilly Pilly (Waterhousea floribunda) Hardy, evergreen tree that grows to 8m². Clusters of white flowers appear from spring to summer, followed by green, round fruits. Plant in a sunny open position in well-drained soil. Regular trimming will produce colourful, new growth and keep the plant bushy. Can be trimmed to shape and size. Ideal as a dense screen or windbreak, or stunning as a large container plant. Birds, bees

Watch our video for tips on establishing your new native plants.

Video: How to plant your free Brisbane City Council native plants

Hi, I’m Annette McFarlane for Brisbane City Council’s Free Native Plants program. I’m going to show you the simple steps to help you get your native plants off to a great start.

Now hopefully you’ve done a bit of pre-planning and worked out what you want your native to do, where it’s going, and you have selected the right species for the job. 

  • Plant as soon as you can after bringing your native plant home.
  • Dig the hole twice as large as the container the plant comes in.
  • If the soil is dry like it is here, water the hole with some liquid seaweed or fertiliser.
  • Gently remove the plant from its container, there should be no need to tease the roots.
  • Place it into the hole at the right level, backfill and firm.
  • If you have some compost it always helps to use it when you plant.
  • Make sure to mulch around the plant.
  • Water well until the plant’s established, that’s usually for the next two-to-three months.
  • Once it is established feed with a good-quality native fertiliser to help your plant really grow strongly.

So there you go. With just a little care and attention up front your plant has the best chance of getting established and give you benefits for years to come.

There’s a variety of natives available through the program including ground covers, flowering container plants, tufting grasses, vines, butterfly-attractors, screens and of course iconic Australian features trees.

For more on natives and the free plants program visit Council’s website.

Frequently asked questions

Rates notices are not accepted at nurseries to claim your free native plants.

To claim your free native plants, take a paid rates notice from the current financial year to a Customer Centre, library or ward office.

You will then be given a stamped voucher to redeem your plants from a participating nursery.

You can’t collect unclaimed plants from a previous financial year. You can only claim the current financial year’s allotment of free native plants.