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Terrain has produced a landscaping guide for Mission Beach to encourage planting of local native species in parks, gardens, streetscapes, and new developments.

The guide identifies trees, shrubs, palms, cycads, gingers, cordylines, tree ferns, ferns, lilies, orchids, vines, and sedges species that are native to Mission Beach (indigenous) and suitable for landscaping at Mission Beach.  Mission Beach is a natural greenhouse with incredible native plant diversity to choose from, particularly luxuriant rainforest species.  Native landscaping will help maintain and restore the natural unspoilt look and feel of Mission Beach.  Wildlife will benefit too.  Some of the species are available from the nursery of the Community for Coastal and Cassowary Conservation (C4)'s nursery.   The listed species have generally been selected for their attractive form, foliage, flowers, fragrance and/or fruits. It is not an exhaustive list but focuses on plants that are characteristic of Mission Beach, especially coastal rainforest species. Subject to site constraints, the listed species are generally suitable for various landscaping environments, e.g. streetscapes, resorts, commercial, residential, subdivisions, parks, community facilities, and home gardens. Certain species are best suited to certain sites, e.g. trees are not recommended adjacent to structures. The intention is to make it easier for people to use indigenous species in landscaping and thereby help maintain and enhance the outstanding natural landscape of Mission Beach. The guideline is not adequate for ecological restoration or revegetation projects.

• Rationale
• General recommendations
• Special locations
• Professional advice

Species lists:

• trees
• small trees and shrubs
• palms, cycads, gingers, cordylines, tree ferns
• ferns, lilies, orchids, vines,sedges

  Printable brochure 514.65 Kb

Rationale

There are many reasons for choosing indigenous species for landscaping at Mission Beach:

• Mission Beach has incredible native plant diversity, providing a huge palate to choose from, particularly luxuriant tropical specimens.
• Mission Beach is a very significant environmental area where indigenous landscaping is appropriate.
• Indigenous species are suited to local conditions and therefore are likely to prosper with little maintenance.
• Indigenous species provide habitat and stepping stones for native fauna, e.g. Ulysses butterfly.
• Indigenous species won't become environmental weeds.
• Indigenous landscaping will provide a point of difference because most other places have generic tropical or ad-hoc landscaping.
• Mission Beach offers a rare opportunity to present an authentic tropical coastal rainforest World Heritage landscape that few other locations could achieve.
• Indigenous landscaping will help maintain and restore the natural unspoilt look and feel of Mission Beach.
• Indigenous species provide opportunities for interpretation/story-telling; e.g. Djiru names, timber and medicinal uses, wildlife associations, etc.
• Nearly all of the recommended species are rainforest species (which is not surprising given the predominance of rainforest at Mission Beach). Rainforest species are well known for their general suitability for landscaping.

General recommendations

• In all cases, standard landscaping safety procedures should be complied with.
• Existing native vegetation on site should be retained, not replaced with guideline species. Indigenous landscaping will prosper where natural landforms, drainage and soils are retained.
• Using plants grown from seeds/cuttings collected in the Mission Beach area (local provenance) will help retain the ecological integrity of Mission Beach. Local provenance plants are available from local nurseries including Council's Revegetation Unit and C4.
• Certain native species are protected by law and a permit is required to collect or grow them. Plant propagules should not be collected without the landowner's permission. A permit is required to collect from protected places.
• Landscaping including big indigenous trees (not just shrubs & groundcovers) will help maintain the special "villages in coastal rainforest" scale of Mission Beach.
• The inclusion of a selection of indigenous trees, shrubs, palms, cycads, gingers, cordylines, ferns, lilies, orchids, vines, sedges etc in landscaping on a site will capture the tropical coastal rainforest richness of Mission Beach.
• Planting a diversity of species in clumps and allowing natural growth forms (rather than mass plantings of 1 or 2 species in standard arrangements) will enhance the special coastal rainforest character of Mission Beach. However some species do sometimes naturally occur in groves (e.g. Fan palm) or as companions (e.g. Beach pandan/Bingil Bay palm/Solitaire palm and Native dracaena/Scrub breadfruit /Solitaire palm) to striking effect. In any case, many of the listed species offer great opportunities for formal and/or creative landscaping, e.g. hedges, pot plants, hanging baskets, bowers.
• Cassowary attracting species should not be planted adjacent to roads.

Special locations

Most of the listed species occur throughout the various localities of Mission Beach. However some species are restricted to, or perform particularly well in, specific parts of Mission Beach due to local environmental variations, e.g. soils and drainage. Working with these natural differences will help maintain and enhance the special landscapes of particular localities within Mission Beach. For example, the Pink flowering guest tree only occurs on volcanic soils in the Clump Point/North Mission Beach area. This is the only known occurrence of this spectacular species anywhere on the Wet Tropics coast. Grey paperbark is an outstanding feature of Kennedy Esplanade at South Mission Beach, similar to Weeping paperbark on Palm Cove esplanade. These special landscapes could be diminished with inappropriate landscaping. Species for special locations are noted in the tables.

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Professional advice

Professional advice is recommended.  A landscaping professional can advise on the following:

• appropriate species and layout for your site
• species requiring government permits, e.g. Zamia palm
• species needing particular management, e.g. figs may need root barriers
• species requiring particular environmental conditions to prosper, e.g. King fern requires a moist protected location
• safety considerations, e.g. species with prickly leaves, large fruit, or toxic properties.

Further information

For further information, please contact Terrain NRM.  Phone 4043 8000, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit www.terrain.org.au/missionbeach.