Town of Bassendean

Men's Shed Verge Transformation

Waterwise verges deliver abundant benefits by increasing biodiversity, helping to reduce urban heat, increasing local water filtration and adding visual appeal. 

The Town of Bassendean joined forces with the local Men’s Shed to transform the ‘dead space’ at the front of their facility into an inspiring example of a waterwise verge, with the aim of educating and encouraging the local community to transform their own verges, extending the benefit of the project beyond the site.

The bleak looking space out the front of the Men's Shed has been converted into a visually appealing waterwise verge garden.

Creating a climate resilient waterwise verge garden

The design for the Men’s Shed verge transformation was voted for by the community, with the intention of providing a climate resilient and visually pleasing waterwise verge garden. Through soil improvement and the selection of hardy but beautiful native plants, the garden has achieved the goal and more.

With support from our Drainage for Liveability Program, a soil improvement and garden design was born through collaboration between the Forever Project, The Men's Shed and the Town. Firstly, the lawn and water repellent soil was removed to make way for what was coming next. The verge was then backfilled with a nutrient rich soil with added soil improver blended in, to ensure the garden would be able to efficiently absorb and hold onto water in the long run.

You might be surprised to learn that even though the verge looks like a beautiful garden, it has very minimal water requirements. The Town intentionally avoided installing irrigation as they knew their design would stack up against the weather perfectly well. Once the plants are well established and with the help of a thick chunky layer of mulch, the garden won’t need any watering.

The garden also helps with flood prevention during heavy rains by providing better filtration, cools the surrounding micro-climate, increases biodiversity in the area and provides mental health benefits to the members of the Men’s Shed. Long term, the garden will inspire locals and visitors to consider their own verge makeover.

View similar waterwise projects.