Webinars, Website, Web App, Workshops and Master Classes

SGA has offered workshops and webinars on 36 different topics and has run 100s of these practical and informative sessions for beginner to advanced adult gardeners. We have worked with local government, landscapers, other professionals in the garden industry and water authorities. This has achieved expansion of knowledge of how to create and manage gardens in ways which protect the planet.

We have run 14 Master Classes via webinars with great success, allowing many more attendees that achievable with face-to-face workshops.

SGA also is engaged by many local government areas and libraries around Melbourne to offer workshops on aspects of sustainable gardening to their constituents. Now that workshops are also available in the form of webinars, SGA has also been able to present to areas in New South Wales and regional Victoria as well.

Another training initiative has been Forums where 3 experts present specialised information on topics such as pest control and creating wildlife habitat.

Website

SGA has developed one of the most popular gardening websites in Australia providing over 400 articles about strategies and methods for how gardening can contribute to increasing biodiversity and reduce its impact on the natural environment.  It also provides practical details about growing fruit and vegetables in home and community contexts – an activity that reduces food miles, supports local communities and promotes personal health.  It has 100,000 – 200,00 unique views per month depending on the season.

A Guide to Risks and Safety for Humans and the Planet of Different Approaches to  Addressing Garden Pest, Weed and Disease Problems

SGA has developed a web app WiseGardening – Choices to Protect You and the Planet which rates over 800 horticultural chemicals and products to help you choose (if you must resort to chemical products) the most sustainable option for gardens. It also shows better ways of addressing garden problems.  It is based on risks to  waterways, aquatic life, bees, birds and other wildlife, insects and other invertebrates and on human safety. Developed initially in conjunction with the University of Melbourne, this is an Australia-first ratings program for horticultural products.

Videos

SGA, with funding from Sustainability Victoria, have filmed 20 short films on sustainable gardening. Entitled Footprint Flicks, these films look at ways we can minimise our carbon footprint in the garden, through reducing waste, water and energy consumption.

Other videos have been produced more recently and development of more is ongoing.

Friends of Sustainable Gardening Australia

In late 2018, SGA commenced a Friends of SGA program.  This program engages our readers, provides them with access to reduced charges from garden suppliers and provides easier access to our training webinars.  It also provides a quarterly newsletter which contains more information than the newsletter that goes to all SGA subscribers.

FREE Monthly e-newsletter

Our monthly newsletter Cuttings is sent to more than nearly over 8000 registered subscribers. Each article contains seasonal, sustainable gardening information written with our trademark humour and style.

Booklets and Publications

SGA has produced 26 sustainable gardening publications for local government as well as our own self-published booklets on veggie growing and organic pest control.

Community Based Gardening Project

This project was designed to contribute to the community recovery process and to provide a lasting contribution by helping to rebuild and regenerate bushfire affected areas through sustainable gardening activities. The Community-based Gardening Project, supported by the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust, provided 5 communities with a community based garden, education facilities, 15 free workshops and 6 PODs.  It has also developed a Community Gardening Manual for other interested groups around Australia https://www.sgaonline.org.au/community/community-gardens-manual/.

Green Gardening Professionals (GGPs)

Since 2015, professional gardeners, landscapers and horticulturists hear from expert speakers to assist with their professional development.  The presentations are usually recorded and then added to the GGP Industry Video Library and are available to GGP members to access.

Environmental Certification Programs

In a program which operated until 2013, SGA has environmentally certified more than 100 garden centres and landscape businesses as well as 12 public gardens. SGA certification has provided leadership to the nursery and landscape industries on all things environmentally sustainable, and an avenue for the public to find concerned and committed green gardening businesses.

Productive, Organic, Diverse, Sustainable Gardening Groups (PODS)

SGA fostered development of neighbourhood gardening groups. These PODs have provided a means for community to connect and support each other to garden sustainably. They have now largely given way to the broader community gardening movement for which SGA served as a leader in its early years.