| Species | Description and growing requirements | Attracts |
|---|---|---|
| Creeping boobialla (Myoporum parvifolium) | Hardy prostrate ground cover that grows to 1 m in height. Purple and white flowers during the summer months. An excellent spreading ground cover for a sunny well-drained position. Suitable in pots or containers. | Bees, lizards |
| Coastal boobialla (Myoporum boninense) | Creeping ground cover that grows to 50 cm in height with white flowers in summer and autumn. Grow in a full sun position and in moist soil. Perfect for embankments and retaining walls. | Birds, butterflies |
Celebrate Arbor Day
Brisbane primary, secondary and special schools can apply for free native plants to plant on school grounds on Arbor Day.
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Celebrated throughout the world, Arbor Day is traditionally a day about planting trees for shade and educating students about the importance of trees.
To celebrate the 135th Arbor Day on Tuesday 14 October 2025, Council is offering a variety of free native plants to all primary, secondary and special schools in Brisbane to plant on their grounds.
Arbor Day 2025 plant list
Schools can apply for a variety of different species to plant and green their grounds, including shrubs, ground covers and tufting plants.
Every plant adds to our city’s urban forest, supports our unique wildlife and makes Brisbane greener.
| Species | Description and growing requirements | Attracts |
|---|---|---|
| Dianella (Dianella caerulea 'Baby Breeze’) | Low growing compact dark green strappy plant with vibrant blue flowers and berries that grows to 400 mm x 600 mm. Prefers full sun position with damp soils. Good plant for borders, planter box or soil stabilisation. Drought tolerant. | Birds, lizards |
| Mat rush (Lomandra confertifolia rubiginosa 'Crackerjack') | Soft tufting plant with blue-green new growth with yellow flowers appearing in spring. Grows up to 1 m2. Plant in full sun in well-drained soil. Great for high pedestrian areas. | Bees, insects |
| Mat rush (Lomandra hystrix) | Compact, fast-growing grass with bright green foliage. Grows up to 1-2 m in height and prefers full sun position. Tolerant in any soil type. Produces fragrant yellow flowers in summer. Great low maintenance plant for borders and mass plantings. | Bees, insects |
| Spiny-head Mat rush (Lomandra longifolia) | Hardy versatile grass that’s suited to a wide range of soils. Grows up to 1 m in height. Scented yellow flowers appear in winter and spring. Excellent choice as mass planting or for borders in sunny positions. | Bees, insects |
| Lomandra (Lomandra longifolia ‘Verday’) | Very tough, fast growing evergreen drought tolerant weeping grass. Grows to around 600 mm. Cream flowers appear in spring and summer. Will grow in any soil type. Sunny to light shaded position. Good for borders and mass plantings. | Lizards, frogs, bees |
| Species | Description and growing requirements | Attracts |
|---|---|---|
| Bottlebrush (Callistemon citrinus ‘White Anzac’) | Hardy evergreen shrub with attractive foliage with white cream ‘bottlebrush flowers’ appearing over spring and summer. Grows to 1.5 m in height x 3 m in width. Plant in an open sunny position in well-drained soil. Prune after flowering. | Birds, bees, butterflies |
| Grevillea (Grevillea ‘Lollypops’) | Showy, evergreen plant that grows 1.5 m2 with nectar-rich pink 'spider' flowers. Flowers all year round. Plant in a sunny position with light, gritty, free-draining soil. | Birds, bees, butterflies |
| Grevillea (Grevillea ‘Ned Kelly’) | A fast-growing, spreading medium-sized shrub with apricot-coloured flowers all year round. Grows to 2 m x 2 m. Plant in a sunny position in well-draining soil. Makes a great screening plant or feature shrub. | Birds, bees, butterflies |
| Coastal Rosemary (Westringia fruiticosa ‘Zena’) | Hardy, small, fast-growing, evergreen shrub that grows to 2 m². Long flowering and suitable as a hedge or screening plant or for low maintenance gardens, exposed sites and coastal gardens. Suitable for container planting. Plant in a sunny position in well-drained soil. | Birds, butterflies, insects |
| Coastal Rosemary (Westringia hybrid ‘Blue Gem’) | Hardy, small, fast-growing, evergreen shrub that grows to 1.5 m in height x 1.3 m in width. Profuse blue-purple flowers appear in spring. Responds well to pruning and is suitable as a hedge or screening plant or for low maintenance gardens, exposed sites and coastal gardens. Suitable for container planting. Plant in a sunny position in well-drained soil. | Birds, butterflies, insects |
| Coastal Rosemary (Westringia hybrid ‘Naringa’) | Fast-establishing, evergreen and tidy shrub that grows to 2.2 m x 1.5 m. Masses of purple flowers appear in spring. Highly suitable as a hedge or screening plant or for low maintenance gardens, exposed sites and coastal gardens. Plant in full sun to part shade position in well-drained soils. | Birds, butterflies, insects |
| Lilly pilly (Syzygium australe ‘Baby Boomer’) | 1-2 m in height in a round ball. Hardy, dense and compact small shrub. Bronze to red new growth. Small white flowers in spring and summer, followed by edible pink berries. Ideal for borders, hedging or in container. Grow in a sunny position in well-drained soil. | Bees, birds, butterflies |
| Species | Description and growing requirements | Attracts |
|---|---|---|
| Weeping baeckea (Baeckea frutescens) | Hardy woody tall shrub that grows up to 5 m in height. White flowers appear in spring and early summer. Great as a screen or windbreak. Grow in full sun in well-drained soil. | Bees, butterflies, insects |
| Fern leaf banksia (Banksia oblongifolia) | Hardy, slow growing medium sized shrub with serrated leaves. Grows up to 3 m in height x 2 m in width. Large yellow flowers during autumn and winter. Stunning when they bloom en masse. Grow in full sun in well-drained soil. | Birds. bees, butterflies, insects |
| Hairpin banksia (Banksia spinulosa) | Attractive large shrub that grows to 3 m in height x 3 m in width. Yellow/orange flowers appear from autumn to spring. Plant in well-drained soil in a sunny/light shade position. | Birds. bees, butterflies, insects |
| Bottlebrush (Callistemon viminalis ‘Wilderness white’) | Evergreen shrub with weeping foliage that grows up to 3 m in height x 2 m in width. Massive displays of large white flowers appear in spring to autumn. Perfect as a windbreak, hedging, screen or as mass planting. Thrives in a sunny position in well drained soil. Prune after flowering. | Birds, bees, butterflies, insects |
| Bottlebrush (Callistemon viminalis ‘Wildfire’) | Stunning hardy and adaptable evergreen tall shrub that grows to 4 m in height x 2 m in width. Vibrant red flowers appear in spring and autumn. Likes well-drained soils in a sunny position. Good for hedging and screening. | Birds, bees, butterflies, insects |
| Brisbane Wattle (Acacia fimbriata) | Stunning and iconic Australian tall shrub or tree with masses of bright or pale-yellow ball shaped flowers in winter and spring. Grows to 6 m in height. Prefers a sunny position in well-drained soil. Wattles are suitable as a hedging plant or as a screen. This is Brisbane’s native floral emblem. | Birds, butterflies, bees |
| Lilly pilly (Syzygium australe ‘Hinterland Gold’) | Fast-growing dense shrub with fluffy white pom pom flowers in spring. Grows 4 m in height x 1.5 m in width and responds well to pruning. Plant in a sunny to part shaded position in well-drained soil. | Bees, birds, butterflies |
Apply for free native plants
Brisbane schools are eligible to claim up to 50 free native plants from Council for Arbor Day.
Schools can apply for native plants through the online form from 1 August 2025.
To ensure your school receives plants in time for Arbor Day, make sure you apply by Friday 12 September 2025.
Fun reading for Arbor Day
Discover books suitable for student reading this Arbor Day.
- Only a Tree Knows How to Be a Tree by Mary Murphy
- Adoette by Lydia Monks
- Silky’s Story by Jeanne Willis
- The Toast Tree by Corina Martin
- The Anzac Tree by Christina Booth
- Beneath the Trees by Cristy Burne
- In Their Branches: Stories from ABC RN’s Trees Project by Gretchen Miller
- If Trees Could Speak by Bob Beale
- Trees That Call Australia Home by John Halkett
- Monarchs of the Woods by Peter Holzworth
- Darwin’s Tree of Life by Michael Bright, illustrated by Margaux Carpenter
- The Arbornaut by Margaret Lowman
- The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
- Where the Forest Meets the Sea by Jeanie Baker
- The Last Tree by Mark Wilson
- The Lorax by Dr Seuss
- The World That We Want by Kim Toft
- Uno's Garden by Graeme Base
- I can name 50 trees today by Bonnie Worth
- Plantastic! A to Z of Australian Plants by Catherine Clowes
- The Letterbox Tree by Rebecca Lim and Kate Gordon
- Little Fur by Isobelle Carmody
- Surviving in the Wild (Series) by Remy Lai
- The Rabbits by John Marsden
- Dry by Neal Shusterman
- Afterglow: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors by Adrienne Maree Brown
- Green Rising by Lauren James
- Banjo Tully by Justin D’Ath
- The Summer We Turned Green by William Sutcliffe
- Tyenna by Julie Hunt