Developers and planners will be armed with a new Canberra garden guide, written to encourage more climate-friendly choices in the city's urban footprint.
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The Gawari Ngilanmanyin guide, which means "remembering the bush" in the Ngunnawal language, includes recommendations on soils, water use, plants and materials.
Environment Minister Rebecca Vassarotti said the guide was part of the ways the government was working with the construction industry to improve the capital's climate change readiness.
"Architects, landscape architects, developers, community groups and other planning professionals can use the guide to inform their designs and take into account the different aspects of climate-wise landscapes such as soil, water, plants, materials, layout and location," Ms Vassarotti said.
The guide includes advice the government hopes will mean the city can reach its targets of 30 per cent urban tree canopy cover and 30 per cent permeable surfaces.
The targets can only be reached if private owners are encouraged to adapt outdoor spaces in their control.
"A collaborative effort is required to ensure all opportunities on both public and private land are maximised," the guide said.
The government pointed to the City Renewal Authority's City Walk Park as an example of the type of landscaping it sought to encourage.
The area, which recently had grass and trees brought into what was a solid pedestrian mall to provide shade and relief from heat, on Wednesday won the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects' ACT award for civic landscape.
The government's guide encourages planners to consider the growing number of days above 35 degrees each year in Canberra and a rise in the average temperature of 0.9 degrees by 2030 and 2.3 degrees by 2070.
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The guide provides checklists to help designers and homeowners make decisions for their landscaped areas, including prompts to increase permeable paving and retaining existing trees.
Ms Vassarotti said climate-wise landscapes were essential to Canberra, which would increasingly be affected by climate change.
"Creating and supporting greenery in our city can help keep our public spaces cool as our region experiences more extreme weather events," she said in a statement.
"Climate-wise landscapes capture and use water in sustainable ways, merge landscape with structures, group the right plants together and set foundations for all things to thrive."
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Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
