Enhance your verge with financial assistance from Council

Verges (or nature strips) are important components of our local streetscapes and help to define and enhance the character and visual appeal of local streets.

The Council’s Verge Incentive Program supports individuals and groups to landscape the verge adjacent to their property by providing financial assistance.

Encouraging the development of verge gardens aligns with the Council’s commitment to fostering greener, cooler and more liveable communities.

A well-designed and maintained verge offers multiple benefits:

• improved kerb appeal – boosting the visual appeal and value of your property,
• stormwater benefits – helping absorb rainwater and reduce urban runoff,
• community pride – contributing to a shared sense of ownership and care for public spaces, and
• environmental gains – supporting biodiversity and reducing urban heat through increased vegetation.

The collective impact of more vegetated verges and fewer hard surfaces across the city helps to mitigate the effects of extreme summer temperatures by lowering ambient heat.

What assistance is available

Financial assistance is available to property owners and residents to assist with the costs to landscape their verge, which may include:

• excavation of existing quarry rubble, dolomite or quartzite material
• import and spreading of soil, compost and/or mulch
• supply and installation of plants and irrigation.

Eligible property owners and residents can access financial assistance of up to $500 towards the cost of approved verge landscaping works, with a total of $20,000 available in the Council’s 2025 Verge Incentive Program.

Only non-landscaped verges in the City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters are eligible for financial assistance under this program.

How to apply for assistance

To be considered for financial assistance for verge landscaping works, please complete and submit the online Authorisation to Landscape a Verge Application Form found on the Council’s website.

When completing the application, check the box that you are applying for financial assistance under the 2025 Verge Landscaping Incentive Program.

Applications are encouraged to be submitted by Friday 1 August 2025.

On this date, if the number of eligible applications exceeds the Council’s $20,000 budget, preference for financial assistance will be given to:

• applicants who seek approval to undertake the landscaping of verges with drought tolerant and sustainable plants;
• applicants seeking to plant their own and neighbouring verges; and
• applications in areas with high surface temperatures as identified through urban heat mapping.

Applications for financial assistance received after this date will be considered and approved on a first come, first serve basis until the $20,000 budget is exhausted.

Find out more and apply today: Verge Gardens