Gayle Dallaston

Author. Founder of The Shady Lanes Project.

Brisbane City Life

The brisbanecitylife.com.au domain that once housed our commercial guide to Brisbane became a blog about my garden where I aim to increase biodiversity and wildlife habitat in my little patch.

It’s the garden inside the fence of the Shady Lanes Project.

In 2026, I plan to renovate the site and use it to encourage gardening for wildlife and sustainability to become more mainstream.

Gardens for walking through

Active transport advocates and verge gardeners have a lot in common.

We’re pleased to see the emphasis on pedestrian comfort and safety, with footpaths being described as transport corridors, made it into the story about verge gardening on ABC Gardening Australia last night.

Read more and comment on the Walking as Transport Substack post

 

Waypoints For People Walking And Cycling

Imagine the equivalent of a service station for pedestrians. A place where they can break their journey, to rest, recharge, check their directions. It’s a landmark and a meeting spot.

Read more on the Shady Lanes Substack post

Three things we must do to cool our streets and cities

Heat and shade are on everyone’s agenda these days. Whether it’s the health, walkability, equity, economic, social or other aspect will depend on the organisation’s purpose. But it’s clear to all that we need to reduce urban heat as much as we can and find ways of adapting.

I was asked this week what we need to do to increase shade in our streets for walkability. Of course we need more trees and more verge gardens. Perhaps that was all I was supposed to say.

But…

Read More on the Shady Lanes Substack post