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Portfolio: Mount Keira Garden Design Revisit
My, my look how things have grown đ this garden has completely filled out and become the luscious, illawarra escarpment semi-rainforest garden it was always meant to be! In the image above you can see the turf paver area is now a native lawn of Dichondra repens and Basket Grass, the Gum Vine is spilled…
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The ‘New’ formal Native Garden
When most people think of a formal garden the first images that spring to mind are rows of neatly clipped Buxus borders with some Robinia topiary and maybe a screening Camellia hedge. These are some of the easiest plants to use if you are copying the European template for creating a formal style garden, they…
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The Potential of Eucalyptus ‘Blue Veil’
This is Eucalyptus camaldulensis ‘Blue Veil’, which is one of my favourite native plants, I have been quite obsessed with it for many years now. I see so much potential in this species to be used in different ways in a garden design. Eucalyptus camaldulensis ‘Blue Veil’ is a grafted variety of Eucalyptus camaldulensis or the…
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Mallee Design SHOP
It is official! the Mallee birdbaths and water dishes have their very own online shop! they will be much more comfortable there đ they can take up as much space and get as much attention as they need. Please visit shop.malleedesign.com.au for all bird bath purchases. We have had a price change also, all the new prices…
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Tapestry Gardens 2: MONA
When I was at Mona in Hobart last month as always I had my camera with me, I love the planting design at MONA and I had a few spare minutes between consuming modern art to snap some inspiring pictures. I took these photos because I loved the plant combinations and wanted to sure these…
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The Beautiful Gardens of Zanthorrea Nursery
I set aside a morning to visit the Zanthorrea Nursery when I was in Western Australia last August. This was a much anticipated adventure as I have heard much about the nursery and often have recommended it to Western Australians looking for native plants. I was not disappointed, it is a wonderful place, full of…
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Portfolio: Garden Design Mount Keira
Last Friday I completed the first stage of planting for this local project I have been working on in Mt Keira this year. I have written about this garden already as it is a very interesting brief, using only local indigenous species https://malleedesign.com.au/mt-kiera-site-specific-local-indigenous-species/ . I have been chaffing at the bit since the landscaping began to be…
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Importing soil to your new native garden
This image is of a new garden design project for a home that is currently being constructed, and I have been asked to come in early! This doesn’t happen that often, usually I don’t get to site until the house has been built, but there are many benefits of being engaged this early in the…
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Why are Kangaroo Paws so hard to photograph?
I have found photographing Kangaroo Paws to be extremely frustrating, which is a great shame as they are one of my favourite native plants. They are showy, have long lasting flowers, a weeping leaf habit mixed with the striking vertical flower stems making them an excellent feature plant. However when I go to photograph them…
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Joseph Banks Native Plants Reserve
Every spring the Sutherland Australian Plants Society Group hold a day of Spring walks in Sir Joseph Banks Native Gardens in Kareela. I have been meaning to visit this native garden for years t is fairly local to me and I had heard wonderful things about it. The gardens were started by Sutherland Shire…
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Portfolio: Gordon Garden Design
This is stage 3 or the final stage of a large garden I have been working on in Gordon. The rear of the property backs onto bushland which is quite weedy, the space itself held several large indigenous trees but not much else. The site is steep with a sandstone drop where some very well…
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Portfolio: Marrickville Sketch Design
This is a garden that I have been visiting for a couple of years now, each time I spend an hour or two doing some sketches for the owners to move to the next ‘stage’. It is a wonderful garden spilling over with healthy plants, edibles mixed in with exotics and natives all thriving and…
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Sandstone Plinth Bird Bath
This is the 2nd style of my plinth bird bath series, a half sawn and half picked sandstone pedestal. I am very excited about this base, it is solid sandstone  220mm x 250mm x 750mm and in perfect visual balance with the spun copper dish. This bird bath can be purchased over here. If you are…
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Walcott Garden: Canberra
A few weeks back I was lucky enough to appeal to a very generous couple, Ros and Ben Walcott. I contacted them out of the blue and asked if I could visit their garden. We were travelling to Canberra to see an exhibition and I had just read an article about their garden in the…
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Creating the Perfect Bird Bath
I have had a bee in my bonnet for a few years now and I am finally starting to do something about it, and this is the outcome so far. A copper spun bird bath on a timber pedestal. This is the prototype, the copper dish will remain the same but I am hoping to…
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Silky Oaks: Peter and Margaret Olde
This is a private garden created by Peter and Margaret Olde, it is occasionally open to the public through the open Garden Scheme or organised by the Australian Plants Society. I have visited this garden twice and feel I haven’t really touched the surface of what there is to discover. It is a very large…
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Native Plants at the Sydney Garden Show 2014
After a rather long shift at a stall in the Sydney Garden Show yesterday I got to have a very quick scoot around and check out some of the display gardens. I hardly need to say that I was totally biased and basically only the ones containing native plants caught my eye. The main garden…
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Designing a Native Garden Talk
A Garden is a Process, not a Product Fiona Brockhoff So if you were going to come to a talk titled ‘Designing a Native Garden’ what would you like to be covered???? I’m looking for a little inspiration and of course some discussion. I could waffle on for hours about foliage contrast and lines of sight but…
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Portfolio: North Balgowlah Consults
This is a ‘work in progress’ garden that I visit from time to time, it is being built by the owners and is a labour of love. The garden backs onto a nature reserve that is in pristine condition, the rear fence has had every 2nd paling taken out to try and use the bush…
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Design and Build
This post is going to be hopefully helpful; I am writing it almost as much for my own sake as others as I try to get my head around the process of ‘building’ a new garden with a third party involved. Recently, I received a cry for help from a client whom I had done…
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Portfolio: Crows Nest Garden Design
This garden in Crows Nest was designed at the beginning of last year and has been slowly and steadily taking shape. It is being lovingly built by the owner on weekends and through his careful attention and patience it will be a great success. However, unfinished as it is I couldn’t resist posting a few…
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Tapestry Gardens
Van Gogh reputedly introduced the idea of a tapestry garden, relying on the hue, texture, size and shape of foliage creating a tapestry like mosaic. Diane Snape I was doing some research a couple of nights ago and came across this section titled Tapestry Gardens in Diane Snape’s book ‘The Australian Garden‘ and it is…
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Wattle Glen: Sam Cox Landscape
When I realised I would be in Victoria at the beginning of the year one of the first things I did was contact some of my favourite Landscape and Garden Designers to see if they had any open gardens that coincided with my visit. Sam Cox was top of my list and although he didn’t…
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Eucalyptus ‘Silver Princess’ at Heide
I accidentally visited the Heide Museum of Modern Art last month, WOW it was a pretty wonderful accident! They have the most beautiful sculpture gardens, which are expansive and great for kids. The art Gallery itself is also an impressive building surrounded in native gardens with a bit of an edge. I saw this wonderful…
Category: Landscape Design