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How Useful are Drawings?
Beware this post may be a rant…..however you have been warned so now I shall go on đ … I basically love drawing, I love being able to put my ideas on paper in an organised manner which then can be referred to as a ‘Plan’ not just a Garden Design Plan but a ‘Plan’…
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Lovers of Hot and Dry: Alyogyne hakeifolia ‘Melissa Anne’ and ‘Elle Maree’
I went to look at a garden yesterday which was hot and dry, it had lots of hard surfaces that were heating up with the western sun, that got me thinking about this plant Alyogyne hakeifolia ‘Melissa Anne’ or native hibiscus. There are many Alyogyne mainly coming from WA and south Australia and this one is…
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Silver Tea Tree: Leptospermum brachyandrum ‘Silver’
This has been my favourite Tea tree for a few years now, it is Leptospermum brachyandrum ‘Silver’ and for the first time I saw some more mature specimens when I visited Cranbourne Botanic Gardens in January. I was overjoyed as I have two in my garden that are only head height so far and three…
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Portfolio: Bundeena Garden Design
A steep bush block backing onto the National Park with 180 degree stunning views of the water, how inspiring! When I saw this garden I was pretty much blown away, what a dream to be able to work on this property, the house was newly built and nearly finished, the path and boulders were in…
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Inverawe Native Gardens
On my recent trip to Tasmania I was lucky enough to be able to co-ordinate myself and my family to visit this reasonably new open garden in Margate. Inverawe Native Gardens are Tasmania’s largest Landscaped Native Gardens which is quite a feat considering it has been created by just two people, devoted gardeners Margaret and…
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Cushion Bush Breasts
I am in Tasmania driving around and camping and visiting family, its my home town. Of course we have paid our obligatory visit to MONA which in my humble opinion has the, most beautiful native gardens, they are modern and playful, hence the Leucophyta brownii pruned into breast shapes heehee…..Cushion bush prunes beautifully into spheres…
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Horizontal Contrast: Homoranthus flavescens
Homoranthus flavescens is a striking plant, the foliage appears succulent and conifer like and the branches grow almost horizontally and appear to layer on top of each other, plus it has a beautiful grey green leaf, making it a wonderful feature shrub in a planting.
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Casuarina Groundcovers: Casuarina glauca prostrate
I adore Casuarinas, in all shapes and forms, so I’m pretty happy with the number of ground cover Casuarinas that are around at the moment. They are tough, quick growing and have a lovely weeping soft look about them, they also can grow to form interesting shapes and textures in the garden. By the way…
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Red and White: Angophora hispida
Reds and whites are out at the moment on two native trees, this photo is of the dwarf Angophora, Angophora hispida. This is a beautiful small tree that buds up in furry red clusters for a month before the cream flowers come out, I love the rusty reds this tree produces and even better when…
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CAD and a clean slate
This is a very large garden that is an ongoing project at the moment, yesterday was the first plant out day. I would say about 85% of the plants went in yesterday and today, Phew! it was a beautiful day for it too. The main site is on a large slope with a winding pathway…
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Easy to grow WA species: Melaleuca incana
I would so love to have a garden in Western Australia, all the interesting natives I could grow Eucalyptus macrocarpa, Banksia coccinea, Macropedia fulignosa….ahhh but we always want what we can’t have…. So I continue to trail things in my heavy clay, coastal garden with our east coast humid summer and some WA species will grow…
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Spring Yellow: Conostylis candicans
What better colour to welcome spring with than yellow! Goodbye winter! However it is feeling a little bit like we have headed straight into summer here on the NSW east coast, which I find a little bit frightening, it is looking like a confusing time for plants at the moment, anyway thats another topic altogether… This…
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Native Bees
All winter long, on warm sunny days I have been able to step into my garden and hear the low humming from the bees in my Eucalypts, at times the noise has been breath takingingly loud. It has been a wonderful reminder on another one of the roles that the indigenous trees on my block…
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Screening with Grevillea ‘Bonfire’
This is one of my favourite Grevilleas’ of the moment. I tend to steer towards Grevilleas without the typical heavily divided thick leaf. ‘Bonfire’ is G. johnsonii x G. willsonii, so you get the lovely fern like leaf in a dark green contrasting beautifully with the deep red flowers, which attract honeyeaters and lorikeets.
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Portfolio: North Bondi Garden Design
This is a very young garden, as it was planted out only 10 months ago, I think the establishment of the garden is amazing. This is a coastal garden, basically second line coastal, with strong salt laden winds and a very very sandy soil. The clients wanted a native ‘cottage’ style garden with plenty of…
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Winter Reds
I have been away a little bit lately, well more away from my garden than anywhere else. So I haven’t been noticing all the details, just madly rushing about planting, watering and spending more time in other peoples gardens than my own. So when I returned home on the weekend I was greeted by the…
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Some Favourite Late Winter Flowering Natives
The end of a very dismal grey wet period has come finally! and the sun is appearing ever so bright and dazzling, I have been to the beach 4 times in the last three days, rejoicing! So I thought I would focus on those wonderful winter flowering natives that always amaze me in the colder…
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Daisies make me happy 2
This is the second instalment of my ode to native daisies, there are too many types and cvs. to choose from so I have grouped these together as they are more of a ground cover with a smaller flower. They are beautiful mixed together planted as a native meadow.
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Daisies make me happy
I went to the Blue Mountains over the long weekend and not only at Mt Tomah gardens, but also on the property I was staying, the paper daisies were popping up their sunny heads.Â
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Crazy Carpeting Grevillea ground-covers
OK so these two Grevilleas are a bit famous for going wild in the best way possible of course! They are fast growing and will cover a really large area, plus they are hardy and flower a lot. What more could you ask for?
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Buttery Blueberry Bush Tucker: Austromyrtus dulcis
Buttery Blueberries is what I think the flavour of the Midyim Berry is, by far the most delicious of the bush tucker I have tried, and also one of the easiest to grow! I have half a dozen plants in my garden and although they are small they are surprisingly productive.
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Prostrate Woolly Bush
This is the Albany Woolly Bush or Adenanthos x cunninghamii, it is a most apt name for it as everyone is drawn to the soft feathery looking foliage to feel it and see if it feels as fluffy as it looks.
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Hot Candy!
This is my favourite Brachyscome at the moment, not for its tacky name (where do they get them from???), but for its running habit and thick leaf. Brachsyscome ‘Hot Candy’ is seen here growing in part shade and still flowering its head off.
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Portfolio: Maroubra Garden Design
This is a coastal garden located at Maroubra beach which backs onto the park at the south end. It is the most spectacular location, just a stroll out the back gate to the beach. It is actually two residences with the boundary fence removed and the garden has been amalgamated into one.The garden is approximately…
Category: Coastal