Landscape Design – Mallee Design

The elegant branches of Leptospermum brachyandrum ‘Silver’

I have written about this favourite tea tree of mine before, however I think it deserves another post which is more dedicated to its elegant branches and decorative bark. I took these photos of Leptopsermum brachyandrum ‘Silver’ at Kuranga native… Read more ›

19/09/2023 2 Comments

Feature shrub, Frost tolerant, Landscape Design, Naturalistic garden, Shade tolerant, Small tree, Tropical garden

clay soils, creek planting, decorative bark, foliage contrast, grey green leaves, heavy soils, Leptospermum brachyandrum 'Silver', temporary inundation, weeping habit, wet weather, white flower

Native plants in the Melbourne City Streetscape

This post is all about praising the plant selection used in the ‘Grey to Green’ project in the City of Melbourne. Much of the plant palate features native species, and on a recent tour I was so impressed with the… Read more ›

02/05/2023 2 Comments

Bird attracting, Drought hardy, Frost tolerant, Landscape Design, Naturalistic garden, Ornamental grass, Water plants

bee attracting, Calothamnus quadrifidus grey form, Casuarina glauca, Doryanthes palmeri, Eucalyptus pulverulenta 'Baby Blue', Eucalyptus sideroxylon Rosea, grey green leaves, Grey to Green, Melaleuca hypericifolia, melaleuca quinquenervia, Melbourne City, Micromyrtus ciliata, openspace, Plectranthus argentatus, public space, Rhagodia spinescens, streetscape, understory planting, urban greening

Australian Native Plants in Japan

It was inevitable that I wouldn’t be able to turn off my native plant nerd brain whilst overseas in Japan last month…. I tried, I really did. I took photos of Japanese plants, seed pods and flowers and researched after… Read more ›

Bird attracting, Drought hardy, Landscape Design, Medium Tree, Natives for containers, Screening plants, Small garden, Small tree, Winter flowering

Acacia baileyana, Acacia covenyi, Acacia decurrens, Backhousia citriodora, Brachychiton rupestris, Cissus antartica, Eucalyptus polyanthemos, Eucalyptus pulverulenta 'Baby Blue', feature tree, foliage contrast, grey green leaves, Hardenbergia violacea, Indoor plant, Leptospermum brachyandrum 'Silver', well drained soil, yellow flowers

Merry NSW Christmas Bush: Ceratopetalum gummiferum

I am a bit of a Grinch when it comes to Christmas and often one of the things which pulls me our of my un-festive slump is our Ceratopetalum gummiferum or native Christmas Bush. This year I was a little… Read more ›

23/12/2022 2 Comments

Bird attracting, Coastal, Feature shrub, Formal gardens, Hedge, Illawarra natives, Landscape Design, Medium Tree, Screening plants, Shade tolerant, Small tree

Australian Native Garden, bee attracting, Ceratopetalum albury's christmas, Ceratopetalum gummiferum, Christmas bush, cut flower, dense habit, feature tree, Festive, flowers and bracts, native bees, Pollinator Plants, Red flowers, spring flowering, summer flowering, well drained soil

Most Memorable Planting Combinations at the National Arboretum

Every time I visit our nations lovely Capital I seem to find myself at the National Arboretum, by default I manage to eke out at least half an hour to check in on some of my favourite plantings. I have… Read more ›

19/08/2022 1 Comment

Drought hardy, Feature shrub, Frost tolerant, Groundcover, Hedge, Landscape Design, Ornamental grass, Small tree, Winter flowering

Acacia baileyana prostrate, Australian Native Garden, bee attracting, Correa glabra, Eucalyptus pulverulenta 'Baby Blue', foliage contrast, grey green leaves, Lomandra confertifolia ssp Rubiginosa, Modern Australian Native Garden, National Arboretum, planting combination, understory planting, weeping habit

Help! What’s wrong with my Plants?

By Kath Gadd and Hannah Preston Well it would seem La Niña is here with a vengence along the NSW and QLD east coast, resulting in way too much rain and very uncomfortable humidity. It has been a tough summer… Read more ›

Illawarra natives, Landscape Design, Uncategorized

disease, garden maintenance, gardening, humidity, la nina, native plants, pest, plant health

Portfolio: Helensburgh Consult

Front gardens play such an important role in most streetscapes but especially in suburbia where the repetition of built form and front lawns can become almost claustrophobic. These clients wanted something different to look out on from inside of their… Read more ›

Groundcover, Landscape Design, Naturalistic garden, Ornamental grass, Portfolio, Screening plants, Small tree

Portfolio: Haberfield Landscape Design

The brief for this front garden in Sydney’s inner west was to create a modern native garden which is sympathetic to the era of the house and show cases an Art Deco water feature passed down through the family. The… Read more ›

AILDM, Bird attracting, Feature shrub, Formal gardens, Landscape Design, Ornamental grass, Portfolio, Shade tolerant, Small tree, Uncategorized, Water plants, Winter flowering

Acacia 'Limelight' grafted Standard, Banksia 'Coastal Cushions', Border planting, clay soils, Decomposed Crushed Granite, foliage contrast, Grevillea rhyolitica 'Cherry Cluster', Hakea francisiana Grafted, large flower, Lomandra 'Mist', low mounding shrub, Melaleuca 'Mini Quini', Porphyry stone, understory planting, water feature, weeping habit, Xanthorrhoea johnsonii

Habitat Gardening

My eye is repeatedly drawn to this delightful photo of a father Tawny Frogmouth and his hatchling. Tawny Frogmouth fathers look after their baby birds until they fledge and require wide branches or large forks in old trees to nest.… Read more ›

Bird attracting, Butterfly attracting, Landscape Design

Portfolio: St Ives Landscape Design

This garden in the leafy north shore suburb of St Ives was designed last year and built only 7 months ago, by Ash from ‘Living on the Hedge’. Part of the brief for this garden was to have plenty of… Read more ›

07/06/2021 7 Comments

AILDM, Bird attracting, Butterfly attracting, Groundcover, Hedge, Landscape Design, Medium Tree, Ornamental grass, Portfolio, Screening plants, Small tree, Uncategorized, Winter flowering

Photo Competition Entries and Winner!

Our photo competition is finished and we’ve been absolutely blown away by all our entries. The submissions represent so many different birds and locations across Australia that we couldn’t resist putting them all in one blog post with the winner!… Read more ›

05/05/2021 2 Comments

Bird attracting, Landscape Design

Portfolio: Woolooware Rejuvenation

This native garden in Woolooware has a new owner, someone who is keen to be the new caretaker of the space and is looking forward to maintaining the native plants and learning more about them along the way. Someone who… Read more ›

19/03/2021 7 Comments

AILDM, Bird attracting, Coastal, Drought hardy, Feature shrub, Groundcover, Hedge, Landscape Design, Portfolio, Screening plants, Winter flowering

Landscaping with Dwarf Kangaroo Paws: Anigozanthos ‘Bush Pearl’

I couldn’t help myself when I was in Canberra last month at the Botanic Gardens, before I even considered what I was doing I was snapping away at these Anigozanthos ‘Bush Pearl’. They just looked so stunning in the foggy… Read more ›

03/08/2020 2 Comments

Bird attracting, Drought hardy, Frost tolerant, Landscape Design, Natives for containers, Naturalistic garden, Winter flowering

Anigozanthos 'Bush Peal', cut flowers, drought hardy, frost tolerant, long flowering period, mass planting, pink flowers

Portfolio: West Wollongong Revisit

The images in this blog post were taken of a local garden I designed a few years ago which has been filling out beautifully. The requested privacy is beginning to really take shape, the front garden has been reclaimed as… Read more ›

AILDM, Bird attracting, Feature shrub, Groundcover, Hedge, Landscape Design, Natives for containers, Portfolio, Screening plants, Small garden, Winter flowering

Health Benefits of Gardening

Stress Relief, Connection to Nature, Connection to Community, Physical Health, Personal Growth ….just to name a few! I am no stranger to “stress weeding” or “stress pruning” for that matter. There is something indescribably satisfying about pulling unwanted weeds out… Read more ›

Bird attracting, Drought hardy, Feature shrub, Groundcover, Landscape Design, Naturalistic garden, Screening plants, Small garden, Uncategorized

aildm_aus, Anigozanthos 'Landscape Lilac', Australian Native Garden, benefits of gardening, Eremohpila nivea 'Blue Velvet', Eremophila 'Nivea' Grafted, Everlasting Daisies, gardening, mental health, Modern Australian Native Garden, Native Garden Design, Rhodanthe chlorocephala ssp. rosea, stress relief, wellbeing

Portfolio: Garden Design West Wollongong

“In short, can’t thank you enough for the difference your design and expertise have made to our street frontage, never mind our well- being during lockdown.” September 14th 2021 The brief for this garden was inspired by another Mallee Design… Read more ›

21/02/2020 1 Comment

AILDM, Bird attracting, Groundcover, Landscape Design, Portfolio, Screening plants, Small tree, Winter flowering

Acacia 'Mini Cog', Acacia baileyana prostrate, aildm, aildm_aus, Casuarina 'Cousin It', Concrete sleepers, Corten Steel, Decomposed Crushed Granite, Eucalyptus caesia 'Silver Princess', Eucalyptus pulverulenta 'Baby Blue', Grevillea 'Amber Blaze', Grevillea 'Dorothy Gordon', Hibiscus tiliaceus rubra, Myoporum parvifolium, naturalhabitatlandscapes, Redcore Steel

Potfolio: Ashfield Revisit

I was very excited to be asked back to one of my favourite clients, to do a design for the rear of her property, it also meant I was able to have a proper nosey at the establishment of the front… Read more ›

01/10/2019 1 Comment

Feature shrub, Landscape Design, Naturalistic garden, Ornamental grass, Portfolio, Small garden

aildm, aildm_aus, Banksia 'Coastal Cushions', Callistemon 'Little John', Eucalyptus 'wimmerensis 'Tuckertime Honey Pots', feature tree, grey green leaves, Lomandra 'Little Lime', Meeboldina 'Velvet Rush', Modern Australian Native Garden, Poa 'Kingsdale', Poa labillardieri, street address, weeping habit, Xanthorrhoea johnsonii

Portfolio: Gladesville Front Garden Design

This sweet front garden was built earlier this year after a quite extensive house renovation in Gladesville, it is somewhat of a “treat” for the client and the house to have a fresh start after a year of messing building… Read more ›

Bird attracting, Feature shrub, Groundcover, Hedge, Landscape Design, Naturalistic garden, Portfolio, Screening plants, Small tree, Winter flowering

Acacia 'Lime Magic', aildm, Anigozanthos 'Big Red', carpeting ground cover, Corten Steel, Decomposed Crushed Granite, fast growing, feature tree, foliage contrast, grey green leaves, Hardenbergia 'Flat White', Modern Australian Native Garden, Red flowers, street address, well drained soil

Portfolio: Woolooware Garden Design

This residential garden was designed at the beginning of 2017 and built later that year, to complete the property’s brand new modern extension. The owners had acquired some beautiful, large sandstone boulders from offsite to be used in the new… Read more ›

15/06/2019 26 Comments

Bird attracting, Coastal, Drought hardy, Groundcover, Landscape Design, Portfolio, Screening plants

Native Plants in Fiona Brockhoff Gardens

I went to the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria in January this year to see three gardens designed by one of my favourite Landscape Designers and of course they did not disappoint. In fact I realise now that I took so… Read more ›

23/05/2019 3 Comments

Drought hardy, Landscape Design, Naturalistic garden, Screening plants, Shade tolerant

Allocasuarina verticillata, Anigozanthos 'Big Red', Correa baeuerlenii, Correa reflexa var. nummularia, Eucalyptus macrandra, Fiona Brockhoff, Lomandra 'Tanika', Melaleuca nesophila, melaleuca quinquenervia, Modern Australian Native Garden, Poa labillardieri, Red flowers, Themeda australis, understory planting, weeping habit, wind tolerant

Why the name Mallee?

I am often asked if I come from Mallee country in Victoria and sadly the answer is no, Mallee Design my business name was not chosen for geographical reasons it was chosen for aesthetic reasons. I am in love with… Read more ›

19/02/2019 2 Comments

Bird attracting, Drought hardy, Feature shrub, Landscape Design, Small tree

bee attracting, drought tolerant, Eucalyptus lehmannii, Eucalyptus macrandra, fast growing, feature tree, Mallee, Mallee Eucalyptus, summer flowering, weeping habit, well drained soil, wildlife habitat, yellow flowers

The display gardens of Austplant Nursery

I have been away in Victoria for the past few weeks, camping on Wilsons Prom and then visiting native nurseries and gardens on the Mornington Peninsula. It was a wonderful holiday that has left me with a touch of post… Read more ›

23/01/2019 3 Comments

Bird attracting, Drought hardy, Feature shrub, Groundcover, Hedge, Landscape Design, Small tree

Mallee Specials @ Collectors Plant Fair 2018

During this year’s Collectors Plant Fair we will be offering a 10% discount on all birdbaths and spun copper dishes purchased and picked up from our stall! If you would like to pre-order anything for pick up from the fair on… Read more ›

03/04/2018 1 Comment

Bird attracting, Landscape Design, Ornamental grass

Bird Bath, CollectorsPlantFair, Themeda 'True Blue', water, water bowls, water feature, wildlife habitat

Portfolio: Mount Keira Garden Design Revisit

My, my look how things have grown 🙂 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… Read more ›

Bird attracting, Illawarra natives, Landscape Design, Naturalistic garden, Portfolio, Shade tolerant

Aphanopetalum resinosum, Carex appressa, Citriobatus multiflorus, Dichondra repens, Hibiscus splendens, Indigofera australis, Mount Keira, native lawn, Omalanthus polulifolius, Oplismenus aemulus, Podocarpus elatus, street address