Naturalistic garden – Mallee Design

Phenomenal Phebaliums: the delicate blooms of Phebalium nottii and squamulosum

I am a long time fan of the Phebalium genus, these small to large shrubs which belong in the Rutaceae family can be found growing over much of the south and east coast of Australia. However Phebalium squamulosum is an extremely… Read more ›

27/10/2023

Kath Gadd

Drought hardy, Hedge, Natives for containers, Naturalistic garden, Shade tolerant, Winter flowering

bee attracting, dry shade, foliage contrast, fragrant flowers, frost tolerant, part shade, pink flowers, pollinating insects, Scented, understory planting, well drained soil, yellow flowers

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

Kath Gadd

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

Light it up: Grevillea lanigera ‘Mellow Yellow’

I have mass planted Grevillea ‘Mellow Yellow in a semi shaded position in my garden and have been surprised at its tenacity and ability to cover its self in blooms for an extended period of time. The small striking spider… Read more ›

26/05/2023

Kath Gadd

Bird attracting, Butterfly attracting, Coastal, Drought hardy, Frost tolerant, Groundcover, Natives for containers, Naturalistic garden, Winter flowering

Autumn Flowering, bee attracting, clay soils, drought tolerant, frost tolerant, full sun, grey green leaves, ground cover, long flowering period, well drained soil, wind tolerant, winter flowering

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

Kath Gadd

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

The constantly evolving beauty of Ozothamnus diosmifolius

This small to medium native shrub is a hard one to capture both in an image and in words, I have been documenting these three specimens in my garden since they were planted a couple of years ago. It never… Read more ›

13/03/2023 1 Comment

Kath Gadd

Bird attracting, Feature shrub, Hedge, Naturalistic garden, Shade tolerant

bee attracting, clay soils, cut flower, cut flowers, habitat garden, large flower, long flowering period, native bees, Ozothamnus 'Radiance', Ozothamnus diosmifolius, pink flowers, understory planting, well drained soil, white flower, wildlife habitat

Emu Bush Challenge No. 10: Eremophila ‘Meringur Crimson’

And so it continues … documenting my Eremophila discoveries, I will get to 12 one day! As we approach the end of another La Niña Summer, where heavy downpours are common and the humidity is high, it is a great chance… Read more ›

23/02/2023

Kath Gadd

Bird attracting, Coastal, Drought hardy, Feature shrub, Frost tolerant, Hedge, Naturalistic garden

bee attracting, Eremophila 'Meringur Crimson', foliage contrast, grey green leaves, understory planting, wind tolerant

Kangaroo Paw Care – Get the Pruners Out!

The Kangaroo Paws in this Bundeena garden are a rainbow of colour, they were planted three years ago in a swathe to test Angus Stewarts ‘Anigozanthos ‘Landscape series’ range. They have a striking effect mass planted and it was a… Read more ›

28/11/2022 1 Comment

Kath Gadd

Bird attracting, Coastal, Feature shrub, Naturalistic garden, Ornamental grass, Uncategorized

Anigozanthos, Landsape Orange, Landscape Lilac, Landscape Lime, Landscape Red, Plant Care and Maintenace, pruning, Rhagodia 'Silver Border', Rhagodia spinescens, well drained soil

Two favourite floating water plants: Nymphiodes geminata & Marsilea drummondii

I love to include water in my Landscapes, whether in the form of a frog pond, fish pond, water bowl or fountain. One of the reasons for my love of water in the garden is it not only attracts wildlife… Read more ›

28/10/2022

Kath Gadd

Coastal, Naturalistic garden, Water plants

bee attracting, Bush Foods, fish, frogs, habitat garden, Marsilea drummondii, Nymphoides geminata, Pond plants, water bowls, water feature, water plants, wildlife, wildlife habitat, yellow flowers

Happy National Wattle Day!

We hope your gardens are in full bloom and continue to bring you and the native wildlife joy throughout the month of Spring. This years Wattle is Acacia linifolia or Flax Wattle, it flowers from Summer through to Winter. Changes… Read more ›

01/09/2022

Kath Gadd

Naturalistic garden, Screening plants, Shade tolerant, Small tree, Winter flowering

Acacia linifolia, bee attracting, fragrant flowers, large shrub, National Wattle Day, perfume, Quick growing, understory planting, weeping habit, well drained soil, wind tolerant, yellow flowers

Native flowers in the deepest dark of Winter

It has been a long cold, wet Winter here on the southern NSW coast, off and don’t forget windy! In fact my garden experienced a mini tornado a month ago, a micro weather event which sent someones garden shed and… Read more ›

03/08/2022

Kath Gadd

Bird attracting, Butterfly attracting, Coastal, Naturalistic garden, Screening plants, Winter flowering

bee attracting, bird-attracting, birdsinbackyards, clay soils, Epacris microphylla, Eriostemon difformis ‘Star Sprite’, Grevillea 'Orange Marmalade', Grevillea arenaria, Grevillea oleoides, Hakea francisiana Grafted, Phebalium nottii Grafted, Pimelea linifolia, Westringia longifolia, winter flowering

Bird Nerd-ing in a Mallee Birdbath

Our friend Angus Stewart in Tasmania (from Gardening with Angus) recently captured all these wonderful birds making use of his Mallee Dish – including a few that we’ve never seen before since they only occur in Tasmania. In this video… Read more ›

27/07/2022 2 Comments

Kath Gadd

Bird attracting, Frost tolerant, Naturalistic garden, Products, Winter flowering

Gardening for Wellbeing

Stress Relief, Connection to Nature, Community involvement, Mood lifting, Physical Health, Personal Growth ….just to name a few! Words by Kath Gadd and Hannah Preston at Mallee Design In times of great social and economic upheaval gardening can offer multiple… Read more ›

01/07/2022

Kath Gadd

Bird attracting, Coastal, Feature shrub, Frost tolerant, Naturalistic garden, Uncategorized, Winter flowering

bee attracting, clay soils, mental health, sit spot, understory planting, weeping habit, wellbeing, wind tolerant, yellow flowers

How to Regenerate Bushland in your Backyard

Does your garden look a little like the one in the image above? It has so much potential but you don’t know where to start? Regenerating your own patch of bushland is exciting and rewarding. You get to see first-hand… Read more ›

10/06/2022 2 Comments

Kath Gadd

Illawarra natives, Naturalistic garden, Uncategorized

bush regeneration, bush style garden, Going native in the Illawarra, Illawarra natives, Indigenous to the Illawarra, understory planting

Inala Conservation Reserve: Bruny Island

Forty Spotted Pardalote Image above by Alfred-Schulte The Inala Reserve on Bruny Island was the highlight of my recent trip to Tasmania, we spent two nights staying in the cabins inside the reserve bird watching and exploring this natural wonderland.… Read more ›

02/02/2022

Kath Gadd

Bird attracting, Drought hardy, Feature shrub, Groundcover, Medium Tree, Naturalistic garden

bird-attracting, Eucalyptus globulus, Eucalyptus viminalis, Forty-spotted pardalote, Inala Conservation Reserve, nature connection, nesting boxes, small bird attracting, summer flowering, Swift Parrot, wildlife habitat

My Favourite Poa: Poa ‘Suggan Buggan’

Since discovering this super blue grey form of Poa labillardieri I have been throwing it around with gay abandon ? my love for native grasses and Poas in particular is something which is pretty obvious when you see some of… Read more ›

28/11/2021 2 Comments

Kath Gadd

Coastal, Drought hardy, Frost tolerant, Naturalistic garden, Ornamental grass

foliage contrast, grey green leaves, low spreading habit, mass planting, Poa 'Suggan Buggan, Poa labillardieri 'Suggan Buggan', Quick growing, small bird attracting, understory planting, weeping habit, wind tolerant

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 ›

26/09/2021

Kath Gadd

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

Instagram #INeedABirdbathHere Winner and Entries!

We’ve been simply blown away by the beautiful garden entries we received in our most recent birdbath competition #INeedABirdbathHere. We asked our followers to send us photos of their gardens for the chance to win a Freshly Spun Medium Copper… Read more ›

12/08/2021

Kath Gadd

Bird attracting, Coastal, Feature shrub, Groundcover, Naturalistic garden, Ornamental grass, Small tree

bird-attracting, birdbaths, birdsinbackyards, habitat garden, nativegarden

Portfolio: Bundeena Tree House

This an amazing house which spills over a sandstone outcrop and is placed underneath a giant fig tree. It is sheltered by a stand of Casuarinas and hidden from the street by its rapidly growing native garden. The garden has… Read more ›

02/06/2021

Kath Gadd

AILDM, Bird attracting, Coastal, Groundcover, Hedge, Naturalistic garden, Ornamental grass, Portfolio, Screening plants, Shade tolerant

Banksia 'Sentinel', Callistemon 'Pink Champagne', Calothamnus quadrifidus grey form, Casuarina 'Green Wave', Cissus antartica, Ficinia nodosa, Ficus, Grevillea 'Gin Gin Gem', Grevillea flexuosa Grafted, Leptospermum laevigatum 'Foreshore', Lomandra 'Tanika', Maireana oppositifolia 'Smokey', Microlaena stipoides, Poa 'Kingsdale', Sydney Sandstone

Back from a Bird Language Retreat

The mantra of the weekend, a quote shared by JA Baker: “The hardest thing of all is to see what is really there.” The next Bird Language Retreat is Apr. 13th–16th 2023 _____________________________________ By Hannah Preston Two weeks ago I… Read more ›

27/11/2020 3 Comments

Kath Gadd

Bird attracting, Naturalistic garden, Shade tolerant

Andrew Turbill, Barrington Tops National Park, Bird Bath, bird calls, bird-attracting, Cymbidium suave, Glochidion ferdinandi, king parrot, Lyre Bird, native grasses, nature connection, Wangat Lodge, wildlife habitat

The Partying Pea: Chorizema cordatum

This outrageous little pea flower is growing in my daughters primary school, it thinks it is unassuming and doing its own thing, little does it realise what a show off it is! Chorizema cordatum is a wonderful South West Australian… Read more ›

15/09/2020 1 Comment

Kath Gadd

Butterfly attracting, Drought hardy, Feature shrub, Naturalistic garden, Shade tolerant, Small garden, Winter flowering

butterfly attracting, Chorizema cordatum, long flowering period, low spreading habit, orange flowers, part shade, pink flowers, prolific flowers, understory planting, WA, well drained soil

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

Kath Gadd

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

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 ›

23/04/2020

Kath Gadd

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: Summer Hill Garden Design

This tiny garden in Sydney’s inner west is very shady to say the least, there were three existing native trees in the garden competing for space. However, they are all relatively small and although they took up most of the… Read more ›

08/04/2020 7 Comments

Kath Gadd

AILDM, Groundcover, Naturalistic garden, Portfolio, Shade tolerant, Small garden, Small tree

Archirhodomyrtus beckleri, Carex appressa, Decomposed Crushed Granite, Dichondra repens, Leptospermum petersonii, Libertia paniculata, moraea robinsoniana, narrow habit, pathways, Phebalium squamulosum, Rhagodia spinescens, sandstone flagging, shade tolerant, steppers, Viola hederacea

Portfolio: Stanmore Landscape Design

This small garden in the inner west of Sydney is a sight to behold after the recent rains. It is hard to believe that most of these plants have only been in for 6 months, that is the beauty of… Read more ›

09/03/2020 4 Comments

Kath Gadd

AILDM, Bird attracting, Groundcover, Naturalistic garden, Ornamental grass, Portfolio, Screening plants, Small garden, Small tree

Mallee Design

Native Garden Design & Consultation

Category Archives: Naturalistic garden

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Phenomenal Phebaliums: the delicate blooms of Phebalium nottii and squamulosum

The elegant branches of Leptospermum brachyandrum ‘Silver’

Light it up: Grevillea lanigera ‘Mellow Yellow’

Native plants in the Melbourne City Streetscape

The constantly evolving beauty of Ozothamnus diosmifolius

Emu Bush Challenge No. 10: Eremophila ‘Meringur Crimson’

Kangaroo Paw Care – Get the Pruners Out!

Two favourite floating water plants: Nymphiodes geminata & Marsilea drummondii

Happy National Wattle Day!

Native flowers in the deepest dark of Winter

Bird Nerd-ing in a Mallee Birdbath

Gardening for Wellbeing

How to Regenerate Bushland in your Backyard

Inala Conservation Reserve: Bruny Island

My Favourite Poa: Poa ‘Suggan Buggan’

Portfolio: Helensburgh Consult

Instagram #INeedABirdbathHere Winner and Entries!

Portfolio: Bundeena Tree House

Back from a Bird Language Retreat

The Partying Pea: Chorizema cordatum

Landscaping with Dwarf Kangaroo Paws: Anigozanthos ‘Bush Pearl’

Health Benefits of Gardening

Portfolio: Summer Hill Garden Design

Portfolio: Stanmore Landscape Design