Search results for: “banksia”

  • Portfolio: Garden Design Lilyfield

    Portfolio: Garden Design Lilyfield

    This is the tiny front garden of a small cottage in Lilyfield that was planted out about about 2 years ago, during that time it has flourished! Providing well needed privacy from the street and adding a lovely sense of arrival as you step off the pavement. The feature screening tree is a grafted Dwarf…

  • Rambling bank covering Grevillea banksii prostrate

    Rambling bank covering Grevillea banksii prostrate

    There are many, many Grevillea ground covers, and most of them cover a large area and have either a toothbrush or spider flower. Not this one! this is Grevillea banksii prostrate and it not only has a large showy flower spike it also has the large leaves associated with the northern sub tropical Grevilleas and it…

  • The ‘New’ formal Native Garden

    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…

  • Portfolio: Bundeena Garden Design Revisit

    Portfolio: Bundeena Garden Design Revisit

    I visited one of my favourite gardens today and it did not disappoint, I haven’t seen this coastal Bundeena garden for 18 months and many of the trees and shrubs have really filled out in that time. I feel so lucky to be able to keep track of this gardens progress and check in when…

  • Tugarah Gunya’marri: Cold and Windy

    Tugarah Gunya’marri: Cold and Windy

    During the Tugarah Gunya’marri the days are getting noticeably longer, but the weather is still cold. Then with the blooming of the Marrai’uo (Acacia floribunda) comes the cold, southwesterly winds; the children become cranky and the adults become bad-tempered. It is not a good time of year for anyone. Frances Bodkin ‘D’harawal: Climate and Natural…

  • Portfolio: Garden Design Lewisham

    Portfolio: Garden Design Lewisham

    This garden in Lewisham was built in early spring of 2016 so is roughly 6 months old at the time these images were taken. It is a special garden that was part of a new renovation and was considered very early on by the clients and architect. In the image below you can see what…

  • Portfolio: Garden Design Ashfield

    Portfolio: Garden Design Ashfield

    Dear Kath, the garden is beautiful and makes me very happy These are the words that I love to hear and is how this client describes her garden, and I can’t ask for anything more from a garden. This garden was built in December 2015 please see this link for details and this is my first…

  • The Beautiful Gardens of Zanthorrea Nursery

    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…

  • Hi Vallee Farm: Kwongan Country

    Hi Vallee Farm: Kwongan Country

    We stayed at an amazing property 3 and a half-hours north of Perth in mid-August, where the local flora did not disappoint.  I must admit I found it quite difficult to plan my Western Australia wild flower trip and after many hours of internet research discovered  Hi Vallee Farm. And no, I have not pushed…

  • Kings Park Favourites

    Kings Park Favourites

    This post is about one of my visits to Kings Park last month, I went twice and still felt as though I hadn’t seen everything, however the images I took were mainly of plants that I think can be grown on the east coast of NSW. This blog post is about some of my favourites. The…

  • Portfolio: Garden Designs Gordon Update

    Portfolio: Garden Designs Gordon Update

    This is an update about one garden, however within that one garden are 3 very different areas and these areas were approached as stand alone projects and designs and built secretly. I was gaining to blog about them separately but I think it is nice to show how varied one garden can be. You can…

  • Portfolio: Glebe Re-visit

    Portfolio: Glebe Re-visit

    I have done it again, another sneaky drive by whilst in the area, and another very pleasant discovery. This garden is looking wonderful and full of flower and interest as we enter the dull colder months.   This tiny front garden in Glebe received a little extra attention about 6 months ago where I added…

  • The plant every native garden should have: Lambertia formosa

    The plant every native garden should have: Lambertia formosa

    Every garden should have a specimen of this reliable plant That’s what Wriggly and Fagg have to say about the much loved Mountain Devil and I couldn’t agree more with the authors of the legendary ‘Australian Native Plants’ bible. Lambertia formosa is a common under storey shrub growing 1 to 2 metres high and about…

  • Portfolio: Bulli Garden Design

    Portfolio: Bulli Garden Design

    This garden is located in the costal northern Wollongong suburb of Wollongong, on a low ridge and midway down a slope. When I saw the garden for the first time it was directly after the new house had been built, lawn, new soil and mulch had been installed already. The garden was planted out on…

  • The Collectors Plant Fair 2016

    The Collectors Plant Fair 2016

    I am going to have a stall at The Collectors Plant Fair next month selling my spun copper bird baths and I can’t wait! I have been a fan of this event since it was held in Bilpin, every year now it grows bigger and better and is a haven for fellow plant nerds 😉…

  • Portfolio: Garden Design Chatswood

    Portfolio: Garden Design Chatswood

    I designed this garden in Chatswood in March 2013, pretty much exactly three years ago. The client has been chipping away at building the garden from my drawings over the years, it is a large garden that backs onto some beautiful bushland, where weeds have been a constant problem. Below you can see an image…

  • Portfolio: Coledale Consults

    Portfolio: Coledale Consults

    I have been consulting on this coastal garden for about 3 years now maybe a bit more, and it has really begun to settle in, some of the growth especially in the rear garden is amazing. The client has installed a beautiful mosaic letterbox made by his sister, it is large and bright and a…

  • Portfolio: Garden Design Ashfield

    Portfolio: Garden Design Ashfield

    This garden was in the making for only a few days, the plants went in on a very hot day last week but overall it felt very streamlined and easy to build and I have surprised even myself with the transformation! In the image below you can see what it looked like in November… The…

  • Natives for Pots and Containers 3

    Natives for Pots and Containers 3

    I think that this topic will be a continuing theme as I regularly see excellent examples of native species growing in pots or containers everywhere I go. There are many reasons for growing native plants in large pots, one of the main reasons is to increase drainage and therefore be able to successfully grow plants…

  • Illawarra native garden full of fresh ideas!

    Illawarra native garden full of fresh ideas!

    I visited the native garden of a passionate native plant lover last week to grab some inspiring photos and ideas; and the garden did not disapoint. This is the 4 th native garden for the owner and she began building it about 8 years ago after moving from a large property in the Snowy Mountains.…

  • Tough as nails: Actinotus helianthi

    Tough as nails: Actinotus helianthi

    It was bound to happen at some stage, I am beginning to double up on topics on my blog posts argh! it is slightly annoying but at the same time I am learning more about native plants all the time too 😉 I previously covered the Flannel Flower here :https://malleedesign.com.au/try-growing-actinotus-helianthi-its-too-easy/ and honestly believed that Actinotus…

  • Portfolio: Marrickville Sketch Design

    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…

  • Trialling Casuarina ‘Green Wave’

    Trialling Casuarina ‘Green Wave’

    I love Casuarinas, all of them, from ground covers through to trees, their rusty red hue when they are in flower or lush green shaggy habit. They are tough, versatile and very varied in their shapes and forms.  I discovered Casuarina glauca ‘Green Wave’ a couple of years ago, there wasn’t much information out about…

  • Walcott Garden: Canberra

    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…