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What to Plant for Poorly Drained Soils
Wet Weather Gardening After yet more rain on the east coast many plants in many gardens are suffering water-logging. Even in reasonably well drained soils the inundation has been too much for some plants. Physically, the force of rain, streams and puddles of water have caused their own damage and with the increased humidity comes…
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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 home but also a welcoming garden on arrival home from work. The new native garden…
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Portfolio: Gardening in Wind
This is my sisters garden on ‘Windy Hill’ as we like to call it, it gets so windy here the rubbish bins get blown down the street, gates are blown off their hinges and plants find it tough! Her front garden bears the brunt of the Westerlies and southerlies and used to be bare lawn…
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To clip or not to clip …
Sometimes I find native gardens lack a little….structure. Its lovely to have a bush style garden with lots of flowing foliage and a naturalistic feel, however I am a big fan of breaking that up with some stronger forms which can often brighten up the planting and give an extra eye catching edge. In the…
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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 been in for a couple of years and benefitted greatly from our recent wet Summer.…
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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 a relaxing outdoor space which can be utilised more often by critters and humans alike.…
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Happy little inner city garden: Leichhardt Garden Design
This small garden in the inner west of Sydney is actually quite generous, there is room for lawn, a studio and a seperate outdoor eating area. This means there is also room for lots of different native plants! Hooray! we planted for year round flower, colour, foliage contrast, texture and wildlife habitat. There is something…
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Portfolio: Garden Design West Wollongong
This front garden in West Wollongong was created to function as a place for peaceful relaxation and observation, it also needed to have careful consideration in regards to levels and access to the front gate and letterbox. Originally the front garden was an awkward, uninteresting space filled with easy to grow green plants, that was…
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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…
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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…
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Bundeena Garden Design: Update
Last week I made a quick visit to one of my favourite gardens in Bundeena and snapped some photos before the sun went down. The first is of Anigozanthos ‘Landscape Lilac’. A few months ago I plant 12 each of Angus Stewarts new Kangaroo Paws ‘Landcape Lime’ and ‘Landscape Lilac’ in this garden and they…
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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…
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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…
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Portfolio: Bundeena Re-visited
We really, really love our garden and are so happy to spend time in it… When I walked up to the front gate of this garden last week I must admit I was quite moved, moved by how settled the plants looked, moved by the quick growth and the way the garden is beginning…