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Gardening with 2nds
I like re-cycling, myself and my family are usually dressed from the op-shop, I use every opportunity to re-cycle building materials around the garden and think nothing of going through the kerb side household clean-ups, therefore I am a big fan of rummaging through the half price plant areas in nurseries. Often these are tables…
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Native Lawn Substitute: Dichondra repens
I paid a visit to one of my old garden designs last week and discovered that since I had last seen the garden it has become completely lawn free, as in grass lawn. The owner has been busily dividing up tube stock of Dichondra repens in order to give him green pathways throughout the garden,…
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Blue Tongue: Melastoma affine
This showy little shrub is Melastoma affine or Native Lasiandra, it really does look like a dwarf form of the incredibly popular south American Tibouchina, which lights up the streets of many inner western Sydney suburbs. However, this is not only an Australian native Lasiandra but is also a bush food. After the flowers finish…
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Another Favourite Grafted Grevillea: Grevillea candelabra ‘Pink’
Grevillea candelabra Grafted is another grafted Grevillea that I am rather fond of, it is not as showy or unusual as some of the other grafted species, but it has proven to be an incredibly versatile and useful plant for me time and again. There are a Pink and a White form both of which…
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Shade Tolerant Grevillea: Grevillea oleoides
There aren’t that many Grevilleas that grow well in shade, let alone also flower in positions with limited sun. Grevillea oleoides is one of them, along with Grevillea sericea, sherissii and rhyolitica then you have a small group of faithfully. I love the shape of oleo ides the best though, it is un-usual how the…
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Myoporum Lawn: Myoporum parvifolium
I dislike lawn, not the idea of it but the maintenance aspect; mowing and edging, weeding and watering, fertilising and aerating, all this for a bit of green open space. I do like the idea of ‘green open space’ where you can lay down in the sun or do cartwheels or set up a trampoline or…
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Shady Winter Purple: Hovea acutifolia
Hovea acutifolia always takes my breath away when I see it in full bloom, it is quite something. For most of the year it is an almost nondescript medium sized shrub that is useful for filling shady spots in the garden. Then BAM it covers itself in these happy little purple flowers that are almost…
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Portfolio: Crows Nest Garden Design
This garden in Crows Nest was designed at the beginning of last year and has been slowly and steadily taking shape. It is being lovingly built by the owner on weekends and through his careful attention and patience it will be a great success. However, unfinished as it is I couldn’t resist posting a few…
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Soft, Luscious Screen: Acacia fimbriata Dwarf
Acacia fimbriata Dwarf has a puffy sort of look to it from a distance, it is a full bushy shrub with a cloud-like texture. One of the most useful plants that I use in a landscape, as it has enough interest to stand on its own by contrasting with other foliage and form around it…
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The Temperamentally Fruiting Plume Pine: Podocarpus elatus
I am always excited when I get to taste a new bush tucker food, these Australian native plant foods seem to get a fairly bad rap when it comes to flavour and usually I am pleasantly surprised when something ends up being quite palatable and occasionally delicious! Therefore it was fantastic to find a Podocarpus…
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Ode to Banksia spinulosa
Banksia’s may possibly be my favourite Genus of Native plants and this particular species could well be top of that list. I was at a clients garden this afternoon and we were lovingly looking at his Banksia spinulosa and stroking the new growth and commenting on what a wonderful plant it is. There is something…
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Correa Tangent
Seeing as I have started on the topic of Correas I thought I may as well continue, here is another of my very favourite Correas that is such a useful plant in the landscape. Correa baeuerlenii or Chef’s Hat Correa is found naturally growing on the south coast of NSW on shady, damp sites, therefore it…
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Low Shrubbery: Acacia howittii ‘Honey Bun’
I have had my eye on this little dwarf form of Acacia for a few years now, it isn’t as common as some of the Acacia cognata dwarfs, which is one of the reasons it appeals to me. This is Acacia howittii ‘Honey Bun’ and it is an incredibly pretty and useful low shrub, suitable for…
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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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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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Wonderful Street Trees: Backhousia citriodora
I was driving through Huntershill and onto Ryde yesterday and I was overjoyed to see the most wonderful sight, rows upon rows of Lemon Myrtle in full bloom, planted out in the streets. Finally! a council using its head when it comes to street trees! I know it is not the only one, I have…
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Portfolio: Consult Figtree
I have been busy this week planting out a consult design in Wollongong, it has been very satisfying cleaning up an aged garden, digging up weeds and tree roots and planting fresh natives. The bones of the garden were already there, pathways, existing large trees and a brand new renovation and deck, what was needed…
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Bush Tucker Under-Dog: Dianella caerulea
This season is the first time I have had a decent flush of fruit on my Dianella caerulea and I have been pleasantly surprised by the taste, although it doesn’t hit the same spot as the midyim berry, it is actually tasty enough for me to pick and munch on whilst in the garden.
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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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Shady Lilly Pilly: Syzygium wilsonii
There are so many Lilly Pillys around, different cultivars, that apparently grow faster, thicker, thinner, redder and so on, they are used for hedging everywhere (which is great, far better than Murraya) and can be a little over done. This one is Syzygium wilsonii and it is amazing for a few reasons, firstly it has…
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Plum Bush Tucker: Davidsonia pruiens
This is the Davidsons Plum (Davidsonia pruiens) sending out its flower spikes, getting ready to cover itself in juicy, tart plums YUM. I saw this one in a clients rainforest garden and it was very striking, each of those like pinky and yellow flowers will turn into one of the most famous bushtucker fruits. However…
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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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Delicate Tea Trees: Leptospermum ‘Cardwell’
I love tea trees or Leptospermums, I’m not sure what it is about them that appeals to me so much. Perhaps their soft weeping foliage or the way they can get absolutely covered in flowers so much so that you can hardly see their leaves from a distance. And the flowers are showy, individually they…
Tag: clay soils