Making the most of your outdoor spaces
In the Dandenongs near Melbourne is a magical garden in which you almost expect to see the fairies appear. The garden is over 100 years old. Garden history This garden was established in the 1870s by Thomas and John Cole, pioneering nurserymen who are reported to have...
Gardening is a pastime for all age groups. At Ferny Creek, in the Dandenongs near Melbourne, Don Burke visited Alf and Meg Steel, a couple in their eighties who spend their days in a garden of colour. These keen gardeners admit that their weakness is an inability to...
Burke’s Backyard visited a beautiful 1.2ha (3 acre) garden in which the natural bushland blends successfully with Australian natives. The property, at Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains, is the home of John and Jill Gaibor, the former owners of Gaibor’s...
Herbie and Esme Kramhoft invited the Burke’s Backyard team to come and pay them a visit. Herbie was born in Germany and migrated to Australia in 1952. He and Esme have been married for forty odd years. When they first bought their house it was a little fibro...
Of all the large gardens in Australia, Kennerton Green at Mittagong in the New South Wales Southern Highlands is one of the very best. This magnificent garden has had a succession of owners, in fact Burke’s Backyard first visited in 1988 when it was briefly...
[metaslider id=31329] Gardenias are an outstanding flowering shrub with an exquisite perfume that creates a magical, romantic atmosphere in the garden. They flower at their best in the warmer months of the year usually from November to May. Their large creamy...
The use of purple foliage in the garden is one of the more difficult things to get right. But it can be a breath of fresh air from the straight green gardens and the key to using purple is to plant more of it. If you only plant one Berberis or Purple Japanese maple in...
Fact Sheet: Hydrangeas Hydrangeas are wonderful, hardy shrubs that would certainly have to be included on a list of the ten best flowering plants in the world. Some people remember hydrangeas growing in their grandmother’s garden, and think of them as old...
Darrin and Kiersten Jones recently renovated their 50 year old home on Sydney’s northern beaches. Although the house was finished they didn’t know what to do with the garden so the Blitz team stepped in. Darrin, Kiersten and their two...
Jumbunna Garden Don spoke to Paul Blackman about the garden he designed around an old house in the Jumbunna area of southeast Victoria. Paul’s brief was to create a pleasure garden, and so he set about filling the space with tranquil ‘micro worlds’,...