Several weeks ago Don created a fantastic wheel of colour using a basic parterre design made of hedging plants which was then filled in with annuals. All the plants have grown and the display looks great, but in another year when the green hedge plants have doubled in...
Moorish Garden Inspired by the colours, shapes and the starkness of Spanish landscaping, the owners of a renovated Edwardian house in St Kilda decided they’d like a Moorish garden in their own yard. Using photographs in a book on Spanish gardens as a starting...
Cliff Garden John and Beth Craggs have proved beyond any doubt that it’s possible to transform a steep, rocky cliff face into a tropical resort style garden paradise. Twelve years ago they bought a one acre block at Clifton Springs on the Bellarine Peninsula,...
Parisian Rooftop Garden Don visited a unique warehouse apartment with a rambling rooftop garden and an outstanding view of the Sydney CBD. The owner, Robert Rigby, has been in the music business for many years and has recently joined Dainty Consolidated Entertainment...
Billabongs are crescent shaped sections of a river that were once part of the main channel but have been cut off by a shift in the river’s course. Natural billabongs underpin the biodiversity and health of our river systems. They teem with life, and provide...
Don’s Landscaping Tips: Adding interest to a Brick Wall Imagine looking out of the feature windows in your house and not being able to see anything, except a boring brick wall! Many people are actually finding themselves in this situation these days, because...
Don’s Landscaping Tips: Good Geometry The use of good geometry in garden design creates a spectacular formal courtyard in a small area. Matching the pinky-grey brick of the house with limestone pavers can give a natural looking backdrop for geometrically placed...
Don’s Landscaping Tips: Homeworld Hedges Even if you’re not thinking about building a house, display homes are great places to go and look for ideas. This applies to the outside of the property as well as the inside, as Don found when he visited Homeworld...
Don’s Landscaping Tips: Outdoor Entertainment Area For many years pergolas have been fashionable in Australian backyards, either freestanding or attached to the back of the house. In theory if you plant deciduous climbers they’ll grow over your pergola and...
All too often backyards have a boring sameness about them, but recently Don visited a garden which dares to be different. When designer John Happ first saw the house, he knew that it was important to choose a paving colour to complement the strong, mottled orange...