Don received a letter from Sandra Price, asking for help. Sandra’s flat faces the street, and as the garden is below street level there is no privacy from passers-by. She explained that she loves Parisian-style gardens filled with citrus, colour and fragrance....
For some time, Liz and Brett Summerell have collected interesting, second-hand Australian bush relics. Recently they decided to do something with them. After much thought and discussion, they decided to create a ‘bush hut’ on their property, as a home away...
Judi and John Denton live in the Adelaide Hills. Their garden design shows a modern approach that reflects the contemporary design of the house. This interesting garden features evergreen plants as structural elements, bold mass planting, soft grey-green foliage and...
Beverly Duncan wrote to Don asking for ideas on screening a very exposed deck. All the plants she had tried to grow there had died. Don thought that Beverly’s urn-shaped terracotta pots were part of the problem. Terracotta pots act like blotting paper, drawing...
With a few simple steps, Don showed how to transform plastic ‘jelly’ carry bags into sensational pots for plants. You’ll need: jelly bagsbuttonsgalvanised tie wirecordless drillruler or measuring tapepen/markerpotting mixplants How it was done: 1.Don...
This garden at a terrace house in Paddington, Sydney, was planted only three months ago. Designer Ted Whitley chose a clever mix of colourful natives, exotics, grasses and succulents with strong contrasting foliage. These hardy plants require a minimum of watering....
Don visited the Golden Wheel Buddhist Retreat at Galston, in the northern suburbs of Sydney. The Asian-inspired garden is only six years old, but already it is one of the better gardens in Australia. It surrounds a Buddhist Temple where members of the Australian...
There are hundreds of sensational Australian native plants available to home gardeners these days, so it’s not surprising that they’re undergoing a whole new wave of popularity. Natives first rose to prominence through the 1960s and 70s, but quite a few of...
Don looked at a modern Australian garden featuring a stunning and unusual combination of plants. It was designed by Ted Whitley, who has broken away from the predictable landscaping plants so often used by garden designers these days. Instead, Ted designed a very low...
It is not often that we can see a ‘grand’ garden in its infancy. Don visited Siena, a new garden in the Southern Highlands with stunning views. Planted 4-5 years ago by Ali Mentesh, the garden covers an area of 15 acres. It is well-structured and mainly...