Don Burke and his makeover team turned a storm-damaged backyard into a wonderful French-flavoured country-style hobby farm, complete with rustic chook house, potager vegie patch and lots of lovely old bric-a-brac. The fabulous ‘aged’ look takes the owner’s love of...
After watching our program on the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, Jenny Morris fell in love with the new ‘Maggie’ rose. She sent Don an email asking how to incorporate a rose plot into her existing native garden without it looking...
Jubilee Garden nestles at the foot of Mount Wellington in Hobart. On the day Burke’s Backyard visited, the garden was a blaze of autumn colour. This is not a cutting edge, modern garden. The owners, Joy Stones and Ted Cutlan, have filled their garden with...
A Burke’s Backyard viewer emailed Don to ask if there were any plants suitable for an apartment balcony exposed to extreme seasonal conditions. Don visited the viewer during a recent trip to Melbourne. He created a potted garden using spineless yucca (Yucca...
Don visited the Bonsai Village, Omiya, Saitama Prefecture, where many of the top Japanese bonsai artists live. He felt very privileged to meet Mr Saburo Kato, the most famous bonsai artist in the village, and speak to him about his extraordinary creations. The Village...
Cloudehill is at Olinda in the Dandenongs, about an hour’s drive from Melbourne. Burke’s Backyard has made a point of visiting this spectacular garden over a number of years, and talking to owner Jeremy Francis. At Cloudehill Jeremy combines modern,...
Australia has some wonderful native birdlife and there are many ways to encourage our feathered friends into our gardens. Don recently asked bird expert Graham Pizzey for some clues on which native garden plants are attractive to birds. By choosing your plants...
Australian native gardens have a reputation for being straggly, grey, and even ugly. However it is possible to plant a beautiful garden of Australian native plants on even a small suburban block. ‘Burke’s Backyard’ visited the garden of artist Betty...
We took that classic backyard disaster area, the disused driveway on the side of the house, and transformed it into a tropical jungle fantasy garden complete with ponds, a waterfall, colourful plants, a boardwalk and a suspension bridge. The progression of this...
At the front of Rainbow Ridge Nursery (see ‘New books’ this week) is an unusual hedge. Rather than just a straight row of plants this hedge appears to be plaited together or knotted as if made with a knotted cord. The design is based on a traditional...