Building a garden is one of the most satisfying things you’ll ever do. Don’t be overwhelmed by the task. A fairly ordinary backyard can be turned into a colourful and interesting garden using a little imagination and a few tricks. The makeover On...
Bird’s Nest or Crow’s Nest ferns (Asplenium australasicum) are lovely plants which are easy to use in the garden. Don Burke suggests using them creatively in a jungle setting. Experiment at the local nursery by mixing around the ferns with some different...
Burke’s Backyard recently visited the garden of Gitta and Gunther Rembel. Situated in bushland, it was designed with a series of walled, courtyard gardens preserving and blending with the native vegetation as well as creating separate garden rooms. The walls...
Owner, Peter Wannan, has taken huge risks in designing his inner city house and garden. The result is brilliantly successful. East meets west design The extraordinary house and garden is a mixture of elements including Greek and Roman statues, blackamoors, Balinese...
Built in the 1853, Clifton is a bluestone homestead set in a traditional English garden with many established trees and an extensive spread of manicured lawns. The garden Jock and Jill Whiting began work on the two acre garden in the late 1980s and have created a...
Burke’s Backyard visited an example of colourful inner city living in a series of individual townhouses in Sydney with an innovative landscape. The townhouses incorporate a pedestrian street with a communal garden along the street. Car parking is underground,...
Decks are a classic part of the Australian home whereby you can enjoy the outdoors but still have the convenience of being close to the house. Often, however their poor design does not encourage one to use them to their potential. The Burke’s Backyard team...
Elevated decks are common in Australian homes but creating a garden underneath the deck can be challenging to the average gardener. Dry and shady conditions limit the range of plants which can be grown and people often make the mistake of trying to incorporate too...
Don visited a suburban back garden which was looking like a dust bowl disaster and was in need of a complete renovation. The main existing problems were: retaining wall without drainage and weep holes which allowed the area behind to become waterlogged during wet...
Australian gardens in the 1950s and 1960s were simple areas of lawn with few interesting plants. These days gardens have become places of fantasy where people create a bit of theatre in the backyard. Australians are amongst the biggest travellers throughout the world...