Two years ago, Graeme Greenhalgh designed this garden for a client who wanted to be reminded of her childhood in Papua New Guinea. It consists of two small courtyards packed with as many different lush, tropical foliage plants as possible. This modern-looking garden at first seems incongruous with an older style house, but Graeme explained that at the turn of the 20th century people liked to experiment and fill their gardens with exotic and curious plants, rather than mass planting single species. In keeping with that era, his design approach was to create almost a mini botanic garden.
Courtyard makeover
The two courtyards were excavated and enlarged, then the existing sandstone flagging was extended and new sandstone retaining walls were built. Along the wall of the house a subsurface drain was installed and topped with 20mm Nepean river pebbles, making the drain look aesthetically pleasing as well as being functional.
The west-facing back courtyard was filled with plants that thrive in hot sunshine, but the front garden contains more shade loving plants. On the day we visited a white bat plant (Tacca integrifolia) was in full flower. Bat plants have handsome foliage and strange, almost bizarre flowers resembling a bat’s black face with ears and long whiskers. They grow best in the tropics and subtropics. Outside these areas they can be grown in filtered light in a humid glasshouse or conservatory, with a minimum temperature of about 15°C (60°F).
Graeme made maximum use of available space by turning the front fence into a vertical garden, and covering it with orchids, Spanish moss, staghorns, elkhorns and bromeliads. A moon flower (Ipomoea alba) runs along the top of the fence. This evergreen, perennial vine has perfumed white flowers that open quickly at night, in as little as one minute. Moon flowers grow best in the warmer areas of Australia, but can be grown as annuals in cooler climates. They tend to become weedy in New South Wales.
A large cycad (Encephalartos senticosus) makes a bold, architectural statement in the front courtyard, and its sharp foliage is a deterrent to intruders wanting to jump the fence. This cycad is native to the Lebombo Mountains of northern KwaZulu-Natal and adjacent Swaziland. Once confused with the similar E. lebomboenis, it was recently described as a separate species by South African botanist, Piet Vorster. It grows about 4m (12′) tall and has recurved leaf tips and bright yellow to apricot cones.
The two courtyards are linked by a side passage carpeted with baby’s tears (Soleirolia soleirolii).
Further information
The garden was designed by:
Graeme Greenhalgh
Tropic of Sydney
141 Edgecliff Rd
Woollahra NSW
Phone: (02) 9369 1991