In the Garden

Tropical Lagoon Garden Burke’s Backyard viewers often write in and ask for tips and ideas on landscaping effectively around a swimming pool. In our segment Don looked at a wonderful example of a pool garden in Balmoral, Queensland. It was designed by Phillip...

Tugurium Stephen Ryan and Craig Lidgerwood showed Don around ‘Tugurium’, their cool climate garden at Macedon in Victoria. Many Victorian’s know Stephen as a gardening author and broadcaster, as well as a nursery owner. He is the proprietor of...

War of the Roses Gardens are often restful places where people can relax, take a break from the stresses of everyday life and be at one with nature. However, when Don visited the Melbourne home of Joanne and Mark Hosie, he found that the peace and quiet was disrupted...

Sue Tapping dreamed of having a waterfall in the garden, so Wayne, her husband, spent 10 months building a magnificent water feature in their backyard. It is constructed on three levels, with water cascading down in stages from top to bottom. Wayne built the pools...

Rob Piller wrote to tell us about the novel way his father, Henk, has covered his inground pool to provide more usable space in the backyard. Rob, the youngest of Henk and Wilma Piller’s children, left home in 1985. Henk has been maintaining the pool ever since,...

The work of renowned Australian landscape designer, Paul Bangay, has often been shown on Burke’s Backyard. For this week’s program, Don travelled 70 kms north-west of Melbourne to Woodend, where Paul is creating his own country garden. The 1.2ha (3 acre)...

Red and Gold Makeover In this fun makeover, Don demonstrated how to use colourful foliage plants to complement the colours on a house. The roof of the little cottage was red, and the walls were painted a yellowish colour. The front garden (actually a huge...

Sam and Dianne’s Garden Dianne and Sam Chi have lovingly developed their 2-hectare (5 acre) garden over the past 21 years. Today it is a wonderful blend of both English and oriental influences. It features sweeping lawns, ponds, fountains, a large ornamental...

Spaceship Garden Dallas Kampe finished building his house in 1985. At that time the garden was bare, except for a few wattle trees growing on the property. Inspired by his love of tropical gardens and several trips to South-East Asia, Dallas began collecting plants...

Teese Garden Nurseryman, Barry Teese, showed Don around his garden, which is set amongst the rolling green hills of an Angus cattle farm. This beautiful garden owes its success to good drainage and the selection of reliable plants for cold and wet winters. As a...