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The latest trend sweeping Australian backyards is the creation of fantasy gardens. Often overseas travel provides the inspiration, then people return home and make their gardens over as a way of keeping those happy holiday memories alive. Many backyards are now pure...
Moran Garden The Moran house and garden was designed in 1925 by Harold Desbrowe Annear, a towering figure in the history of Australian architecture. The building is a mix of classical and baroque elements, while the garden has an Italian and Mediterranean influence....
Natural Rock Swimming Pool Once swimming pools were boring, rectangular things in the backyard, but now innovative designers are creating pools that are not only stylish, but also water wonderlands for children. Don visited the Wynne family and looked at their...
For the last five years or so, weekends have been very special for Fairfield businessman Aldo Pecora. Every Sunday he rises at the crack of dawn, goes outside and begins work on his hobby. Aldo is an expert topiarist, and spends hours carefully trimming and pruning...
Caroline and Jack Linschoten are passionate about Bali, where they’ve had many wonderful holidays over the past ten years. They’ve brought back everything from woodcarvings and candlestick holders through to masks, handmade furniture and stone statues....
Olives Many Australians picture the beautiful olive groves throughout Mediterranean areas such as Spain, Italy and Greece, and dream of planting olives and making a fortune. Australia does have the potential to develop a successful olive industry, but there are some...
Kitchen Vegie Garden The son of a female convict, William Charles Wentworth was born in New South Wales in 1790. He became famous in 1813 when, along with Gregory Blaxland and Lieutenant William Lawson, he found a way across the Blue Mountains. This discovery gave the...
Matching Plants to Pots Don visited Michele Shennen’s Willoughby Garden Centre and chatted to Michele about the very latest trends in pots. Michele explained that new ranges of pots are being imported from all over the world these days, giving...
While we all dream of the perfect garden filled with beautiful, exotic flowering plants, the reality is that plants in many gardens don’t perform and often drop dead. Even worse, they don’t die quickly, but linger on for years looking half dead. What to...
Mulching depth If your garden is mulched but you are still having problems with weeds growing through, you probably haven’t applied the mulch correctly. Mulch needs to be at least 75-100mm (3-4″) deep to control weeds. It is very important to mulch your...