Plant Sourcing

A few weeks ago I worked on a project which involved sourcing some plants for a job I designed in Lesmurdie. I chose the stock by hand at two different wholesale nurseries to ensure quality and that the varieties were as close to ones I had specified as possible.


Left : Agonis flexuosa nana ( Weeping Form )
Right : Dianella ' Emerald Arch '
There were a few that weren't available, unhealthy or too small. This meant I had to choose an appropriate substitute. The plants are loaded onto trolleys then delivery was arranged for 2 days later.


Left : Correa ' Wins Wonder '
Right : Dianella ' Cassa Blue '
The brief for this planting scheme was low maintenance / water requirements. The site also had a bush setting on an escarpment meaning that natives were a must. Many of the species chosen are dwarf meaning they won't grow too tall and block views or require too much pruning.


Left : Acacia ' Honey Bun '
Right : Correa ' Wins Wonder '
Ground covers were used to reduce evaporation from the ground and discourage weeds. Plants were grouped densely to give an instant garden effect and reduce water wastage.


Acacia ' Honey Bun '
This Acacia grows 1.5m high by 1.5m wide and is a fairly new on the Perth plant scene.


Hardenbergia ' Purple Spray '
This Native Wisteria was hard ( pardon the pun ) to find. I think I bought the last of the stock at the time. This one was chosen as a ground cover for a sloped area where I imagine it will cascade down nicely. It is commonly used as a vine.


Left : Lomandra ' Tropic Belle '
This native grass grows to 1.5m high with sprays of pale yellow feathery flowers.


Lomandra ' Tanika '
A smaller growing Lomandra at 700mm with fine foliage.


Callistemon ' Endeavour '
This wasn't the plant I initially had in mind for a position in front of 2 -3m high wall. However I couldn't resist the profuse flowers and the height of these specimens. They should also be fast growing and soften the wall in no time.

There were more plants for this job than I've shown. The house has a modern Mediterranean feel so we used a lot of succulents ( Agaves, Mauritian Hemp, Echeveria ) as feature plants. There were also some advanced Frangipanis, Olive and Grass Trees. Stay tuned for photos of the finished job.

I'm finding that there is more demand for plant sourcing at the moment than design. For a job as big as this one a design is essential. For smaller jobs where the garden beds are already established I offer a 3 hour consultation to write up a Planting List which can then be used to quote and supply the plants. Please let me know if you're interested in this service.

Strange Garden Sightings

As the weather has improved we've been spending more time in the garden. Both gardening and more importantly relaxing. We had some relatives visit us from the UK last weekend and we spent the whole afternoon and evening in the garden. It's always refreshing when your garden puts on a show you weren't expecting.



My Draceana hookeriana is flowering! This is a definite first. At the moment it resembles asparagus but I'm hoping it will burst into something more attractive soon.



One of our beetroots has reached maturity. This is surprising because most of the vegetables that needed time to ripen were savaged by bugs before we got to enjoy them. Other vegetables we have had success with are lettuces, rocket,English spinach and baby carrots.



This little visitor flew in for an afternoon swim and crackers. We are used to seeing birds in our garden but a duck was a real novelty.





Once the sun went down the wind was quite chilly so we all sat around our ( recycled washing machine tub ) fire pit. It was Halloween so the kids had fun toasting marshmallows and playing with glow sticks. We have more family visiting us in December and we're looking forward to more days spent by the pool.

Northbridge Piazza

Saturday morning saw us heading into Northbridge for a Dim-Sum lunch at Northbridge Chinese Restaurant. We were pleasantly surprised to find that gone is the cliched out of date decor.It has had an interior makeover and is now quite modern.We didn't really need another reason to go there.


We arrived just before 10am to beat the rush, only to find it wasn't open yet. So we decided to go for a stroll. Northbridge is Perth's nightlife/cultural centre. It is a completely different place by day.I was excited to get a closer look at the recently streetscaped Northbridge Piazza.


This is a small part of a 3.9 million development by the City of Perth which is to include a giant LCD screen,performance stage and micro-brewery.The informal seats which glow bluish purple by night are white during the day.Kimberley stone has been used as both a paving and wall cladding giving the area a clean,uncomplicated look.


I like the way that the lawn has been mounded against a retaining wall here.This might have been a way to keep existing trees when the ground level surrounding them needed to be lowered.Too often trees are removed just to allow for ground level adjustments.


This green feature wall is 8m high and planted with vines.I really like the transperancy of these mesh panels that frame sections of the sky.






The street trees here are Gleditsia triacanthus 'Sun Burst'. I have a soft spot for these trees because my husband and I stood under one while we said our Wedding vows when it was just coming into leaf.We celebrated our two year anniversary last week.

Outdoor Fabrics

During my early morning blog reading today I came across a link to a fantastic website for Fab Outdoor Fabrics (courtesy of Belinda from The Happy Home)




The samples section is most helpful,offering suggestions for fabrics that coordinate well.There is a shipping fee of $10 to anywhere in Australia regardless of the quantity.

These are just some of the many beautiful fabrics available for outdoor cushions and lounge settings.Hmmm....I feel a project coming on!

Ornamental Grasses

Sometimes too much emphasis is placed on foliage and flower colour whilst choosing plants. Often it is their texture which is their best attribute. Here are some grasses with a 'soft and fuzzy' appearance.

Purple Fountain Grass
Pennisetum
This is available as an Australian variety (alopecuroides) and exotic (advena rubrum, setaceum rubrum ). Exotic varieties of this plant can become invasive in bushland areas. Listed as a weed in some states

Lomandra
longiflolia 'Tanika'
This Australian native grows to 600mm high in the sun or part shade

Lomandra
'Seascape'
Great for mass plantings where a blue/grey foliage is required


Poa
poiformis 'Courtney'
Native 500mm tall ornamental grass

Festuca
glauca
European blue/grey 300mm cushion forming grass

Carex
'Frosted Curls'
This 400-500mm weeping grass originated in New Zealand.

Carex
testacea
An orange/brown variety

Coraline's Garden

This movie is a must see for gardening enthusiasts. Coraline's parents are gardening journalists who don't garden and dislike dirt ( the irony of this wasn't lost on me ). When she visits her 'other world ' they have created the most amazing garden of glowing magical flowers. There is a cherry blossom orchard made of pink popcorn! Meet one of the animators responible for this masterpiece :




I'm going to cut this post short and go and do some REAL gardening!

Sneak Preview

Here are a few glimpses of a recently built garden renovation that I designed for friends of ours. This project will be featured on my website soon so stay tuned to see more of it.

Front Garden :

There was a two metre slope down from the level of the house to the verge meaning that some serious retaining walls were required.

This was an existing Umbrella tree which we accommodated into the deck. My friend was given the title of 'tree hugger' by her husband for wanting to keep this tree. All of the decking for this job was done by another friend of ours who is a handyman by trade.

Transplanted Agaves in stone cladded Planter Box.

We chose to put the steps off to the side to create an open arc of lawn on the top level. Jarrah sleepers we used for these angular steps for some variety in materials.

Back Garden :The back garden was split into two levels without a means of easily moving between them. To solve this issue we created an intermediate level in the form of a deck. This also made a platform from which an existing pond could be enjoyed.

Timber Gates were added to match the Batu Decking.This house also underwent a complete interior renovation,outside painting,rendering and roof restoration.Our friends added a two car garage too.Their house has just sold for a record price in their suburb. I'm glad all of the hard work and effort they put in has paid off.