There are only two ways to create a garden. In a world where nothing seems simple it is hard to imagine this can be true, but to some extent it is. It is difficult to argue that a well-designed garden is not a work of art but if it is a type of art then […]
There is much more to silver plants than just being good in the heat; there is something of a sense of elegance and sophistication that accompanies silver foliage. Understanding silver plants is to understand that not all plants are green and that there is a big wide world of plants out there. Silver, like white, […]
Working in a large garden a few years ago something suddenly struck me. Skilled gardening is at its best something like judo. In Japanese judo translates as ‘gentleness art’ and is based on the traditional Japanese system of unarmed self-defence perfected by the samurai and uses minimum force to overcome the power of an opponent. […]
Choose well, prune properly and you are eighty percent of the way to scoring a goal. Can we make beautiful gardens with Australian natives in northern Victoria? Yes we can, but as with all other garden plants it is much better if we know which ones to choose and how to manage them. Times have […]
If you want to paint a picture with landscape plants then the ‘big brush’ on the palette has to be ornamental trees with autumn colour. If you are not sure how big a brush this is then imagine a good sized golden ash and you will be looking at a plant with between 150,000 and […]
The right type of simple pruning might save you a lot of heartache and thousands of dollars in years to come. Formative pruning is a term used for training a plant to become the shape or style or way you want while it is still young and growing. Formative pruning requires you to know how […]
It is autumn but not just because it is April but because the plants are telling us. Deciduous trees are showing hints of colour in the leaves and warm seasons grasses like Kikuyu and Buffalo are only growing spasmodically now that the days are running out of heat and light. Soon we will have more […]
What a great thing to be asked this week to recommend trees for a project. It might be too early but I’m going to say ‘Trees are back!’ The simplicity of ‘treescapes’ has appeal to owners of gardens who require a low maintenance landscape but what appeals to me is that a simple tree in […]
It is the end of daylight savings and we have beautiful autumn weather in Northern Victoria This is the type of weather that should make the news, not the summer heat but these beautiful warm sunny autumn days and cool nights. The light is softer and the low sunlight makes the gum trees light up […]
Cones versus kernels. I recently cut a simple noughts and crosses board into one of the landscape rocks in an area for younger children. Marked out with a square and cut with a diamond blade on an angle grinder it is simple and easy and will last forever. Picking up and using natural objects from […]
