#Themeda 'Mingo'

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Portfolio: St Ives Landscape Design

This garden in the leafy north shore suburb of St Ives was designed last year and built only 7 months ago. Part of the brief for this garden was to have plenty of year round flowers for bees and birds and given these photos have been taken in Winter, one of the most difficult seasons for capturing flowering plants I was happy to see many species out in bloom already.

Chrysocephalum apiculatum

The front garden was originally a large expanse of lawn with a deciduous Maple and some low buxom hedge. The clients wanted the complete opposite!

In the image above you can see the before garden and in the image below the after…

The lawn was removed and the gently sloping garden divided up to create 3 more manageable and useable levels.

As you step in the front gate there in a low hedge of Acacia fimbriata Dwarf ‘Crimson Blush’ which will screen the fence from the house.

The first level is an open space created to allow for an extra parking space and turning circle when parking in the car pot. This is decomposed crushed granite Deco Gold which has been planted into to blur the lines between the garden beds and hard space.

The middle level is mulch and planted out with native ground covers, shrubs and two feature trees, and houses a sandstone plinth birdbath.

The middle level will also house some bee hives in the sunny north facing spot on the boundary surrounded by tea trees.

The lowest level which leads to the house entrance is paved in sandstone flagging with two curved cortex steel edged curved garden beds framing the pathway.

Grated Grevilleas have been used as feature plants close to the house with two grated standards providing a formal element to the garden which harks back to many gardens in the area.

Grafted Standard Grevilleas

The grafted standard Grevilleas tie in well with the clipped Camellia hedge behind 😉

I am so happy with the way the grasses and ground covers have already begun to spill over the sandstone boulders.

The rear garden was designed at the same time as the front but wasn’t completed until earlier this year. This is a very shady garden which is over shadowed by neighbouring trees.

The original garden was mainly lawn with a very large Fraxinus. The clients wanted to introduce as many native species as possible to encourage wildlife into the garden.

A small fire pit area was created in the rear flat corner and the large tree removed.

The Plectranthus argentatus ‘Silver Shield’ is doing a wonderful job of quickly filling in the space and flowering its head off in the shade.

And last but not least the garden street frontage is lined with a low hedge of Grevillea ‘Winter Delight’. This can be hedged in a typical north shore fashion or left to spill over the footpath, either way it attracts attention to the modern native garden which lies behind the white picket fence!

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Portfolio: Stanmore Landscape Design

This small garden in the inner west of Sydney is a sight to behold after the recent rains. It is hard to believe that most of these plants have only been in for 6 months, that is the beauty of gardening with native grasses, they fill out so quickly and provide structure and form in a new garden almost immediately.

This garden is basically unrecognisable from my initial site visit, there were a group of Blueberry Ash dominating much of the space and wreaking havoc with the plumbing.

The entire rear garden was in almost full shade and it was time to to open it up and start again.

The garden is sloped towards the rear lane and some gentle sandstone retaining walls were designed to create a level open space for reading and observation.

A local Eucalyptus species has been planted for Summer shade along with a couple of local Sydney Acacias (Acacia fimbriata and Acacia falcata). The client is an Ecologist with a deep love of the local native flora and fauna and wanted a garden which would supply wildlife with food and habitat in the inner city.

The lower levels of the garden have been given over to dense plantings of shrubs and ground cover species, to provide a safe haven for lizards, frogs and small birds.

In the image above you can see a mixture of Indigofera australis, Pomaderris lanignosa, Westringia ‘Zena’ and the local Pratia species.

The use of plenty of native grasses is very important when try to encourage local wildlife. They also create a soft relaxed feeling in the garden and work extremely well in small gardens with their fine weeping foliage.

However, the standout plant for me in this garden is the Pomaderris lanignosa, I love the large furry leaves and bright rust coloured stems. It makes a great feature shrubs set against the deeper greens and greys in this planting palette.

The recycled paver pathway curves through the small space leading the eye to the rear boundary. The border planting is softening the curves even further as it winds down the small slope.

This garden was lovingly built by Mitch from Ocean Landscapes, thank you!

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Portfolio: Northmead Garden Design

I was lucky enough to be asked back for some follow up advice for this charming native habitat garden in the out suburbs of Sydney today. The renovations are finally over and the garden hasn’t faired too badly with all the coming and going. This property is located backing onto bushland which in times of rain slopes down to a decent sized waterway.

Black cyclone mesh fencing has been used to keep the connection to the rear bushland as open as possible and although the rear garden is modest in size when you are on the back deck you feel like you are on a bush block.

And this garden really has been built for the birds, as the initial planting was undertaken a few year ago, things are starting to fill out and the intention to create a garden full of dense, habitat plants is beginning to take form.

The garden bed adjacent to the bushland reserve is very steep, sandstone steps have been installed to gain access to the birdbaths and rear gate.

The bank has been planted out with Kennedia prostrata or Running Postman which is living up top its name and densely covering anywhere it can 😉 above the Kennedia you can see a bank of Grevillea sericea which on closer inspection were covered with bees.

Other star performers on the steep slope are Banksia ‘Roller Coaster’, Acacia baileyana Prostrate, Themeda ‘Mingo’ and Leucopogon juniperinus.

Acacia fimgriata Dwarf is used as screening to the neighbours fence and was also providing plenty of food for the bees. The front garden is filling out nicely and has been complemented with the addition of a very appropriate letterbox, of which I am quite jealous.

  The star performers in the front garden are the Grevillea flexuosa Grafted, Eremophila Nivea Grafted and the Grevillea ‘Dorothy Gordon’.

The flower colour combinations are mainly pinks and purples and I kept the foliage and flower colours soft to create a cooling effect to quite a built up streetscape.

The front garden is dominated by a striking large Melaleuca which is home to a pair of Crested pigeons and provides the house with some privacy from the street. The garden bed runs along the front of the house on the south side and therefore parts of it only get sporadic sun.

In the image above you can see Eremophila Nivea Grafted with Prostanthera ‘Minty’ and Grevillea flexuosa Grafted, both the Prostanthera and the Grevillea are strongly perfumed helping to attract plenty of pollinators the garden.

I love the combination of Westringia ‘Smokey’ with Grevillea ‘Dorothy Gordon’, the silver of the coast rosemary sets off the bronze new growth of the Grevillea perfectly. There will be some additions to the garden over the next couple of months in order to ensure the density of shrubs is there to provide habitat to the smaller birds that live in the reserve behind. Hopefully upon my next visit they will have moved in and call this little haven home.

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Portfolio: Garden Design Lilyfield

This is the tiny front garden of a small cottage in Lilyfield that was planted out about about 2 years ago, during that time it has flourished! Providing well needed privacy from the street and adding a lovely sense of arrival as you step off the pavement.

The feature screening tree is a grafted Dwarf form of Eucalyptus citriodora, chosen for its dense weeping habit, strongly scented leaves and beautiful clean white trunk.

It provides scent in the evening and when it rains and also when brushed past, this specimen is narrow and will eventually grow up to be viewed from the upstairs window.

A low mixed hedge of Acacia ‘Honeybun’ and Banksia ‘Honey Pots’ fill the garden beds on either side of the entrance path, adding texture and contrast.

They are also spilling over onto the front porch and peeking through the fence, which I love. We also planted out the small nature strip garden under the existing Callistemon with Themeda ‘True Blue’, Anigozanthos ‘Landscape Lime’ and Themeda ‘Mingo’.

This planting was repeated in the small driveway mixed with some Chrysocephalum apiculatum, which can be walked or parked on if need be.

An Acacia cognata was planted in a difficult south facing side area, to screen the neighbours wall, it has thrived in this heavily shaded position. Plectranthus argentatus was planted as a border along the house to add contrast and cover the unsightly piers.

Given the tiny spaces in this garden I am overjoyed with the way the selected plants have created a uniquely Australian feel to the entrance. I hope the owners are enjoying spending time on their front porch a whole lot more!

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Portfolio: Garden Design West Wollongong

This front garden in West Wollongong was created to function as a place for peaceful relaxation and observation, it also needed to have careful consideration in regards to levels and access to the front gate and letterbox. Originally the front garden was an awkward, uninteresting space filled with easy to grow green plants, that was completely un-useable, due largely to the steep slope.

The client wanted to have a level place to sit and look out over the garden and the Illawarra Escarpment beyond, without being exposed to traffic from the street and passers by on the oval.

The steps needed to be stable leading up to the front door from the entrance pergola, it was also very important to include year round colour through foliage contrast and flowers to attract birds and bees.

A seating nook was created using crushed decomposed granite at the bottom of the new decked stairs, this space is just big enough to house a bench seat while still providing enough space for plants to grow up and give privacy and create a sense of sitting “in” the garden.

To be able to have a large level area in the garden one raised corten steel garden bed was built directly in front of the house and another garden bed dropped, using sandstone boulders in front of the fence. The level changes have worked well, the plants are filling the garden beds in nicely after only 6 months of being in the ground. An area of clear gravel was left in front of the old drive way gates, this serves mainly as an easy surface for bringing the bins in and out. However further down the track this can also be utilised for parking if need be.

The steps have been filled with a pours paving product from Stoneset, this is gravel set in a resin and means the steps are amazingly solid like concrete yet they look  soft and blend in well with the other natural hardscape materials.

Some of the star performers in this garden so far are the Scaevola ‘White Carpet’ seen above cascading over the Corten garden edge with the Poa ‘Kingsdale’ in the background.

The Ceratopetalum ‘Johannas Xmas’ is flowering beautifully and of course my favourites, Casuarina ‘Green Wave’, Acacia ‘Mini Cog’ and Themeda ‘Mingo’ are shaping up nicely in the image below.

Overall I am very pleased with this garden, there were many constraints within a small space and I feel it has pulled together in a harmonious way and will only continue to soften and mellow, creating the requested tranquility.

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Portfolio: Garden Design Lewisham

This garden in Lewisham was built in early spring of 2016 so is roughly 6 months old at the time these images were taken. It is a special garden that was part of a new renovation and was considered very early on by the clients and architect. In the image below you can see what it looked like on my fist site visit.

A big pile of soil! There was a lot of work to be done, the clients wanted to feel like they were steeping into a little bit of ‘bush’ in the inner west. I used lots of different textures and layers to create a garden that will end up feeling dense even though in reality the garden beds are quite shallow.

The taller grey leaved Eucalypts in the image above are Eucalyptus ‘Euky Dwarf’ they will grow up a few metres and create a light canopy around the circle of lawn.

For the medium sized shrubs to cover the fence I used Casuarina ‘Green Wave’, Acacia ‘Little Nugget’ and Leptspermum brachyandrum ‘Silver’.

On the other side as a feature tree I planted Eucalyptus citriodora ‘Scentuous’, a dwarf grafted form of the lemon scented gum. On either side as fence screening you can see Grevillea ‘Moonlight’ and Angophora hispida.

There is plenty of foliage contrast in greys and greens with Poa ‘Kingsdale’, Themeda ‘Mingo’ and Rhagodia spinescens ‘Silver Border’.

The lawn circle is bordered with a scaled corten steel raised edge, the neighbours rear shed also makes a lovely backdrop for the native planting.

The deck is stepped down with an off-form concrete retaining wall that also doubles as a bench seat.

In the image above you can see how nestled into the garden the house will become with the clever level changes.

There is an important courtyard light well inside that was planted out with Xanthorrhoea johnsonii and Banksia ‘Coastal Cushions’ with a large Banksia plagiocarpa that will eventually just reach the bedroom windows on the first floor.

This courtyard is a wonderful sun trap in winter with space for outdoor seating on the recycled brick paving. In summer all the sliding doors can be opened to allow for breezes to flow throughout the house.

The front garden is a very simple dense planting of grasses, dwarf grevilleas and Banksia spinulosa. There is a large deciduous street tree which blocks much needed sun and all the plants needed to survive in part to heavy shade.

The client was after a very informal look to the front garden so it has been kept as mainly dense mulch with some re-cycled hardwood steppers to enter around the side passage. I am really looking forward to seeing this garden fill out and the house to become incased in some foliage and sheltered from the neighbours and inner city life.

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Striking small inner city front garden

Oh so refreshing to see a small terrace garden used to maximum effect! Imagine if this was more common? how wonderful it would be to walk down an inner city street and see native birds running amok, as they were doing here in the grafted Eucalyptus ficifolia. Well lets face it to walk down any sort of suburban street that was filled with native gardens would be heaven, it is my dream to have natives in everyones garden, a long shot but it should keep me busy

As underplanting they have managed to squeeze in Banksia blechnifolia, Thryptomene saxicola ‘FC Payne’, Banksia spinulosa dwarf,a Xanthorrhoea and some grasses, but pride of place is this Themeda ‘Mingo’ that is spilling out onto the street, I never realised it was capable of that.

Below you can see how interesting the bark on the grafted Eucalyptus is becoming, peeling with patches of smooth grey, browns and beige, this will continue to grow raising the canopy to make it a more visible feature, whilst still retaining privacy to the front windows.

  So here you can see what can be achieved in a space barely 8m2, hopefully I am not the only one inspired by this garden.