Column

12-10-2023

DESIGNING A NATIVE AUSTRALIAN GARDEN

Australia is well known for its vibrant landscapes and truly unique biodiversity. As we modernise and urbanise, there’s still an innate desire to connect with the natural world, preserve local ecosystems and foster a deep appreciation for our distinct native flora and fauna. Designing a native Australian garden provides a fantastic opportunity for us to bridge the gap between modern living and nature, allowing both to coexist in harmony whilst contributing to the preservation of our treasured native species.

Australia has a huge array of native plants, roughly 24,000 species in fact including unique and iconic species such as the banksias and grevilleas. It’s obvious, really. But the thing is, Australia is known to have a harsh climate and native plant species have just had to evolve to cope with it. Living in Australia, we’ve grown accustomed to this kind of environment – dry summers, severe droughts, torrential rain and even fires. Imported plants have a hard time surviving and enduring these challenging periods.
Australian native plants are known to be hardy, are low-maintenance plants to grow and upkeep. Australian natives thrive in Australian conditions and won’t require too much preparation work to ensure they grow correctly. Many native species can survive entirely on rainfall alone, so there’s no need to get out the hose! If you’re a one-and-done kind of a gardener, consider an Australian native garden. 
There has been a lot of work carried out on creating garden cultivars over the past decades. Grevilleas have proven extremely well suited to hybridisation and now come in a wide range of colours and forms. We have the rich honey tones of Golden Lyre, the pale creamy white of Moonlight and even the pale lilac flowers of the superb shrub Grevillea Dorothy Gordon.
Today, many of these plants are used for native garden design, from sustainable pioneers to patriotic horticulturists, green thumb wizards experimenting with different plants to botanical gardens keen to promote Australia’s beautiful trees, shrubs and flowers.
Fiona Brockhoff is one of Australia’s most celebrated Landscape Designers. Her subtle and thoughtful gardens are grounded in the landscapes which surround and inspire them. Fiona is renowned for her creative and experimental use of indigenous plants, with many pruned and shaped in her own garden ‘Karkalla’ located on the southern end of Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. She has been instrumental in introducing native Australian species into the garden showcasing how our native species can be woven into our garden stories.
You would be wrong to assume that all native gardens have to be wild places. Many native species are well adapted to topiary and shaping. The Coastal Rosemarys are a great subject for shaping. Westringia Blue Moon is a hardy, compact variety with dense foliage growth that is perfect for low hedges, pathway borders or layered gardens while it’s cousin Westringia ‘Wyanabbie Gem’ can be shaped into larger domes between 1.2-1.5m round. Acmena smithii Allyn Magic will naturally form a mounded shape and can be easily trimmed into small compact balls. These can look great against the strappy leaves of Lomandras. Yes, I know Lomandras have a bit of a bad name, but there are many more delicate and elegant varieties to choose from other than the common Matt Rush. Lomandra Tropic Cascade is a great lush green variety with long arching leaves well suited to our humid summers. Lomandra Shara is a delicate and compact dwarf grass that adds a light texture in the garden border.
If you’re looking for a dramatic plant, then Doryanhthes palmeri or the Giant Spear Lily is an excellent choice. This native succulent perennial from the eastern seaboard grows in large rosettes of leaves reaching three metres in length, with 5m tall flower spikes rising up from the centre of the plant in the Springtime.
There are so many beautiful and hardy shrubs available to the gardener. Correas and Hakeas are really a delight. Adenanthos sericeus (Dwarf Woolly Bush) and Prostranthera nivea (Snowy Mint Bush) are excellent shrubs and Myoporum parviflolium (Creeping Boobiella) makes a great dense ground cover with the bonus of hundreds of tiny star shaped flowers.
Here in my own garden at Chalk House I have been experimenting with native plants for several years, expanding my native garden and playing with textures and forms to create a low maintenance garden style that is both beautiful to look at and resilient to the recent changing weather patterns. I have really enjoyed working with native plants as part of my garden journey here in Australia and look forward to adding more native gardens to my property over the coming years.
Visit Clark+Granger at www.cplusg.com.au or phone 0456 111 120 to find out more.