Wilsmore St, Chifley

A young family sought advice from me on plant selection and sourcing. This family needed a low maintenance garden to suit their busy lifestyle.

They had completed their hard landscaping on their very large front yard. They had created a retaining wall of large bush rocks around a fire pit, and large bluestone slabs to an entry deck. Privacy was needed down the side lane and near the front bedroom. The front lounge room would benefit from protection from headlights as cars came down the road.

Building on their favourite local garden, we mass planted native blue grasses under dwarf Snow Gums with more bush rocks. To make the fire pit area more private from the street, the bush rock wall was screened with Eucalyptus pulverulenta that will be coppiced regularly drawing on that entrance garden at the National Museum.

The bush rock wall was interplanted with Canberra native Blue bells, Bulbine bubosa and native daisies to soften the look and give seasonal interest. Small ground cover Grevilleas are spot planted around the bluestone slabs.

The driveway retaining wall is planted with creeping Myoporum. This will create a curtain of green with fresh white flowers in spring. A mixed planting of native and exotics provides privacy and interest at the front entrance and side lane,

Not everyone has time or interest to maintain an intensive garden. With regular yearly mulching, and occasional pruning this garden improves the value of the house while giving the owners time to indulge their own passions.

I planted the garden in conjunction with Josh and team from JD Landscapes.