Is your home built on a block that is very steep and full of rocks? There are many suburbs in the southern region that are exactly like that. It can be difficult to know where to start when you are considering installing a new garden. Recently I have had the privilege of working with two clients who have been in exactly this predicament, Lisa and Peter, who live on a very steep and rocky block of land in Woronora, and Bruce and Liz who live in a similar block at Oyster Bay,
Both clients had blocks of land filled with beautiful rock boulders that hug the earth and provide colour and texture from the lichen that clings to its surface. Eucalyptus, Banksia and Agophora trees that stand tall and proud, giving you a feeling that you are in a national park rather than in a suburban block of land.
I was very pleased that both clients were open to working with the natural beauty of the rock and we were able to create very natural and practical gardens. Where steps were required sandstone was used to blend with the natural environment carving the steps out of stone.
Had they wanted formal gardens I would really have had my work cut out for me. The only way that we could have even considered this style of garden would be to build up large areas with retaining walls to create flat garden beds and that in itself is hard work and the cost would be phenomenal. Not to mention, formal gardens need to look tidy and the leaves falling from the trees would spoil the tidy look that is craved by formal garden lovers. It is much easier to work with nature than to work against it!
After adding lots of manure and organic soil to the existing soil, to increase depth and provide nutrients, native plants were used to compliment the beautiful sandstone boulders.
There are so many new breeds of native plants available that are bred for drought conditions and look terrific. One particular grass we used was Lomandra. In fact we used four different species.
- Lomandra hysterix
- Lomandra longifolia
- Lomandra longifolia 'Tanika"
- Lomandra longifolia "Little Con'
All of these plants are what is termed "strappy leafed" plants. The difference between them is the thickness and the length of the leaf. They also differ in their leaf colour providing a variety of colour in different shades of green.
Anigozanthos is another 'strappy leafed" plant. These beauties come in a variety of coloured flowers that resemble kangaroo's paws. Dianella "silver sword' provided a contrast to the green plants as they have green and white striped leaves and a beautiful electric blue berry. These grassy type plants blend well with rock and are very drought tolerant.
Xanthorrea johnsonii (Grass trees) and Doryanthes excelsa (Gymea Lily) provided a statement with their uniquely Australian characteristics.
A native garden would not be complete without the addition of Grevilleas, a particularly beautiful red flowering form we used was Grevillea rhyollitica "Deua" Good value as it flowers almost all year round. Eriostemon and Westringea provide a delicate aroma and bird attractant flowers.
Groundcovers such as prostrate Grevilleas and banksias to spill over rocks, soften the line of the rock. Little gaps in the rocks were planted with Scaevola and Pratia.
The finishing touches to our natural gardens were to spread a layer of eucalyptus mulch equipping the plants with a thermal blanket to sustain them through the cool winters and hot summers that lay ahead.
So remember, if you have a block that resembles these two gardens , take the easy way out and work with the site rather than trying to turn it into something it wasn't meant to be.
Happy Gardening!
