Garden Design
The Wrap Up: Hidden Design Festival 2015
24 July 2015 | Robin PowellHidden Design Festival offers a look at some of Sydney’s most exciting, professionally designed gardens. Here’s a look at a bit of what caught our eye this year.
Read MoreSunday’s garden: Growing Heide
06 March 2015 | Lesley Harding & Kendrah MorganA new book tells the story of one of Australia’s most culturally significant gardens – that at Heide, the home, for fifty years, of John and Sunday Reed.
Read More3 Ways to Jazz up your Front Garden
18 March 2015 | Linda Ross‘There’s nothing half so pleasant as coming home again’ wrote the American poet Margaret Elizabeth Sangster more than a century ago. Here are some great ideas for that perfect welcome home.
Read More7 great ideas from Holland's Floriade
03 March 2015 | Robin PowellOnce a decade the horticultural industry of Holland celebrates with a grand expo called Floriade. Each massive event is held in a different place and in 2012 it was carved out of a forest near Venlo, close to the Dutch border with Germany. Ideas? Well it had a few!
Read MoreArt in the Garden
21 August 2019 | Robin PowellEven the driveway is part of the art in Scotland’s inspiring private sculpture park, Jupiter Artland.
Read MoreAustralia's Best Rose Gardens
12 March 2015 | Linda Ross, Robin Powell, Sandra RossNeed to know where to find the best rose gardens in Australia? We've done the hard yards for you, and here they are.
Read MoreAutumn in Linda's Garden
18 February 2015 | Linda RossMy garden on the coast about one and a half hours north of Sydney is a relaxed mix of coastal natives, blue bamboo, succulents and tough exotics.
Read MoreBerrara
19 February 2015 | Myles BaldwinMyles Baldwin first saw the shingled walls of this house and its garden of, mixed planting and lawn leading to the beach, when he was holidaying with mates. He liked its style. Five years later one of his clients bought the house, which is at Berrara, on the south coast of NSW, near Sussex Inlet. Myles was asked to tweak the garden ‘a little’.
Read MoreBetter balcony gardens
21 May 2019 | Paul BangayIn this extract from his new book ‘Small Garden Design’, Paul Bangay shares his tips for that most difficult small garden - the balcony.
Read MoreBronte House
03 September 2016 | Carla PetitBronte House does not open to the public often. So when the opportunity arises gardeners line up to catch a glimpse of this Sydney treasure. Catch Sandra Ross there at the Spring Open Day, September 18 2016. Carla Petit has been looking after the garden for four years, continuing a tradition of highly skilled gardeners who have cared for this histric house and garden. Here she tell us what's happening.
Read MoreChelsea 2015
12 November 2015 | Robin PowellAfter her first trip to the Chelsea Flower Show Robin Powell gave us her impressions. It was a show that reminded us of the beauty of nature barely gardened, and of gardens tended intensively.
Read MoreChelsea magic
31 August 2018 | Robin PowellChelsea is a magical garden world as full of dreams and emotion as it of of sheer hard work and skill. We took three groups on Opening Day this year and asked the tour leaders to tell us what moved them most.
Read MoreChinoiserie
13 September 2017 | Robin PowellMost of us choose to garden where we live; Dominic Wong chose to live where he wanted to garden.
Read MoreCloudehill
18 March 2015 | Jeremy FrancisJeremy Francis tells the story of his magnificent garden in ‘Cloudehill: A year in the garden’. In this extract he describes how a garden inspired by the golden days of Edwardian Arts and Crafts Design began to take shape in the rich moist soils of the Dandenong Ranges.
Read MoreCourtyard Makeover
20 March 2015 | Linda RossThis courtyard makeover matches the style of a Parisian café with the colours of rural France to create a charming space. Linda Ross tells how the space translated blah to ooh la la!
Read MoreCreating Inspiring Gardens
03 March 2015 | Michael McCoyMichael McCoy says a garden shouldn’t just look good, but feel good. Creating it is simple: make a great space, then decorate it. Could it be that easy?
Read MoreEdibles everywhere
26 August 2019 | Robin PowellDelicious ideas seen on our travels this year
Read MoreEryldene: The Professor and the Camellia
21 May 2020 | Jane Garling
Jane Garling explains why E.G. Waterhouse had such a massive influence on Australian gardens.
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Five of the Best: Oudolf gardens
21 May 2020 | Sandra RossPiet Oudolf has changed the way we think about gardens. His planting designs of perennials and grasses are romantic, exciting, enriching and inspiring. These are some of our favourites.
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Five of the best: wisteria gardens
21 August 2019 | Linda RossHere’s our pick of the best places in the world to be thrilled by the fragrance, form and sheer delight of wisteria.
Read MoreGarden festival planner: Chaumont-sur-Loire Garden Festival
28 March 2018 | Robin PowellThe Loire Valley is renowned as ‘France’s Garden’, and in summer it hosts an international design festival that imagines the future of gardening.
Read MoreGarden festival planner: Chelsea Flower show
31 August 2018 | Robin PowellChelsea is the prize bloom of the world's garden shows, and the reputation is well-deserved. Here Robin Powell shares her observations on what has been another breath-taking Chelsea Flower Show.
Read MoreGarden Festival Planner: Floriade Holland
20 May 2019 | Sandra RossIn 2022 this huge, once-in-a-decade festival will focus on inspiring ways for city-dwellers to connect with the beauty of plants and gardens.
Read MoreGarden Festival Planner: Hampton Court Flower Show
23 October 2017 | Linda RossIf the Chelsea Flower Show is the sophisticated sister, her younger sibling is bigger, more daring - and definitely friendlier.
Read MoreGarden festival planner: Japan’s floral festivals
05 September 2018 | Linda RossOnce the cherry blossoms fall, Japan bursts into colour with azaleas, peonies and wisteria creating a crescendo of colour unknown to most international travellers - and not to be missed!
Read MoreGarden festival planner: Melbourne
19 December 2016 | Robin PowellMIFGS blooms in Melbourne in March. Here’s how to turn a day at the show into a real garden festival
Garden festival planner: Nelmac Garden Marlborough
30 May 2018 | Michael McCoyThe gates open on incredible private gardens in this New Zealand festival, which also offers workshops - Great Dixter’s Fergus Garrett is the keynote speaker this year - and a garden party at Wither Hills Winery.
Read MoreGarden Ideas from Appletern Garden Festival, Holland
26 February 2015 | Robin PowellVisiting Appletern is like having your favourite garden magazine come to life. Around every corner of this vast garden showcase in Holland is a new page offering great ideas for your own garden: design, plants, planting combinations, paving options, sculpture, furniture and more.
Read MoreGarden Sculpture
28 May 2015 | Linda RossMake your garden indisputably your own realm by the way you choose and use sculpture and ornament within it. Linda has some ideas for expressing humour, passion and personality in your garden.
Read MoreGreat Dixter
13 November 2019 | Robin PowellIs this old place England’s most exciting contemporary garden?
Read MoreGreat Ideas
08 July 2016 | Robin PowellWant some great garden ideas. Grab some tips and trends from the professionals who showed gardens in this year’s Hidden Design Festival.
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Great ideas from Country Victoria
13 June 2017 | Robin PowellWe found plenty of inspiration on our Ross Garden Tour of country Victoria last spring. Here are a few of our favourite ideas – all worth including in your own garden.
Read MoreGreen Escape
29 January 2018 | Jason BuschMichael Bates reckons that while a plumber might live with leaky taps, and a painter with chipped walls, a gardener never lives in weeds. To prove it he introduces his own garden in this extract from his new book, The New Australian Garden.
Read MoreHanging Around
10 February 2015 | Linda RossCool green curtains dripping delicate leaves from fine stems are mesmerising. Reversing the trend of growing upward to the light, plants that grow down, and hang around are jewels for gardeners.
Read MoreHedges: out of the box
18 February 2015 | Robin PowellGot your shears sharpened and ready to go? Here are a few inspirations for hedges that show a straight line is not always the best way to get from A to B in the garden.
Read MoreHighfields
28 February 2019 | David KennedyIn November 2014 David Kennedy and Andrew Dunshea, creators of Katoomba’s wonderful Clover Hill, embarked on a new garden over the mountain in Little Hartley. In this extract from Claire Takacs’ new book, ‘Australian Dreamscapes’, David tells what happened next
Read MoreHoliday at Home
25 April 2015 | Linda RossWhen summer temperatures soar, I get a little thrill out of heading out to my back yard. That's because I've a gorgeous subtropical garden that boasts cooling foliage, running water and bright colour. Instantly, I'm on holiday – my spirit is refreshed and I'm thinking: why travel abroad when I can have my island paradise at home?
Read MoreHow to: clip balls
05 September 2018 | Linda RossPlants clipped into balls add form and structure to the garden, and beautifully balance wilder, looser planting. The repetition of shapes develops rhythm which holds the garden together, while the contrast with other shrub shapes adds variety and interest.
Read MoreHow to: create a shell garden
28 February 2019 | Joanne AquilinaSucculents don’t need a lot of root space as they store most of their water and nutrients in their leaves. This means gardeners can get creative about where they create succulent gardens.
Read MoreHow to: grow an edible hedge
04 October 2017 | Linda RossTrade up from murraya and lillypilly to a hedge you can eat! These four flavoursome options tick the boxes for pretty, practical and productive.
Read MoreHow to: prune a camellia
28 February 2019 | Robin PowellKen Lamb, Australia's master of Japanese pruning techniques, took to a historic, mature camellia at Retford Park as part of a three-day, hands-on workshop on creative pruning, held at the Southern Highlands National Trust property last winter. The camellia, an old japonica with a pendulous habit and flowers in both solid and variegated pink, had only ever been pruned to stop it intruding onto the driveway, and it now formed a solid wall of dark green, shutting off views to the house.
Read MoreHow to: set up a hen house
09 August 2016 | Claire BickleThinking about keeping chooks? Good plan. But before you put in an order for fluffy little chickens, get the henhouse right. Whether you are choosing a
ready-made option, or building your own from new or recycled materials, here’s what you need to know to create a happy home for your hens.
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How to: style an ikebana
05 September 2018 | Linda RossThe key difference between an ikebana approach to flower arranging and a Western style is that in ikebana the focus is on line and space rather than mass. Instead of adding more flowers to make it look better, ikebana is about what can be taken away. The space between the elements is as important as the elements themselves.
Read MoreHow to: style balcony pots
26 August 2019 | Robin PowellTo make a balcony feel like a garden it needs to surround you with plants. Somehow you have to get some plants up at eye level, and even above it.
A small tree would be just the thing, but on most balconies a pot big enough to support a large plant is just too heavy once it’s filled with moist
soil - and a tree! A more pragmatic approach is to arrange smaller pots at different levels. You need to get those pots up off the ground to really
appreciate your balcony garden. Here are a few ideas.
How to: understand humates
31 January 2018 | Arno KingHumates are prehistoric (20-50 million year old) decomposed organic matter, which is why they are sometimes referred to as ‘dinosaur compost’. They are increasingly being used by gardeners as a soil additive - with impressive results. In fact you may already be using humates on your garden as they are a component in many high-quality fertilisers.
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