Some of you may remember attending an Open Garden Tour in April 2023 when we visited Shaun Walsh’s Black Mountain property. I had an opportunity to see the garden again last month and was impressed with how well the garden had developed in less than two years. Shaun has also made some changes to the garden to accommodate the building of an outdoor kitchen and a covered pergola next to the pool.
When Shaun first moved to the property he, to the horror of his neighbours, completely removed the existing gardens with mainly exotic plants. Now, four years later, Shaun’s vision for his garden has well and truly been achieved and the results have shown his neighbours the benefits of using local native plants.
Shaun started his country garden with formal and cottage elements using native plants and his careful planning at the start has paid off. He was also careful to choose appropriate plants to suit the soil type, aspect and topography of his property. The garden at the front has flourished and almost completely hidden the house from the road creating privacy, while still retaining a view from the house of the distant borrowed landscape. The entrance is welcoming, with the garden at the side of the driveway a riot of beautiful layers and textures that block the neighbouring house. The plants along the front and side of the house have grown considerably and help to soften the lines of the building.
There is a wonderful variety of complementary species in the garden beds, providing contrasts of shape and colour. The sculptural leaves of the Banksias, and the strappy leaves of Cordyline and Lomandra, are interspersed with the dainty Thyme Honey Myrtle and the cascading branches of Wild May. Colour is achieved with the red leaves of Bleeding Heart and the deep burgundy-red foliage of Breynia.
Shaun commented, ‘I get a lot of enjoyment from trying to manipulate native plants, with grouping and rough pruning, to extract the best value and presentation from the plants, achieve a specific traditional garden aesthetic, and increase biodiversity. For instance, the swathes of feathery foliage resulting from light pruning of Jacksonia scoparia (Dogwood) are a real delight in the garden at the moment, and that’s even without flowering. It’s a plant you rarely see in garden settings.’
Shaun’s garden shows that an urban wildlife garden doesn’t need to be a ‘bush garden’. No native garden can be completely natural but is shaped and managed to suit the residents. It can be more controlled, and have separate areas with different characteristics and uses, and still provide welcome habitat. The different layers of vegetation Shaun has used, from shrubs and trees to groundcovers and vines, has created a beautiful garden as well as a wonderfully biodiverse haven for wildlife.
Shaun is hoping to schedule another Open Garden Tour later in the year so be sure to watch the newsletters for further details.
Vanessa Presling
