The setting is a beautiful cottage in the heart of Sydney’s inner west. The front of the property is subtle, beautiful and inviting. With sandstock bricks as the bones, corrugated iron roof and a small timber deck front patio, rustic charm comes to mind.
The driveway with its soft strip of dichondra in the middle leads you up the side of the house towards the back yard. As you hear the soft trickling of the beautiful quirky water feature you start to see the magical native oasis of the backyard. The subtlety of the front yard is not mirrored in the back yard. Your met with plumes of Kangaroo paw, sprawling groundcovers and asymmetrical clouds of different shrubs species.
The planting is a beautiful accompaniment to the house and the design of the front yard. Native ground covers hug the edges of the path invitingly, as the other plants fold over each other, creating soft moving waves of textures.
The balance of asymmetrical clouds amassed between wild gnarled plants is beautiful, really giving you, this feel of a native oasis. Its always a party with Banksia ‘birthday candles’ lighting the borders of the garden and mingling between the other shrubs, bring native joy into the garden. The canopy of water gums ‘luscious’ with its mottled bark and fresh waxy lime green leaves continues to add depth, texture and colour to this garden.
Once standing on the lawn you really get a sense of being in your own little world surrounded by beautiful planting and a discreet water bowl that continues this feeling of chill and Zen.
Charlie's native cottage garden plant list
Native Trees
- Tristaniopsis laurina 'Lucious'
- Syzigium australe 'Resilience'
Native Shrubs
- Doryanthes excelsa
- Anigozanthos 'landscape tangerine'
- Westringia fruticosa Lomandra 'Lime Tuff'
- Banksia 'Stumpy Gold'
- Grevillea rosmarinifolia
Native Groundcover/Climbers
- Hibertia scandans
- Chrysocephalum apiculatum
- Dichondra repens
- Carpobrotus rossii
Other Trees
- Camellia pure silk
- Lagerstroemia indica 'Natchez'
Other Shrubs
- Carissa desert star
- Rhaphiolepis oriental pearl
- Helichrysum petiolare
- Erigeron karvinskianus
- Buxus japonica
- Neomarica gracillis
- Rosmarinus prostratus
Other Groundcover
- Thymus serpyllum 'pink chintz'
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The ultimate guide to Australian native flowers
