NPP: What are some of the stand out ways you’ve seen landscape designers and amateur gardeners use Australian native plants?
WS: I love the renaissance of Australian natives, as they are my favourite plants. Previously it seems everyone thought that an Australian Native garden was un-kept, woody, unstructured tangled mess. Now I love the way designers are using these plants en masse, combing the amazing texture, form and colour that they bring. It is also the understanding that they belong, taking the learning’s from the traditional English garden, putting a twist on that, and applying it to our climate and landscape.
NPP: You must have picked up some wonderful tips and ideas to apply to your own garden?
WS: I have designed and built a number of gardens over the years, generally around 90% of the plants in my gardens are Natives. Being exposed to many amazing designers through photography, I always seem to pick up new ideas. For my current garden I have taken the en masse style of planting in waves that flow from one section to another. I have welded steel edging to define borders around a copse of Lemon Scented Gums, and planted understory among existing trees. Some of the plants I’m using are – Orthrosanthus Multiflorus, Austrastipa stipoides, Acacia Baileyana Purpurea, Anthropodium Matapouri Bay, Banksia Praemorsa, Acacia glaucoptera, Themeda ‘Big Blue’, Grevillea Moonlight, Banksia Marginata, Plectranthus Argentatus, Hakea Silicifolia, Rhagodia Spinescens.