Backyard natives

Oftften, the Aussie garden isn’t, well, Australian. The bush garden had its moment in the ’70s but we tend to favour English cottage blooms and green, sweeping lawns.

To counter this, landscape designers are fifinding new ways with old plants, creating shapes and textures with uniquely local species while retaining elements of more structured garden designs. Imagine topiary sweeps of coastal rosemary, bursts of colourful tea-tree, masses of white-flflowered Philotheca or river red gums graftfted as standard-size trees or even ground cover.

a new book by horticulturalist and landscape architect Jela Ivankovic-Waters and garden writer Kate Herd, will change your thinking about the possibilities of Australian natives.

It’s inspiring to consider introducing plants to your own backyard that are not only indigenous to the continent but also to the particular part of the country where you live. Careful – it can become a consuming passion.