Coastal collectables
A plant lover’s seaside garden is filled with succulents, palms, aloes and a collection of interesting pots
Plants have always been part of Greg Kinman’s life. As a young man, when he wasn’t working at his restaurant job, he was either mucking about with plants outside the small Brisbane flat that he shared with friends or exploring the creeks and bushland on the city’s outskirts. He soon realised plants were his passion, and it wasn’t long before he was working as a gardener and studying horticulture.
In the 1980s, an elderly client introduced Greg to plants that weren’t common then in Brisbane, but are now: stephanotis, eranthemum, petrea and gardenias.
This was also around the time that more Australian natives were appearing in home gardens. “I was creating naturalistic-style gardens that were right on trend then!” Greg says with a chuckle. All these experiences were the perfect foundation for a plantsman living in the subtropics.
Today, Greg’s passion extends to the xeriscape plants with which he’s filled his compact beachside property at Peregian Beach on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. These are drought-tolerant plants that have adapted to arid climates, so they cope well with sandy soils and sea winds, and they are rarely troubled by pests.
a new challenge
When Greg moved here 10 years ago with his wife, Marcelle, they faced unimaginative landscaping and black plastic under mulch, and the block was pure sand. Greg waited before taking action. “I enjoyed living here for a few months before hatching a plan.”
First, he added tonnes of manure and compost, gaining an understanding of the space in the process. “During preparation, it gives you a great opportunity to see how the light falls across the ground, and which areas are exposed to wind,” Greg says. “Those things seep in as you work.”
Masses of potted specimens, including succulents, peperomia and rhapis palms,