Australian Native Plants Society (Australia)
Native gardens showcase
We all enjoy getting inspiration from others, especially when it comes to native gardens. Seeing what others have done in their native gardens can spark ideas and make creating your own garden more successful and satisfying.
In this section, we share about existing native gardens and their creation and evolution. Some are small, others large, some suburban and others rural, some are naturalistic and others formal.
Some stories go into a lot of detail about the gardens, while others give you a quick peek at a specific moment. All of them are packed with great ideas for your own journey.
Gardens are categorised by regional climate, as shown on this map.
See stories below that reflect people’s gardens today and their design approaches. You can search these stories by the bioregion or regional climate in which they exist.
Click on ‘Read more’, to see our archives which hold garden reports from 10 to 20 years ago.
Significant gardens
- The Kennedy Garden, Wheelers Hill, Victoria – developing a ‘bush block’ into an extensive garden.
- The Hanson Garden, Warrandyte, Victoria – a garden in the bush.
- The Snape Garden, Hawthorn East, Victoria – a suburban garden.
- The Ford Garden, Eltham, Victoria – a garden developed by renowned landscape gardener Gordon Ford and his wife Gwen.
- The Moore Garden, Park Orchards, Victoria.
- The Marriott Garden, Stawell area, central Victoria.
Garden Snapshots
- Barfield Garden, Victoria
- Bennett Garden, Calwell, ACT.
- Catriona Bate and Phil Trickett’s Garden, Milton, NSW
- Dave Herald and Margaret Streamer’s Garden, Murrumbateman, NSW
- Fiona Johnson and Alex Kruczaj’s Garden, Blayney, NSW
- Howes Garden, Westleigh, Sydney
- Jan Hall’s Garden, Yarrawonga, Victoria
- Jerkovic Garden, Glen Iris, Victoria
- Lewin Garden, Stawell, Victoria
- Morton Garden , Woodford, NSW
- O’Neill Garden, Victoria
- Rowland Garden, Pacific Palms, NSW
- Russell Garden, Aranda, ACT
- Tranter Garden, Queanbeyan, NSW
- Woodbury Garden, Googong, NSW
- Yarra Garden, Victoria
Native gardens showcase stories
Creating a ‘wallum’ garden
I wanted to try my hand at creating a ‘wallum’ garden, a coastal heathland garden which has incredible diversity. Here’s how we went about it. Wallum ecosystems are coastal heathlands…
View storyDiversity AND uniformity
As I contemplate my 20 year old native garden, I realise that it is now a mix of both diversity AND uniformity. However, there is a strong bias towards allowing…
View storySmall rainforest garden in Brisbane
Carol Guard is justly proud of her small rainforest garden in suburban Brisbane. This story outlines how she built a sense of community, committed to a design and selected her…
View storyA three dimensional garden in Brisbane
We recently visited a garden like no other – it was a three dimensional garden in Brisbane! Garden Design Study Group visit to the garden of Dennis Higgins I recently…
View storyTransitioning to a native garden in Canberra
Len Dowling is a committed collector of native plants and is actively transitioning to a native garden in Canberra. In February 2023, members of the Canberra Day Activity Group and…
View story