Yarrawonga, Victoria

I have been reflecting on how my garden has changed since the first planting 11 years ago. It has certainly changed the landscape from the windswept clay plain to a well sheltered, somewhat shady, dry environment today. I should be pleased, as our natural plant community is (Victoria) Northern Plains Dry Box Woodland, but I want more variety, and now the shade, leaf and twig drop, plus root competition, reduces my choice of plants. I wanted trees and I am enjoying the benefits, but it means that I am losing some shrubs and it is quite challenging to prepare the soil for replacements and then find just the right plant to complement design ideas. I would love more banksias but B. spinulosa here is mostly a tub plant in a self-watering pot. Banksia blechnifolia and Banskia repens have surprised me where river sand was added to the clay mounds. My eremophilas generally don’t mind the dryness but resent shade of course. However, I am using more E. debilis, E. subteretifolia and E. glabra forms as green groundcover. I tend to get a lot of grey foliaged, drought-tolerant plants, then look for something green to freshen it up.

Jan Hall

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For more information on this garden see Garden Design Study Group Newsletter 91, August 2015, p. 6-8