38 MAY 2019 GARDENING AUSTRALIA
OVER THE FENCE
With Eleanor’s encouragement, Debbie
attended a seminar, held by the APS, on
designing with Australian plants, then roped
in naturalistic garden designer Bev Hanson.
“It’s embarrassing to admit, but I have no
imagination,” laments Debbie. “I was blank
about what to do. Paths, rocks and mounds
are the backbone of a garden, and it had to
be right. Bev sketched it in two minutes.”
Getting down and dirty wasn’t an issue,
however, and in 2012, Debbie and her
daughter Nicki got stuck into planting.
“Debbie tackles enormous jobs that
I would quail at,” says Eleanor. “She’s
so enthusiastic and hardworking.”
A sunny aspect and newly created
mounds of free-draining soil meant
the seedlings thrived. “I became quite
envious,” chuckles Eleanor. “Debbie’s
plants doubled in size in no time and I’d
think, ‘I wish they’d do that in my garden!’”
Debbie’s obsession with grevilleas
demonstrates her love for flowers, but her
foliage fascination ensures her garden is
interesting year-round. “The dark foliage
of the Leptospermum ‘Starry Night’
contrasts against the new growth of the
eucs, and the sharp and spiky Grevillea
levis looks wonderful next to the acacia!”
CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE
A path leading to the entrance to
Debbie’s house is flanked by large
beds of native trees and bushes,
including Acacia cognata ‘Lime
Magik ’, native hibiscus (Alyogyne
huegelii) and Eucalyptus caesia
‘Silver Princess’; dwarf Banksia
marginata ‘Mini Marg’ is a tough
little performer; Wollemi pine features
in a large red pot in Debbie’s back
garden; the pretty weeping myoporum
(Myoporum floribundum).