True Blue

A suburban garden brimming with native and indigenous plants

- April Ossington

There’s no doubt that Heather, the owner of this expansive and lush garden in Mount Martha, a seaside town in Melbourne, Victoria, was already a keen and conscientious gardener before the completion of her backyard. But even experienced gardeners need a little help sometimes. Enter Georgina Martyn of Bold Simplicity.

The brief was to use native and indigenous plants to fit in with the existing landscape. “As Heather had already used tube stock with great success, we wanted to use more from local growers that were indigenous to the Mount Martha region. This would keep the native theme authentic and ensure the best success of the plants by matching them with the local soil type and location,” says Georgina. “Heather wanted to be able to look out of the garden from the kitchen window and enjoy it from all aspects of the house and outside deck. She wanted to attract birds to the garden and already had a bird feeder, which she enjoyed tending.”

Heather had already planted some native plants in the garden bed next to the tennis court and it was this space that gave Georgina  inspiration for the rest of the garden. “I suggested using native and indigenous plants to create a lush, abundant garden, concentrating on bringing foliage to the space, with a limited palette of plants that would survive the shaded conditions under her existing trees,” says Georgina.