Caring for an Australian Native Garden Design in Perth
Australian native garden designs have become hugely popular in Perth and Australia, and deservedly so. The very Australian aesthetic of banksias and grass trees works exceedingly well with contemporary architecture. Australian native plants and trees anchor a garden in the surrounding landscape and are food sources for native birds and insects. And because they have evolved to thrive in the harsh growing conditions of our country, they also tend to be on the tough side.
That an Australian native garden will look after itself without a gardener’s care is a persistent, oft-repeated argument. In my experience that is not really true. The reason native gardens fell out of favour for decades, after a first surge in popularity in the 1970s, was exactly the unkempt, scraggly look of gardens unpruned, unwatered, and unloved. However, with proper landscape design in Perth, these gardens can thrive beautifully with minimal maintenance.
One of my clients has a Western Australian front yard native garden design in Perth that we designed around a spectacular three-headed grass tree landscaping. Its owners keep it weeded and watered and pruned. Pauline even gives the grass tree a professional haircut every year. This low maintenance front yard Australian native garden design has become a loving contribution to the coastal landscape of my client’s home. It is popular with the local birds. And it really stands out in a neighbourhood of fake lawns. The truth is that kangaroo paws, grevilleas, or tea trees (or whatever other natives you fancy) need looking after – just like exotic plants – to bring out that Australian look that visitors from near and far travel to Kings Park to see.
Pruning your front yard Australian Native Garden Design
There’s pruning. At a minimum, remove dead wood once a year, and lightly prune for a tidy habit and renewed vigour. Shrubs with long whippy branches like pin-cushion hakeas or tea trees benefit from structural prunes when they are young, for strong growth. Some naturally round forms like westringias can take a much tighter clip into balls or clouds – a look that Fiona Brockhoff made popular with her Mornington Peninsula garden ‘Karkalla’. Grasses may need cutting back, or lifting and dividing.
Kangaroo paws can be rather short-lived, especially the newer cultivars coming into nurseries in the past few years. To encourage new shoots, cut spent flowers and foliage to the ground. Angus Stewart reportedly prunes the taller, tougher varieties of kangaroo paw with his lawn mower (on a high setting). If that is not your thing, or you have planted smaller growing kangaroo paw varieties, clean out the dead leaf fans. Or renew them by lifting them every few years, and cleaning off the dead parts of the rhizome, for new, vigorous shoots. And don’t forget to fertilise and water.
Fertilizing and Feeding Techniques
Yes, feeding your Australian native garden design in Perth is just as important. Fertilise and add organics on your front yard native garden design at least once a year. Because many of our natives have evolved on meagre soils, some plant families are especially sensitive, especially banksias, grevilleas, hakeas, macadamias, waratahs, and woolly bush. Too much phosphorus, too many organics, and they keel over and die. If you love these plants from the protea family in your garden, it is smart to use a fertiliser specially formulated for natives that are low in phosphorus and to go lightly with the compost.
Caring for your garden
On the other hand, if you don’t feed and water your native garden at all, expect an exhausted look, and little or no growth. You may also lose more plants than you would like. Remember what you were growing in that bare patch last year?
In those parts of Australia that depend on winter rains, soil wetter applied when the grounds are still moist from the winter rains can help manage water repellence and uneven water infiltration later in the year, promoting a sustainable approach to maintaining your native garden. Garden lime can also help, by increasing the number of soil bacteria that degrade the natural waxy coating on soil particles that causes the water repellence of soils. Garden lime does however increase soil pH: if you garden in a coastal area where the pH tends to be naturally high, or you are not sure whether your plants can handle a more alkaline environment, sticking with soil wetter will be the safest option.
And of course, all your new acquisitions need planting out… This year black kangaroo paws Macropidia fuliginosa are among my absolute favourites (bring on black and lime green! The punchy reds and yellows of kangaroo paws I tend to use much more sparingly).
Maintenance tips for a healthy Australian Native Garden
Weeding is definitely on every gardener’s To Do list in spring. As is topping up mulch where there are bare patches – another garden task that is especially beneficial when soils are still moist from the winter rains.
Early spring is an ideal time to tend your natives and ensure a flourishing Australian native garden design. You will be rewarded with a thriving garden that native birds and other local wildlife (including your neighbours) will visit throughout the garden year.
Build your dream front yard native garden design in Perth with us
When you turn to our garden designers in Perth, you can be sure that we will engage you in close dialogue to discuss what you really want for your front yard native garden design project. Give us a call at +61 411 269 178.