Landscaping is a word that is often used but can mean different things to different people. If we study the history of landscaping we can learn how these different interpretations of landscaping came about. Historically, architecture and landscaping are concepts that are very much intertwined, as are sculpture art and painting. Why is there confusion over the word landscaping?  Who were the most influential landscapers of all time and what influenced them? To find out we look at the history of landscaping and landscape design, but first a few modern definitions.

What are the different types of landscaping?

The broad term Landscaping can refer to any of the following disciplines.

1. Soft Landscaping.
2. Hard Landscaping.
3. Garden Maintenance.
4. Landscape Design.
5. Landscape Architecture.

Soft Landscaping

Soft landscapers are usually qualified horticulturists. They are skilled in areas of plant health and plant cultivation. Horticulturists are also trained in design and other aspects of landscaping construction.

Hard Landscaping.

Hard Landscaping as the name suggests is related to installation of the structural elements of the landscape design. Examples of these are exposed aggregate concrete paths, insitu concrete retaining walls and pergolas.

Garden Maintenance

Garden maintenance is often referred to as landscaping.

Landscape Design

Landscape design usually involves the use of CAD to layout both the hard landscaping and the soft landscaping designs. Modern landscape design also involves creating photorealist computer renderings to help the customer visualise the finished design. The use of 3D CAD is now a common part of the landscape design process. Sometimes this service is provided as a landscape design only service. The final outcome is usually better when it is a product of landscape by design rather than just moving materials around the worksite to achieve the desired look.

Landscape Architecture

Landscape architects study at university to learn the theoretical skills required to design public spaces using CAD.  Landscape architecture encompasses the knowledge of the physical materials, living systems and human factors. Landscape architects have both plant knowledge and strength of materials knowledge to design an effective public space by CAD. Landscape architecture also includes the environmental planning, urban design, and site planning for a landscaped site. The understanding of the main concepts of civil engineering is vital for this role. Even in the 18 century landscapes were made to detailed drawings by landscape architects like Lancelot Capability Brown and Humphry Repton.

The history of landscaping

The Egyptians

The earliest surviving detailed garden design plan dates from circa 1400 BC. It is surprising how much of this design style is still in use in modern Mediterranean garden design. The garden was for a highly ranked official in the Egyptian Court at Thebes. The home had a main entrance with a pergola with vines growing. The garden design also included self-contained walled enclosure, rectangular water features and garden paths with tree lined avenues.

 

The Persians, Babylonians and Assyrians

These gardens are described in the old testament as pleasure gardens. The gardens were designed to enable cool water and shade to be enjoyed in private.  The landscaping also included man made hills with terraces planted with shrubs and trees.

Greek Gardens of the Classical Period

Sport and public places were both big parts of Greek culture. Sports grounds developed into the academy and the lyceum and people gathered in these places.  The public spaces in Greek life included groves of shade trees which is essential in a Mediterranean garden. Also included were some porticoes, spectator seating and the exercise ground itself. It was around this time that a courtyard garden design with rows of columns supporting roofs over covered walkway became part of the urban lifestyle. This garden design became known as “peristyle” from the Greek word “peri” meaning around (as in perimeter) and “style” which means column. It is thought that this style of architecture originated in temples like the Temple of Hera at Samos and was then adopted for domestic buildings.

Greek Gardens of the Hellenistic Period

The death of Alexander the great was the start of a new age in Greece where the country was less Athens centric. New luxurious gardens or pleasure grounds had sprung in the Greek colonies. Notable amongst these were the gardens at Syracuse and Alexandria. These gardens were more influenced by gardens in the east. Under Alexander the great Macedonia had formed a huge empire stretching from Macedonia to parts of India. Within the empire the spread of people brought architecture and landscaping to different cities. After the death of Alexander, the empire was divided, and the various kings spent money on gardens and architecture to impress their guests.

What have the Romans ever done for landscaping?

Many of the southern cities of the Italian peninsula were founded as Greek Colonies. The area was known to the Romans as Magna Graecia and to the Greeks as Megale Hellas meaning “Great Greece”. Starting with Naples in 327 BC all of the Greek cities in Magna Graecia were absorbed into the Roman Empire. The Romans adopted the Greek peristyle landscaping with small enclosed town gardens and with Roman villa gardens. Some examples still exist in the excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum which were previously very much Greek cities. An example of the adoption of this style can be seen in the Villa Adriana which is Hadrian’s grand villa near Tivoli. Another example is Nero’s Golden House in Rome. As Christianity began to spread through Europe in the later part of the Roman Empire, the peristyle courtyard garden evolved into the cloistered abbey garden and courtyard.

Roman Concrete

One of the reasons that some of the Roman building can still be seen today is the Roman use of concrete in building construction. Unlike bricks or stone construction, the concrete buildings are difficult to recycle into newer buildings. For this reason many of the buildings of ancient Rome were just left in situ with some of the concrete crumbling or becoming submerged by the increasing ground level.

Roman concrete was made more durable by the addition of volcanic ash. This has meant that many Roman buildings have survived into modern times and the became an inspiration for architects and landscapers on the Grand Tour, They were also an inspiration for High Renaissance architects. One architect that was greatly inspired by this building was a goldsmith named Filippo Brunelleschi who built the dome for the Cathedral of Santa Maria Del Fiore in Florence, Italy. Brunelleschi had spent several years in Rome studying and sketching the ancient monuments.

 Roman Heated Swimming Pools

The engineering abilities of the Romans extended to more than temples, villas  roads and aqueducts. The Romans also invented the heated swimming pool. It was built by Gaius Maecenas in the first century BC near Rome.

Islamic Landscaping

Islamic gardens or Paradise Gardens are well known for their water features. Water was precious to the desert dwelling Arabs of North Africa who we part of an empire that stretched all the way to India. Their garden designs were greatly influenced by Persian gardens. Symbology was important in these gardens with the gardens divided into 4 sections by mini canals each representing a different aspect of life. These are known as quadripartite or Charbagh and the canals represent four rivers running with water, milk, wine and honey.

Paradise Gardens

The word paradise comes from the old Persian language pairi dez and means enclosed or surrounded by a wall. An outer perimeter wall or an enclosure of buildings is often a feature of these gardens. When Spain was captured the Moors, “paradise garden” became a common garden theme in the wealthy homes and public spaces of southern Spain. Therefore many of the gardens in southern Spain have the theme of four rivers and the garden divided into four parts. To create the illusion of depth in the shallow canals, dark blue tiles are used as a lining of the canal.

 

Another part of the symbology is the square ponds representing earth and the round fountains representing heaven. These were combined to represent the meeting of heaven and earth. The colonnade courtyards surrounding the gardens also had symbology in the surrounding columns with designs showing date palms. Some examples of this type of Islamic landscape architecture include the Alhambra in Granada.

The Island of Sicily

The Islamic influence also spread to another colony in the Mediterranean. The island of Sicily had parks built by the Saracens using the Islamic garden themes. When the Normans conquered the island in the 11^th century, they maintained the gardens much as they were with walled enclosures containing canals, lakes and citrus groves. It was not just the gardens which came into the Norman hands, there was also a wealth of knowledge recorded in Arabic and Greek texts.  This transfer of knowledge in the fields of mathematics, science, astronomy and medicine, which occurred in Spain, Sicily and the Levant, helped to spark the 12th century renaissance. One enduring legacy of the Islamic garden is the garden patio.

 

Italian Renaissance Gardens

Donato Bramante

The Italian garden renaissance began in the 15^th century near Florence. Medieval enclosures that were earlier necessary for defence began to open up into a system of villas with a coherent house and gardens. In Rome, the design of Italian renaissance gardens on the hillsides became the role of architects. Famous renaissance architect, Donato Bramante, designed a significant garden linking the Papal palace with the Villa Belvedere. The villa had been built by the previous pope as a place to catch summer breezes during the hot summer in Rome. Bramante had studied painting prior to studying architecture and was skilled in the use of perspective. The hard landscaping for this design incorporated a system of stairways and garden stairways and was named Belvedere meaning beautiful view. The Belvedere garden also revived the Roman tradition of adorning the garden with ancient statues. Bramante is probably better known as the architect who designed St Peter’s Basilica in Rome we see today and for his disagreements with sculptor Michelangelo. To finance the building of St Peter’s, the church began to sell papal indulgences which in turn lead to the Reformation and years of war and religious persecution in Europe.

Bramante was really a central figure in High Renaissance Architecture. This style of architecture is characterised by its use of proportion and symmetry and most notably for the influence through the study of antiquity. Bramante’s work that first ushered in the High Renaissance was the Tempietto which is designed as a circular temple inspired by the remains of the ancient Temple Vesta.

Andrea Palladio

Another influential architect of the High Renaissance was Andrea Palladio, who was chief architect of the Republic of Venice. Palladio was greatly inspired by the architecture of Greece and ancient Rome. His teachings in I quattro libri dell’architettura (The Four Books of Architecture) extended his influence to most of Europe and covered everything from materials to Town Planning.  William Kent, the British architect and landscaper was heavily influence by Palladio’s books.

Palladio’s Rural Villas

Palladio’s design of rural villas for the Venetian nobility with a strong centre and symmetrical side wings became the design theme for Italian villas and for the country estates of the British nobility. This style of architecture which strongly adheres to the principles of classical Roman architecture, became known as Palladian Architecture.

 

Rome and the gardens of the Cardinals

Between 1550 and 1600 there was a huge increase in garden construction in and around Rome. The most powerful people in Rome at that time were the cardinals, who each though of themselves as a potential pope. The pope was one of the most influential persons throughout Europe.

New popes were chosen for their culture, influential and wealth. The way to demonstrate this to the other cardinals was to create an inspiring and remarkable garden. Geometry, order and harmony were key features of these garden designs. The aim was to demonstrate the influence and cultured sophistication, not just of the cardinal but of the cardinal’s family dynasty.

Symbology in Renaissance Gardens

Symbology, such as family crests, and control of water flow was nearly as important as the aesthetic beauty. The cardinals employed the best architects in an attempt to outdo each other and to increase their influence.

Symbology in renaissance gardens including rare garden bulbs were part of these gardens during the renaissance period, but this is less noticeable today. Jasmines, crocuses, lilies, box topiary but these became overgrown when this style of garden was out of fashion. The shortness of the flowering seasons for the flowers that were available then, meant that flower beds could not be relied upon to be the principle garden feature. Trimmed herbs, box, lavender and rosemary were used to divide garden beds into geometric compartments.  Decorative contrast was given to stonework and brick walls with the use of ivy. Laurel, cypress pine and ilex.

 

Hadrian’s Tivoli Villa Adrianna the inspiration for Renaissance gardens

Outside Rome, the ruins of Hadrian’s Tivoli Villa Adrianna was an inspiration that lit the spark for renaissance gardens.  Hadrian travelled more than any other emperor and was inspired by gardens throughout the Roman empire,

The Canopus with its columns was visited by the renaissance architects visited to discover how to create water flows into pools. They also learnt about how an aqueduct carried water and the design ratios and the use of symbolism within the garden. The garden is a metaphor for the Roman empire with Greece represented by the row of caryatids on the right. These statues are replicas of the statues forming the Porch of the maidens in the Erechtheum in Athens. A statue of a crocodile represents Egypt.

Villa d’Esti in Tivoli

Nearby in Tivoli the garden Cardinal Desti created a garden with fantastic use of water. Villa d’Esti.

Pirro Ligorio created these incredible water features by taking a third of the town’s water supply. The use of water in this garden is astonishing and is achieved without using any pumps. Symbology and coded messages are embedded throughout this garden . Within this garden, Ligorio created a model Rome in his palace garden complete with a statue of Romulus and Remus. The dramatic and theatrical were now starting to replace the peace and harmony of earlier gardens. Surprise and delight were not the aims of renaissance architecture. Power culture and wealth were demonstrated by the creation of gardens that are really in your face.

The French Gardens of the 17^th Century.

Once again it was conflict and invasions that drove the interchange of cultures. This time it was the French who invaded Italy towards the end of the 17^th Century that were influence by the gardens of the conquered. The Italian wars 1494 1559 were a series of violent wars that had a massive impact on Renaissance Europe. These wars were fought largely by Spain and France, but there were other armies involved. In 1494 French king Charles VIII invaded Italy, which triggered the wars.  After 64 years of sporadic fighting the French just managed to hold the fortresses at five Italian cities.  An early example of the Italian influence on French gardens and architecture was the Château of Anet in the Loire valley (Département of Eure-et-Loire). Little remains of this building as it was mostly destroyed after the French Revolution, but it was used in the filming of the James Bond movie Thunderball.

French Baroque Gardens

The baroque gardens of the French were based on the Italian renaissance gardens, but were flashier and with even more emphasis on complex geometry.  French landscape architect André Le Nôtre later designed a garden at the château Vaux-le-Vicomte south west of Paris. The garden is regarded as an early example of the baroque French classical style.

The Garden that left a deep impression on the King

The château and gardens at Vaux-le-Vicomte were so impressive that King Louis XIV confiscated the house and threw the owner in jail. Le Nôtre then went to work for the king and went on to work on the design of the gardens at Versailles. Some of the other notable landscape designs include Sceaux, Saint-Cloud, and Chantilly. Fontainebleau, Tuileries and the Grand Trianon. In his art collection André Le Nôtre had a sculpture by Michelangelo, so there is a good chance he was a fan of the Italian renaissance. On both Versailles and the château Vaux-le-Vicomte he had worked with painter and designer Charles Le Brun who had design the classic statues for Versailles. Charles Le Brun had spent several years in Italy as part of his artistic development.

Dutch Gardens of the 17^th Century

The conflict sparked by the reaction to the reformation lead to the arrival of Protestant refugees into the Dutch republic. The arrival of skilled craftsmen from other parts of Europe helped to start the Dutch Golden Age. In 1685 King Louis XIV made Protestantism illegal in France which lead to a further 200,000 Huguenots fleeing France. Amongst these refugees was Daniel Marot from Paris. He was a skilled designer, engraver and architect and soon found himself working at the Palace Het Loo in Apeldoorn.

Het Loo was owned by Willem Hendrik Prince of Orange who through his marriage to Mary Stuart later became King William III of England, Ireland and Scotland. The design of Het Loo was inspired by the work of Charles le Brun and Jean Bérain at Versailles. When Prince Willem Hendrik became King William III, he took Daniel Marot with him to London and appointed him as a court architect and Master of Works.

 

English Baroque Gardens

Charles II spent most of his exile at the palace of Versailles south of Paris. His long stay there would have influenced his choices after the restoration of the monarchy in 1660.  In the short time Charles II was King, he helped to revive English tradesmen’s skill as put into place new measures aimed at the preservation of excellence in the arts.

French and Dutch influences in English Landscaping

Charles and his architects introduced French and Dutch influences in an attempt to produce new architectural order to England. It was during this time that architect Christopher Wren spent a long time in Paris to learn from the achievements of modern French Architects. During his time in Paris, Wren met with Italian sculptor and architect Gianlorenzo Bernini, who was the leading sculptor in the baroque style. Bernini was in Paris to complete the palace of the Louve. Wren also met with Francois Mansart, who introduced Italian classicism into baroque architecture. Mansart’s architectural designs, where he integrated the landscape and the building in harmony were an influence on garden designer André Le Nôtre.  Wren’s trip to Paris and meeting with the great architects of the day were to have a profound influence on his later architecture.  This can be seen in the design of St Paul’s in London with a renaissance style large central cupola.

William and Mary Gardens

After the Glorious Revolution William and Mary ascended to the throne of England. They brought with them to England skilled craftsmen and architects from the Dutch Republic and Europe.  The furniture from this period is known as “William and Mary” style.   Many of the finest buildings in England were commissioned during this time. These include Greenwich Hospital, Kensington Palace and Hampton Court Palace.

 

Wren was commissioned to remodel and extend Hampton Court Palace with a new courtyard and apartments for the King and Queen. The great fountain garden was created by architect Daniel Marot, who had been brought over from Het Loo.

English Formal Gardens

There are many English gardens of this style that are open to the public. The photographs below are just a few of what is on offer.

 

 

 

 

Landscaping Georgian English gardens

The Georgian era was one of great change in Europe and in England in particular. The huge growth in international trade and the emergence of middle-class wealth were chief amongst these. This led to more people wanting lavish landscaped gardens and the rise of the Grand Tour as a sort of gap-year for mostly young wealthy men. Starting in Dover, the Grand Tour would set out for Italy often via Paris. The trips could be as long as 3 or 4 years and the main destinations were the great Italian cities of the renaissance as well as the excavations of the Roman civilisation at Pompeii and Herculaneum. The influence of the Grand Tour on the young aristocrats of Britain often left them with architectural tastes for Neoclassical, based on the remains of ancient temples or Palladian base on Palladio’s interpretation of a Roman villa construction.

Neoclassical Architecture

The taste for Neoclassical architecture that was brought from the grand tour was a hit for public buildings all around the world and the influence lasted for many years. Many well-known buildings in Melbourne were designed in this style including the Victorian State Parliament house in Spring Street East Melbourne. Some other great examples of this architectural style include The State Library of Victoria in the Melbourne CBD and the Shrine of Remembrance in King’s Domain close to South Yarra. Other noteworthy Melbourne Buildings in the neoclassical style include;

• Eldon Mansion in Grey Street St Kilda,
• Richmond Town Hall in Bridge Road Richmond
• St Kilda Town Hall on the corner of Carlisle St and Brighton Road, St Kilda
• Port Melbourne Town Hall in Bay Street Port Melbourne
• Fitzroy Town Hall in Napier Street Fitzroy

In addition to the public buildings there are some Neoclassical or Palladian style homes in the Melbourne Suburbs of Toorak and Brighton.

 

Willian Kent

Chief amongst the early Georgian Architects was William Kent. Kent is credited with introducing the architecture of Italian Architect Andrea Palladio into Britain.  The naturalist landscaping style with serpentine lakes in place of straight canals was a hallmark of Kent’s landscaping. Kent had spent 10 years in Rome copying the paintings of the old masters and developing the skills of engraving and etching. Whilst in Italy Kent met the Third Earl of Burlington, Richard Boyle. It was Lord Burlington who gave Kent a series of commissions in Britain that kick-started Kent’s career as an architect and landscaper. Kent’s experience in Italy helped him to tap into the market for architecture amongst aristocrats nostalgic over their time on the Grand Tour.

 

Landscape Design of William Kent

Kent was a pioneer of the English naturalistic landscaping that began in the early Georgian period.  Landscaping became more naturalistic. Instead of the formal rococo or baroque  gardens of the French and Dutch, we see vistas that have been carefully crafted to take your eye to a picturesque garden focal point or building. Kent’s garden focal points included garden follies such as artificial ruins, grottoes, pagodas and temples.  Stowe in Buckinghamshire has some great example of the work of William Kent.

 

Amongst Kent’s focal points are the hermitage, the temple of Venus, the Elysian fields, the Temple of British Worthies and the Temple of Ancient Virtue.

 

 

 

 

Kent at Rousham Park

Another example of Kent’s work can be seen at Rousham Park, where the garden has become a place of pilgrimage for fans of the landscaping of William Kent. One of the landscaping design features used by landscapers of this era was the ha-ha or sunken fence.

With the Ha-Ha landscaping design feature the landscaper could separate the landscaped grounds of the estate from the areas where the farm animals grazed without a fence interrupting the view. The Ha-ha was also used by landscaping genius Lancelot “Capability” Brown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lancelot “Capability” Brown the greatest Landscaper of all time.

Lancelot Brown is probably the most famous landscape designer in English History and is widely known as England’s greatest gardener. He is also known as the father of Landscape Design. In his younger years he worked on some projects to drain some of the Fens and it is widely believed that this is where he developed his knowledge of hydrology and how to apply it to landscaped design.

 

 

When it comes to the design of water features such as lakes, streams and ponds, Capability Brown was a genius. It is hard to imagine how the shear volume of work being undertaken by Brown was achieved in a time when not everybody was literate. In a time before the railways, Brown criss-crossed the country to supervise his huge landscaping projects.

 

Over 250 landscapes have been attributed to Capability Brown and his list of clients include the King, the Prime Minister and several members of the House of Lords. Landscapers like Kent and Brown were the “Rock Stars” of their era. Their well connected list of contacts ensured they were in prime position for the high end landscaping projects.

Brown’s English landscapes totalled around 52,000 Hectares. To put this in perspective, it would be like landscaping the whole area of Toorak 120 times without any machinery.

Landscaping on a Grand Scale

Brown’s landscaping included moving villages or churches, manually digging lakes and moving large trees to different locations. Like Kent, his landscaping style was towards naturalistic landscapes with views of buildings or focal points framed by trees. The landscape was designed to reveal a view of the main home only when it was close enough to give it the “wow” factor.

As with William Kent, Brown worked on the landscaped gardens at Stowe. Brown also manage a stint as Royal Gardener to King George III at Hampton Court Palace, but it is for his achievements at gardens like Blenheim Palace that he is best known.

During Brown’s first years as a gardener at Stowe, he was involved in many of the landscape construction projects on the estate. This gave the young Lancelot Brown the opportunity to learn more about landscaping and constructions. There is little doubt that he was heavily influenced by the landscaping work of William Kent and perhaps to a lesser extent by the architecture of James Gibbs.

Early in his time at Stowe, Brown was involved in the construction of a gothic church folly designed by James Gibbs. Brown later designed a gothic church for the landscape at Croome which bears some similarities to the James Gibbs design.

Croome Court Home and Landscaping

After leaving Stowe, Brown had a major landscaping project at Croome Court. Croome Court is around 12 km east of Great Malvern and upstream from the confluence of the rivers Severn Avon. This area, just north of Tewksbury, known for its flooding and Marshy land, so Capability Brown was the right landscaper for the job. The project involved a redesign of both the house and Landscape. The house was redesigned by Browne in the Palladian style and the marshy landscape cleverly drained into an artificial serpentine river. This was a landscaping project where Capability Brown was able to use his drainage skills learnt in the fens of East Anglia.

The landscaping at Croome now looks entirely natural but it is in fact totally man made.

 

On a small hill on the property, Brown designed a classical rotunda as a place from where the landscape could be admired.

 

The Lake at Croome Court took hundreds of men more than 10 years to complete by hand.

 

 

The lake constructed by Brown looks like a natural river. It winds through the parkland for a distance of just under 3 kilometres with the end just out of sight around a bend. This helps create the illusion of a river.

 

 

 

There are more than 18 drainage culverts built by Brown as part of the landscaping. Most of these are brick lined and still function as a drain to remove water from the land and channel it to the lake.

 

 

Capability Brown created a gothic church on some high land in the park. There are great views of the estate from this position.

 

Tree Planting

One of Browns lasting legacies was the the massive tree plantings on his landscaping projects. Some of his landscapes were second only to  Kew Gardens for biodiversity. The full impact of Brown’s landscaping prowess would not have been apparent for generations after the initial construction. The Cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani) is a member of the Pinaceae family and is regarded as one of Brown’s signature trees.  It is now often seen in many British Grand Estates including Brown’s landscaping at Compton Verney.

Capability Brown at Compton Verney

The upper bridge over the lake may have been designed by architect John Adam, but it was constructed during Brown’s time at Copton Verney.

 

 

 

 

Humphry Repton

Repton was a landscaper in the same style as Capability Brown and saw himself as the successor to Brown. He was able to design landscapes with the naturalistic appearance of Brown, but with landscaping of the “Picturesque” added to the mix. Amongst Repton’s famous works is Sheringham Park in Norfolk. Repton invented the term “Landscape Gardener” and was known for showing his landscape clients illustrated before and after views in his landscaping “Red Book”. Repton’s first commission was for a landscape at Catton Hall north of Norwich. This landscape included a gothic cottage with a thatched roof.

Lord Berwick at Attingham

In 1797 Lord Berwick commissioned Landscape Gardener Humphry Repton to make improvements to the landscaping of his property Attingham near Shrewsbury. Repton’s landscape designs were illustrated in his “Red Book”  which was presented to Lord Berwick for his library.

Landscape Design Only

In contrast to Capability Brown, Repton’s services were provided as landscape design only and he did not oversee the construction of his landscape designs. Repton’s landscape designs were handed to the client as his famous Red Book. In this book, Repton pioneered the “before and after” landscape design concept that many landscaper designers use today.

 

 

 

 

 

Humpry Repton at Stoneleigh Abbey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some properties like Chastleton House in Oxfordshire have been attributed to Repton and is listed by the Nation Trust as a possible Repton Landscape.

To be continued…..

 

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Landscape Design Melbourne

 

 

 

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Sources, References. Landscaping Websites and Further Information

 

ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA

 

Gardens Illustrated

 

https://www.nd.edu/stories//vatican-dharma/

 

http://www.giorgiogalletti.com/

 

https://youtu.be/pIWMzwedSqg

 

https://www.paleishetloo.com/

 

https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/

 

http://www.capabilitybrown.org/sites/default/files/final_cb_generic_leaflet.pdf

 

http://web.mit.edu/21h.405/www/hadrian/Hadrian%27s%20Villa/Canopus.html

 

The Gardens Trust – Humphry Repton

 

Why the Pantheon has not crumbled

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creating a hedge and tree pruning are gardening techniques which can be used to great effect in any virtually any size of garden. These techniques can be used to control and direct the size, shape and direction of plant growth. When combined with plant supports, such as trellises and other plants, an interesting garden effect can be created. Of course, pruning is also used to encourage fruit tree growth and to improve plant health by encouraging air circulation. The use of hedge planting and pruning has been a feature of mediterranean gardens and English classic garden design for centuries.

If shrubs and trees are allowed to grow uncontrolled, they may become to large for the space in your garden. Often branches are left at an awkward height near pathways that can result in safety issues. It is often the case that a tree of shrub will become misshaped through natural growth and some pruning is required to improve its aesthetics.

For flowering shrubs and trees, the correct pruning technique will encourage new growth of younger shoots and in some cases more flowering in the longer term. Annual pruning of fruit trees will often result in better quality and larger fruit as well as a reduction in fungal diseases.

Keeping your garden hedge well maintained in the first place, will save you money and add value to your property. A hedge that is not well maintained may not only lose its shape, but will leave bare patches of hedge when it is finally shaped with the trimmer or saw.

Espalier
Originally developed in Europe to grow fruit trees in a microclimate, a warm wall was used to provide heat and support to the plant. Later, trellises were also used to support espalier plants.

Supports for espalier plants now include wooden, metal and wire supports as well as stone, brick and even glass walls. Espalier is a great technique for improving the look of a fence or wall especially in the case of a small garden.

Pleaching
Pleaching is a great technique for creating a screen for garden privacy. Pleaching can be applied not only in a straight line, but also as a circle or rectangle.

Pleaching is a great way to create a green privacy screen in your garden. It can also be used to create an impenetrable hedge which can be used as a fence. It makes a nice alternative to a wire fence in rural areas.

If you would like a qualified horticulturist to take a look at your hedging needs contact us.

Click here for more Landscaping Ideas

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For mored advice on how to trim hedges ;

check the Stihl garden trimmer site;
https://www.stihl.in/the-correct-way-to-cut-hedges.aspx

Contact Experienced Landscape Gardeners

For all of your garden maintenance needs or help with the design  and development or your landscaping ideas, contact one of our experienced Landscape Gardeners. We can help with small garden design all the way up to  Commercial Landscape design.  Our specialities include fast growing screening plants, plant health as well as horticulture, garden lighting  and outdoor pool landscaping ideas.

 

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Espaliered plants were originally developed in Europe to grow fruit trees in a warm microclimate. A warm wall was used to provide heat and support to the plant. Later, trellises were also used to support espalier plants.

Supports for Espaliered plants

Supports for espalier plants now include wooden, metal and wire supports as well as stone, brick and even glass walls.

 

Espalier Ideas in Landscaping

Espalier is a great technique for improving the look of a fence or wall especially in the case of a small garden. One of the problems with narrow garden is the question of how to create visual balance. Espaliered plants can help to give a narrow garden asymmetrical balance and also soften any hard surfaces. This landscaping design idea will also make a small garden appear larger. 

Popular Espaliered Plants

What fruit trees are the best for Espalier?

Often fruit trees are grown in espaliered form along a warm wall. Apples and pears are popular choices, but you could also try this with peaches and apricots.

What ornamental trees can be espaliered?

 

How to create your own espaliered tree

The first step on creating your own espalier tree is to construct the training system on a fence or wall. For this you will need to make horizontal cables or wires around 400mm apart. Good quality stainless steel cables will look best but are a bit more expensive. The distance apart  for the trees will depend on the type of tree and how vigorous the tree growth is. The following steps are as follows;

1. Cut back the trunk to around 300mm high.
2. Allow the top 3 buds to grow out in the springtime.
3. Train the uppermost shoot to grow vertically up a cane.
4. Tie the other shoots to canes at around 45 degrees and carefully lower them to a horizontal position with twine in the first winter.
5. Cut the vertical stem to within 450mm of the lower branches. It is important to have 3 buds at the uppermost point, as two buds will form the next horizontal layer and the top bud will form the next vertical leader.
6. The following years will be a repeat of step 4.

 

 

Espaliered Plants on a Brick Garden wall.

 

 

 

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Melbourne Cottage Gardens owe much to the English cottage gardens of the 1800s. If you have a Cottage Style Home or a heritage style home, there is a lot you can do in the garden to give your home garden that authentic look. Many of the garden design ideas can also be applied to you small Melbourne garden.

The history of Cottage Gardens.

Melbourne cottage gardens designs can trace their heritage back to the English cottage gardens of the 19th century. These, in turn have origins going back centuries earlier in 87 AD. When the Romans invaded Britain, they brought with them many plants with both medicinal and food supply purposes. Later, Emperor Charlemagne even went so far as to recommend what plants should be grown. In Capitulare de villis, which guided the governance of royal estates, Charlemagne recommended many plants from southern Europe. These plants included gladiolus, cucumbers, melons, cumin, rosemary, artichokes and fennel. Many of these plants would have looked and tasted much different to the plants we harvest today. The result of Charlemagne’s decree in around 780 AD, was to greatly increase the variety of plants grown in the royal estates.

The Monastery Garden

The monks in monasteries created gardens to not only feed themselves, but also to produce medicines and essential oils. Within the walls of the monasteries, the monks developed sophisticated garden designs which formed the basis of the cottage gardens we know today. As well as food crops, monks also developed cheeses, beers and alcoholic spirits. Some the products developed by monks are still famous today. Monks also made money through the production of honey and lavender. Lavender water was manufactured my monks by diluting essential oils produced through the distillation of lavender flowers. This was an early example of a cottage industry.

 

Garden diversity

The age of discovery lead to a boom in garden diversity. Many new garden plants were brought back from the new world and the Far East to add to the European plants already in cultivation. Botanical Gardens were established in most major cities to further horticultural research and the use of plants for medicinal purposes. Exotic plants were also propagated for their beauty as garden plants.

 

Melbourne Botanical Gardens

 

On a swampy site near the Yarra River, the Melbourne Botanical Gardens were established in 1846 by Lieutenant Governor Charles La Trobe. The first director of the Melbourne Botanical Gardens was famous Botanist Ferdinand Von Mueller. Von Mueller’s garden design included a formal garden with a specific educational purpose. This garden was designed to show the relationships between families of plants. Horticultural shows also took place in the gardens during Von Mueller’s time, bring the beauty of flowering plants to masses of people in inner city Melbourne.

Melbourne Botanical Gardens – The “Master of Landscaping”.

The next director after Von Mueller was the “master of landscaping” William Guilfoyle. During Guilfoyle’s time in charge, many of the landscaping features in the Melbourne Botanical Gardens were established. This included the sweeping lawns and the use of foliage plants that we see in many Melbourne Gardens today.

 

The evolution of English Cottage Gardens

 

Industrialisation and urbanisation lead to changes to the English Cottage gardens. During the industrial revolution, the philanthropic movements assisted Britain’s poor to establish their own garden allotments. These enabled families to grow fruit and vegetables either next to their house or together in green belts in the towns and villages. This no doubt improved the quality of life amongst English families.

With greater middle-class wealth, many humble cottage gardens began to emulate the plantings seen in the wealthy estates. Cottage gardens were no longer just to sustain a family but became a source of beauty as well.

 

Cottage Gardens and the Arts and Crafts Movement

 

The excesses of industrialisation during the Victorian era lead to the establishment of the Arts and Crafts movement. This was born of a desire to restore simplicity to buildings and furnishings and revive traditional craftsmanship. The effect of this movement on garden design and in particular cottage garden design, was enormous.

 

These gardens used natural materials and traditional craftsmanship and echoed the architectural elements of the  garden design.

 

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1. French Landscape design

French landscape design were said to originate in 1662. It was during this time that King Louis XIV imprisoned the then superintendent of finances Nicolas Fouquet for embezzling royal funds. Fouquet’s ambition to build his own private and luxurious Chateau at Vaux-le-Vicomte had led to his disgrace and allowed King Louis XIV to shift his attention to the Gardens of Versailles. It was here, and with the aid of Fouquet’s architect (Louis Le Vau), painter (Charles Le Brun) and landscape architect (Andre Le Notre) that the Gardens of Versailles would become one of the largest and most remarkable gardens in Europe. 

Gardens of Versailles

The chateau’s expansion followed shortly after the gardens, with both having tours carefully managed. In bringing this space to life existing Bosquets and Parterres were enhanced and new ones were designed and built. The most significant and influential creations at this time were the Versailles Orangerie and Parterre. It was this attraction where the architectural talent and creativity of Louis Le Vau’s design symbolised both the building itself and the parterre, becoming an irresistible attraction to visiting diplomats and foreign royalty, even to liking of King William III.

 

The Versailles Orangerie was first completed in 1663, then in 1678 a ten-year growth plan was decided to create what has been described as Jules Hardouin-Mansart crowning achievements, replacing the Louis Le Vau design of 1663. The Orangerie doubled in size and was modelled on theories from master gardener and horticulturist Jean-Baptiste de La Quintinie, whose writings discuss a detailed system for protecting exotic plants from the harsh cold without the use of any artificial heating. 

Aerial snapshot of Versailles

Trees of Versailles

As Louis XIV lived out his reign in Versailles, he became allergic to the perfumed flowers and developed a preferred smell of citrus trees, his favorite being orange trees which he had potted in silver tubs and placed around the Palace. After the Fouquet’s incident, Louis had over 1,000 orange trees removed from Nicolas’s property and transferred to the Orangerie, by the 1790’s there were several thousand trees. During the winter, the trees were sheltered in a cathedral like space and the gardeners would burn fires during the coldest months which were cleverly designed to heat the housing of the trees. 

French gardeners were able to keep the citrus trees blooming throughout the year, by withholding water, valuable nutrients and using pruning techniques. It wasn’t until a visit from John Locke, who described the peculiar appearance of the trees as small heads and thick trunks, as a consequence of the planters not allowing correct rooting into the soil below. Gardener Valentin Lopin created an extremely useful device in 1689 to assist with the transportation of the larger citrus trees which were originally shipped from Italy. 

 

French Garden popularity

The Orangerie parterre covers over three hectares and during the reign of Louis XIV was ornamented with several sculptures, which are now housed in the Musee du Louvre museum. It’s said that French landscape designs are seen as an extension of the existing architecture, creating a series of rooms within the garden by using compact hedges and bodies of water to execute the meticulous, elegant and rich designs. Today, the French gardens still have a strong influence and presence in our society, being one of the most popular and hard- to-perfect designs. The french landscape design also has a very strong popularity in Melbourne inner city and south eastern suburbs, such as Toorak, Malvern and Armerdale. Where you can find beautiful french provicial homes with classic gardens inspired by the versailles orangerie 

 

It is easy to be tempted into driving straight into a design for your landscape. It is advisable to take time and plan your landscape design properly before you start. While at it, consider the plants that are likely to perform best in the climate of your area and the purpose of your landscape among other things. For more inspiration on Landscape design please refer back to our blog where you can find many more articles on Landscape design

 

 

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The winter is characterised with weeds, heavy soaking, low sunlight levels, and frost, which, for us humans, means staying covered and resting mostly indoors. But for lawns, the winter is a critical time to survive and require as much help as possible to stay healthy. Here are tips to keep your lawn healthy during the colder months.

Provide abundant sunlight to your lawn

It is advisable to leave grass clippings after mowing during the warmer months. This is because they can supply nutrients from the grass. Also, leaving behind grass clippings can save you lots of work.

But during autumn and winter, you will be better off removing clippings and leaves from the turf. This way, your lawn will receive ample air and sunlight that it requires to survive during the cold months.

If there are lots of trees on your lawn, you should prune them to ensure your lawn receives more sunlight.

Mow higher and less frequently

The first thing you will notice when the cooler months set in is that grass growth rate decreases. When this happens, you are advised to raise the mowing height to avoid damaging the grass, something that can lead to browning and scalping. Frequent scalping weakens the grass, leaving it exposed to weeds and diseases.

When mowing your lawn, avoid cutting the grass lower than 2.5 cm. Also reduce the frequency of mowing your grass to approximately every 3 or 4 weeks. You can also mow your grass when the grass blade length exceeds 6 cm.

Aerate the soil

High traffic volume, coupled with higher temperatures, can compact the soil. This, in turn, can prevent the roots of the grass from receiving the optimal resources required for their thriving and growth. You can choose to manually perforate the soil using a hand rake. Alternatively, you can enlist the services of a professional to do the job for you.

Fertilise

Although your grass will grow remarkably slower during the winter, it still requires a steady delivery of nutrients. Firstly, make sure your soil is checked to see what nutrients are lacking and then buy the right fertiliser that contains the right nutrient combination.

Stop watering

You should desist from watering your lawn unless the grass appears very dry. And the best time to water your lawn is early in the morning. If you water your lawn too much during the colder months, it risks inviting fungi to your grass.

Weed Vigilantly

Weeds, unlike other types of turf, are unbowed by the harsh winter conditions. As a matter of fact, they appear to thrive in these unforgiving conditions. Be proactive and come up with a weekly weeding regimen to keep the unwanted plants in check.

Reds Landscaping Can Help!

Does it appear like the grass is always greener on the other side? Are your lawn care tips for the winter not working? Maybe you need to call in a pro. The experts at Reds Landscaping offer free tips and advice to help you keep your lawn and property in the best states. Just email or call us on 0424 350 910 for professional assistance with your lawn care this winter.

 

Tulips are members of the Lily (Liliaceae) family. They have a very diverse range of colours, sizes shapes and forms. Tulips have an incredible impact when they are grown in mass plantings in a garden bed but are also great in pots, as companion plants, or mixed in different colours or flowers in a grassy meadow.

Field of Colorful Tulip Flowers in Bloom with Sun Flares and Bokeh

Tulips have at least 75 different species divided into 15 different groups. These vary in flower size, structure, form and habit.  In all there are over 6000 cultivars. The original wild varieties of tulip, come from the Altai mountain range where China, Russia, Mongolia and Kazakhstan meet. Wild tulips can be found in a band stretching in a band from Altai to southern Europe through Turkey. The climate in these mountains consist of freezing Cold winters and hot dry summers. These are also the conditions that most modern tulips thrive under. As a period of cold temperatures is required for flowering, in some parts of Australia you will need to cool the bulbs in your fridge crisper for a few weeks.

Tulips are also available with 2 colours on the same flower. This red and yellow looks great on the one flower.

Tulip history and Tulip mania.

The name tulip comes from the Turkish word tülbent meaning turban. This is probably due to the shape of the flowers resembling a turban. These days, tulips are closely associated with the Netherlands due to a historical co-incidence. The ambassador of the 16^th century Habsburg monarchy was given some tulip bulbs to take take to Vienna by the Turkish Sultan. The ambassador then passed some bulbs on to his friend, Flemish botanist Charles de l’Ecluse who was caring for the emperor’s garden in Vienna. Later de l’Ecluse was given a teaching appointment in Leiden in Holland. As the director of the local botanical gardens, his experiments with tulip bulbs soon caught the attention of the wealthy residents of Leiden. Tulips soon became a much sought-after import to the Netherlands. The tulip mania that followed led to tulip bulbs reaching the same price as an Amsterdam canal house. Today’s tulip mania takes a much different form. It consists of people make long pilgrimages to places like Keukenhof in the Netherlands, or Tessalaar’s in the Dandenongs outside Melbourne to take thousands of selfies and photos of the spectacular seas of colour of the tulips. More recently, some interesting hybrid varieties have been created using some of the original wild varieties from southern Asia.

Garden Landscaping Ideas with Tulips

 

Tulips can be planted in mass plantings in a garden bed with each colour in its own row or graded in a continual blend from pale yellow, brilliant yellow to orange to red.

Landscape Design Idea. Tulips in an ornamental flower bed in Keukenhof Garden, Netherlands. The colours alternate in rows pink, yellow and red. Note how the slightly raised yellow near the centre adds to the depth perception this garden. This design concept can be used to make a small garden appear larger than it really is.

On top tip for growing tulips in large beds like this is to leave gaps between the bulbs so that extra bulbs can be added a few weeks later. This will give your garden a longer period in bloom.

Landscaping idea. Tulips planted as a colour gradient from yellow to red with a few pink ones hidden amongst the crowd.

Planted in clusters on the edge of a garden bed by the lawn. Starting with deep red at one end and graduating to a lighter red, then orange and finally yellow. This effect can also make a small garden appear larger. Note also the contrasting foliage.

Tulips grouped into small clusters near garden paving

 

Tulips are brilliant to mix with other plants which flower around the same time. Try planting them with daffodils or plant them with blue plants like Blue Mascari, or combine with other emerging annuals. The results will be spectacular.

 

Tulips along the edge of a garden path.

Garden idea. Plant near a topiary or standard plant like a Buxus Sempervirens or Murraya. This will give your tulip added contrast.

 

Mass plantings of tulips in a large tub or pot can create a stunning effect. Plant the bulbs in two different layers at different depths to create this effect.

Plant tulip bulbs in groups of terracotta pots.

Design Idea. Red and yellow flowers in the foreground with lighter creams in the background makes a small garden appear larger.

Landscaping idea. Dark red tulip flowers go well with the yellow daffodils and the earthy brown stone behind.

Garden design idea. Grow two different varieties together in terracotta pots. One tall variety in the centre and a shorter one on the outside. For added effect try a blue trailing flower on the edge of the pots.

 

Two different tulip colours in a concrete pot.

Two varieties of tulips in a single concrete pot close up. This red and white tulip looks spectacular in pots.

Garden design idea. Try combining dark red and yellow tulips in the same garden bed.

Garden design idea. Tulips in garden beds with yellow and red flowers.

 

Landscape garden idea. Two different shades of pink planted with white tulips.

The pinks and whites look great together.

 

Garden design idea. Cluster together with white daffodils.

 

Landscaping design idea. Plant in raised garden beds with contrasting foliage like grasses.

 

Garden Design Idea. Plant with blue companion plants.

Mixed Plantings with Tulips

Garden Planning. Plant taller lighter coloured plants towards the back and shorter plants near the edge.

Meadow planting with tulips and daffodils.

Plant in the grass under trees in a meadow with a variety of colours and flower forms. This will attract pollenating insects like bees and butterflies to your garden. This will in turn attract bird life. Plant you meadow with a variety of bulbs like daffodils, to lengthen the time in flower and feed the bees for a longer period of time.

Landscaping idea. Growing tulips in a grassy meadow under trees. The bees and other insects in your garden will love it. The red and green looks great together.

Garden Maintenance. Planting and Care of your Tulip Bulbs.

Growing tulips in Australia

 

Plant in late Autumn or late April to Early May. In warmer parts of Australia they may need to be in the fridge crisper for a few weeks prior to planting.  An old egg carton is ideal for this. If the ground is still heating up from the sunlight, plant your bulbs a little deeper in the soil to protect them from the heat. Bulbs can be ordered from Tesselaar’s that are pre chilled ready to plant.

Heavy clay soils, dig in some organic matter with vermiculite, perlite or even some potting mix. Plant around 20mm deep in pots, or around 80mm – 150mm deep in the garden. Alway check the planting depth with your supplier. The rule of thumb is the planting depth should be around 2.5 times the bulb width. Tesselaars recommend planting the bulbs 3 times the bulb height in Australia. Plant in full sun. Lightly fertilize the plants just as the flowers are starting to emerge. Tulips are reasonably low maintenance if you by healthy bulbs from a reputable supplier and plant in well drained soil.  If you plant the bulbs deeply enough it is easy to cultivate around the plants with a Dutch hoe until they get fully established.

Good drainage and a  period of cold weather is essential for your tulips. Don’t let them go to seed unless you are planning on a wild meadow. Remove the flowers, but make sure you keep the leaves, so that all of the goodness can be taken back into the bulb for next year. For best results, remove the bulbs from the soil and store them in a cool dry place. Use a hessian bag for storage rather than a plastic bag.

Tulip varieties and cultivars

The varieties available and the best performing varieties, will depend on where you are planting your tulips. Always check with your local plant supplier. The flowers listed below we give you some idea of the various flower shapes, but these varieties will not necessarily be available in all areas.

Affaire Tulip

 

Blue Diamond Tulip

 

Bulldog a fringed tulip that grows to 50cm.

 

Chelsea Blue Parrot

 

Dream Land. Another white and red tulip.

 

Estella Rijnveld. A white and red tulip with fringes.

 

Mariette

 

 

 

Tulips – White Rebel

Tulips – White Dream grows to 50 cm.

White and Red Tulip. Carnaval de Nice Grows to 50 cm.

Purple Prince early single grows to 40cm.

Flaming Baltic a fringed tulip that grows to 50 cm.

Fringed. Grows to 50 cm

 

Wedding Gift

 

Happy Generation. Mid season flowering grows to 50 cm.

 

Christmas Orange. An early single variety. Grows to 40cm.

 

Caribbean Parrot large fringed and ruffled flowers grows to 40cm

 

Tulips – Renegade. Mid-season flowering red tulip. Grows to 45cm.

 

Tulips – Uncle Tom Grows to 45 cm.

 

Sunny Prince grows to 40 cm.

 

Apricot Parrot grows to 50cm.

Tulips – Foxy Foxtrot an early double tulip. Grows to 40cm.

Tulips – Strong Gold a Mid-season flowering tulip that grows to 40cm.

Brown Sugar a mid-season flowering tulip that grows to 50cm.

Francoise. This tall mid -season flowering tulip, opens as a creamy yellow flower. As the flower matures, the colour fades to a creamy creamy white. This is an ideal plant to put further back in your garden to increase the perception of depth. A great design trick for a smaller garden.

Helmar is another tall mid-season flowering tulip. Growing to 55cm, this is a good plant to place slightly further back in your garden. The red and yellow petals look great.

Fly away is a tall lily shaped tulip growing to 60cm.

 

 

Golden Oxford is a very popular Darwin Hybrid tulip growing to 45cm.

Where can you see tulips?

Many towns and cities have annual tulips festivals in the spring. Every year in the Dandenongs outside Melbourne the Tesselaar Tulip Festival takes place from mid September to mid October. 

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The daffodil is a springtime favourite amongst many gardeners in Melbourne. This hardy perennial bulb is easy to grow and can be a stunning feature in your garden design. Originating in northern Europe and widely cultivated in gardens both in North America and northern Europe the attractive orange, pink, white (Thalia) or especially yellow trumpet flowers are available in a number of varieties and cultivars. Daffodils belong to the genus Narcissus and can grow to more than 520mm high, but there are dwarf varieties like tete a tete available. A daffodil bulb will generally grow around six leaves each of which will usually have a single flower. The trumpet shaped corona contains the stamens and is surrounded by a corolla consisting of six tepals.

Garden Design with Daffodil. The trumpet shaped corona contains the stamens and is surrounded by a corolla consisting of six tepals.

The history of Daffodil gardening.

The daffodil now has thousands of cultivars with distinct individual characteristics. Much of the diversity we owe to the famous garden nurseryman Peter Barr from Govan in Scotland. Barr traveled to Spain and Portugal in the late 1880s going from town to town by horse, and then though the Pyrenees on a donkey, to collect bulbs to bring back to the United Kingdom. By then Barr was in his seventies, but that did not stop him travelling and sleeping out with a blanket as he continued his search for exotic flowers. With the help of his travels, Govan was able to create a daffodil bulb collection of over 400 varieties.

Daffodil varieties for your garden design.

There is a great deal of choice when it comes to selecting daffodil varieties. Some varieties of daffodil to look for include the Carlton, which grows enormous flowers up to 120mm across and has a very deep cup. This daffodil will also grow to nearly ½ metre tall. Easy to grow it will spread by itself in colder climates. Jack the lad has double peony like flowers that are yellow and orange. When mature, it can produce two or 3 flowers on one stem. The blue-green stems creates a complimentary colour scheme with the orange yellow flowers. This makes it a great choice for growing on large clumps, entire garden beds or mass plantings.

Garden Design. Daffodils are available in a varieties of yellow orange and white flowers. They look great in terracotta pots.

Bulbs are generally grown up to 5 years old before being available for sale. If your daffodil stops flowering (becomes blind), dig them up in  Autumn, then separate and replant. The daffodil needs lots of water, but should not be waterlogged. Consider putting a layer of vermiculite near the bulb. Plant twice the depth of the bulb for best results.

Daffodil Maintenance, Care and Planting

Daffodils can be planted in Autumn and will grow in most climates except tropical. They require a period of chilling in order to flower.  You can plant your daffodil in part shade to full sun in well drained and well fertilised soil. The daffodil can be planted in pots, lawns, or garden beds. One mistake, made by many gardeners, is to cut the stems back after flowering. If you allow the stems to die back naturally, more nutrients will go into the bulbs for next year’s growth.

Daffodil Garden Design Ideas

Plant as mass plantings, in terracotta pots or in clumps with violas and pansies as companion plants.

Contact us

For help with the design  and development or your landscaping ideas, contact one of our experienced Landscape Gardeners.

We can help with small garden design all the way up to  Commercial Landscape design.

Our specialities include fast growing screening plants, plant health and horticulture, garden lighting  and outdoor pool landscaping ideas.

Daffodils and symbolism

As one of the first plants to flower in springtime, the daffodil has come to represent hope, rebirth, and new beginnings. Every year the cancer council has a daffodil day to raise money for cancer research.

“The daffodil is the international symbol of hope and with every daffodil sold, Cancer Council can invest in life-saving research to give Australians the best chance of survival.”

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The Magnolia is a garden plant well known to most Melbourne Gardeners and also to gardeners in cooler climates like Tasmania and Northern Europe. Varieties and cultivars available locally in Melbourne include Grandiflora Teddy Bear, Magnolia Grandiflora Little Gem,  Grandiflora Exmouth and Magnolia Fairy.

The Magnolia Genus

The Genus  includes more than 230 species of trees and shrubs that are originally native to East Asia, the Himalayas, and to North and South America. They can be either deciduous or evergreen which is surprising in itself. Although famous for their spectacular  and fragrant pink, purple, yellow or white cup shaped flowers, some are even a source of timber. It it is not just the huge flowers that make the magnolia an attractive plant.

The much loved features of the Magnolia

The vibrant green smooth leaves are also an attractive feature as well as the often colourful cone shaped fruit. Magnolias exist in the fossil records for more than 25 million years. Meaning that they are one of the earliest flowering plants on the planet.

How does the magnolia get pollinated?

Magnolias existed even before most of our flying pollenating insects had evolved. As a result, they depended on beetles for pollination. Even today, you can see many varieties have  tough leathery outer petals, and woody carpels to make the flowers tough enough to cope with beetles pollenating the plants. Magnolias flower for just a short time, but when they do flower, they are spectacular.

The  Exmouth is an evergreen variety that originated in Exmouth in Devon in the United Kingdom. The huge heavily scented creamy yellow flowers, that appear in late summer and early Autumn, can be up to 25 cm across. The glossy oblong leaves are also an attractive feature. This plant will grow up to 10m high and 10 m wide, but will flower when still quite young. Planting a few mature trees in your backyard will very quickly screen out your neighbours.

Small Garden Landscaping Ideas with Magnolias

If you are looking for small garden design ideas, then there are small slow growing dwarf varieties and cultivars that will suit you. One of our favourites at Red’s Landscape gardening is Magnolia grandiflora Little Gem.  The little gem is like a miniature version  of the Exmouth. Little Gem is happy with both partial shade and full sun. It is a smaller version of the evergreen bull bay magnolia but it will slowly grow to a height of around 5 metres with a spread of around 3 metres. It has attractive oval or elliptical shaped leaves and small flowers.

Small Garden Design Idea. Magnolia Little Gem in a planter pot. Box hedge and lavender as well as pansies provide design contrast with the dark green leaves of the magnolia.

 

Garden care and maintenance for your Magnolias

Once established, your plants will be fairly low maintenance. These plants prefer well drained fertile soil that is rich in humus and organic matter. Keep them well mulched. Some varieties may require tree staking if you have a wind swept coastal garden. The PH level of the soil will depend on the variety you choose, but most prefer slightly acidic soil. If possible, thy to position your magnolia with full sun in the morning with some shade in the afternoon.

Contact us

For help with the design  and development or your landscaping ideas, contact one of our experienced Landscape Gardeners.

 

We can help with small garden design all the way up to  Commercial Landscape design.

 

Our specialities include fast growing screening plants, plant health and horticulture, garden lighting  and outdoor pool landscaping ideas.

For more landscape garden design ideas, take a look at our Garden Design blog.

 

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More Information about Magnolias.

Gardening Australia

Generally, redesigning your landscape involves choosing features of landscaping and incorporating them into the perfect design. You want a landscape that will last for years, so get ready to invest some time. Ask yourself these 6 questions before you re-design your home’s landscaping.

Do you understand your yard?

To begin with, the landscaping design reinvents your yard by introducing new different features. These features that are determined by three components:

• The level of shade.
• Topography.
• The plants, shrubs and trees that populate your yard.

How do these three components influence your design? Specifically, summers are a pretty hot time, and while people might spend their late afternoons or evenings in the backyard, the sun hangs out all day. The extreme heat can damage landscaping, while tree canopies can leave dry, shaded areas that aren’t easy to populate with lovely plants. The shade of your yard becomes an important component in landscape design.

In addition, the topography influences design because it creates opportunities to add beautiful features while it still engages in a functional role, like draining your yard. Such functional roles won’t be altered by landscaping that improves a swale or an existing crest for instance. Transforming a ridge and low lying area with terracing or a sloping flower bed succeeds at different levels. Your neighbours will be impressed by your landscape design Melbourne.

Finally, the climate you live in has a lot to do with the plants, trees or shrubs you choose to put into the landscape. At the same time, your selection of trees, shrubs and flowers also influence the types of soil in your region.

How do you expect to use your newly landscaped yard?

One of the great things about landscape design Melbourne is how people determine to use it? The backyard bar-b-q expert will attest to a design’s success when it makes possible saucy smoked ribs or pulled pork. So, the obvious question to ask before you begin is how will people use the new landscape? Will children use the yard? How about adults or animals?

With that in mind, the landscape design’s objective is to create a place apart from the hustle and bustle of the world and give the occupants a sense of place and belonging, as strong a sense as they enjoy inside their house. Landscapes can shut out the outside world and inspire the imaginations of people in it.

To illustrate, the families’ focus on the children today might determine the focus of landscape design. When looking at orienting the design toward people, the placement of ordinary furniture becomes important. The design for a family’s space can include cooking area, dining area, and a place identical to a family room, a place where kids can dig in, have fun and share space with adults. It can involve anything as simple as a swing or as big as a kid’s double chaise lounge.

With the users in mind, designers may create spaces for furniture like hanging Hammocks or sprawling lounge chairs that capture the imaginations of the people in it. Also, the adults might want to create a kids’ corner with a kiddie’s picnic table and umbrella, a place where kids can enjoy some independence from the adult world.

How much money do you want to spend on your new Landscaping?

The budget and the value of the property are both determining factors of how much money you want to invest in landscaping. While landscaping doesn’t increase the living space of your home, it does have an impact on your home’s value. Experts estimate that landscaping improves your home’s value by at least ten per cent, give or take a few percentage points. On the other hand, if the home isn’t an investment, then landscaping adds to the personality of the home. The return-on-investment may be irrelevant in that case. In landscaping Melbourne, you don’t want to spend $100,000 on landscaping on a house that’s valued at $250,000.

In the second place, you should consider the question of labour when drawing up a budget for landscaping. At this point, you might want to do the work yourself or hire the job out to a professional. Farming the work out may be expensive, but you get a professional’s skill and experience, and a contractor who takes responsibility for the work. On the other hand, a do-it-yourself job can often be as good and you have money to either pocket or invest in a feature like privacy landscaping trees.

What is the design premise for your back yard?

Speaking of privacy landscaping trees, often there’s a feature you want to emphasize or experiment within landscape design. It can be an overarching idea, or it can be just one part of the landscape that subtly resounds through the design.

One of the most popular landscape premises is the backyard bird or butterfly garden. People who want to attract birds and butterflies can do it with landscape design. By the same token, a landscape devoted to growing organic vegetables is another concept. Clearly, limiting the design to one idea is possible, but the likelihood is that the landscape will be used for many reasons, but none of that violates the idea that is expressed in the design. The family who wants to devote the landscape to raising children have a host of ideas to communicate but aren’t limited to creating only kids’ spaces.

You can combine your many interests in the design too. For example, if you’re an avid golfer, put a putting green into your landscape design. If your pets love the yard, create an emphasis on pet life. The special premise for a landscape doesn’t have to be much more than a token decorative detail, or it could be a dominating feature in every corner of the design.

What’s the composition of your new landscaping design?

One of the unspoken rules of landscape design is that it will incorporate lines, colours and forms to express ideas. If you flew a drone over your yard and found a bird’s eye view of the landscaping below, how many linear elements, colours or geometric forms fit in some way with the composition? These linear features, colours and forms can be seen in flower beds, coloured brick walkways, open greens and steps or stairs.

The pre-production process in landscaping captures this best by looking at the landscapers’ tools. Those tools include sketchbooks, tracing paper, camera, printouts on construction paper, reference books, and markers and pens. The design reduces your space to scale so that it can be rendered on a computer. These are important tools in getting the composition of your landscape right. The process is complicated but it can also be inspired. Every new landscape design poses a unique challenge in composition.

What elements of your landscaping should be emphasized when you bring it together in your final design?

The principles of landscaping design bring all the elements together in a perfect design.

When your landscape design is complete, all the elements from plants to trees to walkways and green areas should adhere to the notion of harmony in proportion. An oversized potted plant won’t work in a small corner of the yard devoted to the kids. Your features might line up perfectly with one another across a central walkway to create a remarkable symmetrical space. On the other hand, you may opt for something a little more asymmetrical, with a walkway off the centre line or a path winding to a corner. One way of creating a sense of the familiar is to repeat sequences of flowers in flower beds or repeat breaks between hedges that are equal distant throughout. This repetition can be a desirable element of your landscape. Since unity is highly valued in design, it can be achieved by simply using an arrangement in a flower bed and repeat it over and over. That suggests unity to space in landscaping Melbourne.