A low maintenance garden design using Australian native plants

Over the last 12 years, the owners of this garden have transformed it into an Australian native plant garden that’s brimming with garden design ideas. Join me, Chloe from Bean There Dug That, as we delve behind the garden gate of this urban oasis in Glen Iris, Australia.

This Australian garden tells a story of transformation, from a predominantly paved driveway to a lush oasis inspired by a passion for native plants. The front yard is now home to many beautiful and sometimes rare Australian native plants – it creates privacy from the street and a habitat for local wildlife.

A focal point of the backyard is a tranquil pond, where native ferns thrive amidst fallen tree fern trunks, a testament to nature’s resilience and regeneration. Here, a quirky lamp post adds whimsy to the serene ambiance, while established trees offer shade and privacy, framing the space for Jessie, the resident “wombat,” to explore.

As we wander through the garden, we encounter surprises at every turn – from standard Grevilleas attracting bees to Finger Limes bursting with zesty pearls.

In the covered space close to the house, hanging baskets filled with mostly indoor plants thrive in a microclimate , while Wollemi Pines grow happily in pots. Over the years, she’s cultivated not just plants but a local community, sharing her love for gardening in Australia with passersby and fellow enthusiasts.

In this low-maintenance sanctuary, Debbie’s dedication has transformed a suburban space into a thriving ecosystem, showcasing the beauty and sustainability of Australian native plants in urban gardens. Don’t forget to like and subscribe for more garden tours. Until next time!

Chapters:
00:00-00:20 – Intro
00:21-01:49 – Large Australian native trees for screening & privacy in the frontyard
01:50-03:50 – Some tricky spots, dying plants and new plantings in the frontyard
03:51-04:58 – Before & after photos + some rare Australian native plants
04:59-05:29 – Foliage over flowers in this garden
05:30-06:55 – How to successfully grow Eucalyptus ‘Silver Princess’
06:56-07:28 – Grevillea ‘Superb’
07:29-08:39 – Into the backyard and exploring the natural pond
08:40-09:42 – Planting around the pond to soften and hide the edges
09:43-12:09 – Across the backyard with privacy screening, a clever fertilising regime and a beautiful bird bath
12:10-12:43 – Vines or creepers that possums don’t eat!
12:44-13:38 – What happens when the Acacia dies?
13:39-14:15 – What’s inside the Finger Lime fruit?
14:16-15:15 – The covered entertaining deck with hanging baskets
15:16-15:48 – Outro

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GARDEN DESIGN & LANDSCAPE CONSTRUCTION
Garden Design & Build by 🌱 Bev Hanson

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🌱 Chloe Thomson https://www.instagram.com/beantheredugthat/

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Bean There Dug That is an Australian gardening YouTube Channel created by Australian horticulturist and garden coach Chloe Thomson – aimed at providing gardening know-how and inspiration to all. Chloe’s also the founder of Sprout School an online gardening course designed to make anyone a better and more confident gardener 🌱

12 years ago the owners of this garden began  adding their native plant obsession from   the verge right through to the backyard the  property is now filled with mostly Australian   native plants I’m Chloe from Bean there  Dug That let’s go behind the garden gate.

Welcome to Glen Iris an inner Eastern  suburb of Melbourne 12 years ago when   the owners bought this property this  front yard was mostly driveway where   I am standing now and this garden bed  was all dedicated to car parks so what  

The owners did is got rid of all of that and  put in some garden beds for some much needed plants. Straight away we’re invited to explore  the garden by the curving paths and the narrow  

Spaces that we can’t quite see where they lead  to so we want to come in and explore further now   there was only three trees in the original garden  that they decided to keep and this Crepe Myrtle is  

One of them it’s actually lost a few branches on  this side here in the last couple of weeks which   have meant that this area of the garden now feels  a bit weird and wonky but as you can see it’s  

Starting to send up some new shoots so it will  fill in and it’s such a beautiful tree in its own right and how majestic is this big acacia which  really dominates the front yard but also offers   some privacy from the street there’s another one  of these replicated in the backyard and you’ll see  

It’s just as beautiful back there now something  that’s not so beautiful out here is this dead   Isopogan and Debbie the owner tells me that this  actually only died in the last few days I suspect  

It might be because of our very wet and kind  of odd summer this year but it could also be   suffering from the extra sun exposure because of  the Lost branches on the CRP Myrtle over here who  

Knows it’s a 12-year-old isopogan so maybe it had  just had its life. 

I like that this garden has   plenty of seating spaces as well now you might be  thinking that Debbie’s missed a few weeds cuz you   can spot a few of these little plants through  the gravel path but these are actually native  

Bulbine lilies I have them growing at my place  and they have the sweetest little yellow flowers   the tubers are actually also edible and they’re  a popular bush tucker food Debbie hasn’t planted   these these have just popped up and weirdly  enough she says even if she plants them in the  

Garden they just emerge here in the footpath  and I love that she’s just left them there. So if you look closely you can see the stump of  the two trees that they’ve had removed there’s   one here and there’s one back here as well  so to replace that height that is now gone  

Debbie’s added these two myoporum and this  one here is the M.floribundum and this one   here is the M.bateae but these will grow up  to about 2 and 1 half to 3 m tall so they’ll   really fill in this space nicely and their  drooping gentle foliage is perfect for small  

Birds to hide in this one here is covered  in almost a snow covering of white flowers   and this one has pretty mauve pinkish flowers  which will actually work really nicely with   the Crepe Myrtle now underneath there is a  lovely mix of ground covers and different  

Little plants to fill in the space as well  as some Pandorea Vines along the fence line. How majestic is this banksia this is ‘MiniMarg’  and one of Debbie’s passions – now Debbie is a   plant nerd at heart and there’s a huge range and a  great mix of sometimes very rare Australian native   plants in this garden. But she needed help to  start with from a professional so she called  

In Bev Hanson who designed the garden for her  she created the garden spaces and in came the   construction team to do all the groundwork. And  once construction was completed Debbie was able   to release her creative juices and fill the space  with plants. Now there’s some in here that I have  

Never seen before this is the fine leaf form of  the hop bush plant and its really delicate fine   leaves are again a perfect habitat for small birds  to hide in and it’s just such a really pretty  

Plant and come and check out this darwinia down  here it might not look like much now it’s hiding   under this great big flowering gum but the foliage  when you smell it it actually smells like like   bubblegum she wasn’t joking! 

And how beautiful  is this flowering gum up above the bees are going  

Bonkers for it now although this is in flower now  and there are plants in the garden that flower   at different times of the year you’ll notice  that there isn’t flowers everywhere. And that’s   because Debbie is actually most passionate about  foliage colour contrast and form so keep your  

Eyes out for the variations in foliage texture  and contrast as we move throughout the garden How beautiful are these Silver Princess  they’re one of my favourite trees now   these Silver Princess have a bit of a story  to tell. So often you see silver princesses  

Growing as a single trunked tree and they can  get quite top heavy and fall over in storms   there’s three trees planted in here and that’s  exactly what happened to one of them about 6   years ago the main tree the biggest tree its  central leader fell over and broke in a storm  

So rather than replacing it or pulling them  all out because the the numbers now looked   odd Debbie chose to coppice them all and  this means chopping them all right back   down to their ground lingotuber and what  this does it encourages multiple stems or  

Multiple trunks to form so you almost get like  a shrub like appearance but you still get the   beautiful majestic tree like appearance at the  top here and as you can see they work perfectly. And actually another hint with Silver  Princess’ you can see in here that there’s  

A few rocks tucked in around their roots the  Silver Princess likes to have its roots kept   cold so by placing some large rocks around  them these rocks will help to insulate those   roots so they never get too hot it’s a  handy hint if you struggle with them!

This Grevillea ‘Superb’ is well superb it’s  huge it’s giving some lovely protection from   the window behind and it means that if you’re  sitting indoors you can also enjoy its flowers   with flowers for nearly 11 months of  the year it’s very popular with the  

Local lorikeets well. Let’s go through  the garage and explore the backyard. How’s that for a view it’s a really private  little paradise back here this entertainer   space right off the kitchen and dining area  and then a path that invites us around.

Straight away I am drawn to come out to  investigate this pond I can hear the water and   I can see the very happy fish down here as well  this is a lovely quiet space and being so close to  

The house and the entertaining area here it means  that the water sounds really fill the space nicely   you’ll see that the acacia is a mirror copy of the  one in the front yard and I love how they’ve left  

This quirky eucalyptus branch to suspend over the  top of the pond although apparently the heron does   like to sit up there and try fishing from time to  [Music] time this is really beautifully done how   the sides of the pond are completely softened with  plants and in here if you look really closely I  

Can see the remains of a tree fern trunk Debbie  tells me she split the trunk in half and lay it   on the ground curved side up and then just let  nature do it its own thing various ferns and  

Plants have actually taken over that tree fern  stump and now they soften the edge of the pond beautifully you might notice this huge ash  tree which is actually on the neighbour’s   property and this can cause a little bit of a  headache for Debbie because when it drops its  

Seeds this area becomes a sea of the tiny little  ash tree seedlings so one day when the owners of   the next door Garden do eventually remove  this it’ll open things up a little bit for   Debbie and give her the excuse to plant some  more big trees across this back fence line.

Debbie calls Jessie here her little wombat  because Jessie loves barreling around the   garden and creating little paths that she runs  around on so you will notice spots where Debbie   just can’t get plants to grow because that  is Jessie’s foot path and her walking track.

These great big allocasuarinas were a necessity  because when they moved in initially this big   two storey development behind just towered over  the whole backyard so these nearly 12-year-old   allocasuarinas provide the privacy that they  need and they give some much needed shade to this  

Back corner of the garden as well lovely native  hibiscus that’s even in bloom for us and what do   you know a lamp post in the wood I feel like I’ve  gone to Narnia! 

This is another lovely seating  

Area in the garden with another one of these  beautiful flowering gums above us and this sweet   little bird bath is just gorgeous now you might  notice that on the floor and underneath the plants   in the garden you can see a lot of logs and sticks  and twigs deliberately placed by Debbie partly to  

Stop Jess from digging things up and barreling  things over as she runs around the backyard but   also as a natural compost and a natural nutrient  supply for the plants around Debbie doesn’t do   much fertilising in the garden so the twigs and  the fallen leaves offer these nutrients to the plants [Music]

I love the silver foliage of this eucalypt this  is Eucalypt latens Moonlight (correction Moon   Lagoon) and this silver foliage is actually the  juvenile foliage if you look closely at the top   here the mature foliage is a green colour and  much more of an elongated leaf but Debbie wants  

To grow this for this juvenile foliage so what  she does is she lops off the top of it to keep   it in that juvenile foliage stage and it’s just  beautiful it’d be a great one to add to cut flower

Vases. This creeper has gone bonkers and part  of that is because it’s one of the two vines   that Debbie’s discovered that the possums don’t  eat this is a hiberia and the other that she’s   discovered they don’t eat is the Pandorea.  Now down here is a very narrow little garden  

Bed that leads us to things like the compost  and the clothes line we won’t head down there   but of course being this garden Debbie has it  beautifully planted come and have a look [Music] These standard grevilleas are a fun way  of adding some height to the garden with  

Pretty flowers that are filled with  bees but it also gives you plant in   space underneath so of course you  can fit more things in [Music] These acacias particularly with the pond in front  of it it does have a very weeping willow aspect  

To it now the unfortunate thing about these and  all aaas is that they’re relatively short-lived   about 10 to 12 years is the maximum for most  of them and this one well it’s nearing its peak   but Debbie has been keep keeping it in check  and keeping it compact by trimming any of the  

Branches that get a little bit too leggy and it  seems to be working but in the next few years who knows. Here is a very spiky plant growing  in a pot this is a native citrus it’s a   Finger Lime and if you look at the fruit  they’re very elongated and when mature  

They’re a really dark brown colour so  let’s pick one and have a look inside and it bursts open with all these beautiful  little caviar pearls inside and they are   so zingy and zesty perfect in a g&t on fish  dishes or even just on a salad. [Music] When  

Debbie was asked by Bev what sort of  a garden she wanted she said well I   just want a space that I can sit down and  enjoy a cup of tea in no lawn no straight   edges and a pond that I can hear from the  house and well it’s exactly what they’ve

Got. And this covered space here you can see  there’s lots and lots of hanging baskets some   of which contain plants that we typically see as  indoor plants so it’s a real little microclimate   in this space and over here there are two  Wollemi Pines in pots Debbie actually had  

Two bigger Wollemi in these pots but they’d  growing so big that they’d reach the roof so   she’s donated them into a local nursery  and replace them with baby Wollemi Pines   which I’m sure again will reach the roof and  she can do the same process all over again.

[Music] Over the last 12 years as Debbie has grow  this garden she’s really enjoyed particularly   working on the front yard space and meeting  passes by to chat all things plants and I think   think you’ll agree what she’s created is a really  lovely enjoyable garden that’s low maintenance  

And easy to care for I hope you’ve enjoyed  looking around with me please make sure you   like and subscribe because I’ve got plenty more  garden tours coming your way see you next time.