Paul Urquhart

Quite a nice book with some really useful information about using Australian native plants to create various types of gardens in Australia. I guess the techniques coud be applied elsewhere but the emphasis is on managing within the Australian climate with extended hot and dry conditions. I did find the order of the chapters slightly strange with instructions on how to build the garden and how to select a palette of colours before you even get to the design stage....but this is a minor show more criticism. Generally, I liked the approach where Paul suggests options from a rainforest garden to a bog garden or a gravel beach garden. And there are options there for courtyard gardens and small "stroll" gardens. And some helpful suggestions like: Make the long lived species the backbone of the garden so that the shorter lived species don't leave a bomb-crater effect when they inevitably have to be replaced. The list of suggested plants looks eminently practical and sensible to me. And all are well proved in the Australian gardens. Maybe, I might have liked some suggestions for some more exotic plants but I guess Paul is working to a formula that he know works.
For anyone setting out to establish a garden, I think this would be an excellent manual to work from. Four stars from me. show less

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