The birds and bees have a special meaning for the owners of this enchanting meadow-like garden in Melbourne's inner north. The couple and their two sons, 15 and 11, share it with countless wildlife, most of whom are welcome and all as excited about the garden as they are. About a year after its completion in 2022 – although you could say a garden is never finished – a swarm of bees gathered near the fence. The couple called in experts to lure them away, but they suggested a beehive instead.
“Our bees especially love the purple flowers,” says the owner, who is enthusiastic about the sweet benefits of 10 kilos of honey per year.
Plant list
trees
- Sentinel Banksia (Banksia integrifolia 'Sentinel')
- Oven lichen (Acacia pravissima)
Shrubs
- Persian shield (Strobilanthes gossypinus)
- Canary foxglove (Digitalis isabelliana)
- Honeybush (Melianthus Major)
grasses
- Haumata/snow tussock (Chionochloa flavicans)
- New Zealand windgrass (Anemanthele teachingiana)
- Kangaroo grass (Themeda triandra)
Strappy leaf plants
- Gymea lily (Doryanthes excelsa)
- Angel's fishing rod
Perennials
- Blue spurge (Euphorbia 'Blue Haze')
- Carthusian pink (Dianthus carthusianorum)
- Purple angelica (Angelica sylvestris)
Ground cover
- Geranium biokovo (Geranium x cantabrigiense 'Biokovo')
- Kidneywort (Dichondra repens)
climber
- Wonga wonga vine (Pandorea pandorana)
- Creeping fig (Ficus pumila)
- Maidenhair vine (Muehlenbeckia complexa)
When the owners purchased the Victorian two-story brick patio, they were particularly drawn to the expansive rear garden that stretched to the back fence. Beneath four towering elm trees, some half a century old, was a wonderful forest, a secret garden that was overgrown and hiding various species of plants.
“The outdoor area is what drew our attention to the property,” says the owner. “We love trees and they take up as much space as the house itself. The garden was once very popular, but it was overgrown with an old box hedge, honeysuckle and jasmine.”
Before moving in, they called in garden designer and horticulturist Jimmy Sing of Sun & Sing to create order out of chaos – but not too much order and structure, as the garden's haphazard nature had originally attracted them. To emphasize the elms, with their gnarled trunks and tall stature, he reduced and edited the other original plantings. The end result was “a stunning pomegranate and a tree-sized English box that connects to the history of the place.”
“The owners wanted to preserve the secret garden feeling that the old garden evoked.”
Jimmy Sing, garden designer/horticulturist
However, since many plants were woody, had long past their prime and could no longer be saved, he removed more than originally intended. And the owners realized the garden would require both significant additions and reductions. Especially near the ground, they resembled a grassy meadow, dense and lush, constantly changing with the light, the breeze and the seasons. And when Jimmy sensed that the previous owners had enjoyed country-style gardening with lush flowers, he wanted to build on that, but in a more climate-friendly way.
“The owners wanted to preserve the secret garden feeling that the old garden evoked,” he says. “After exposing half of it to sunlight, I created a layered meadow where flowers grow through the grass from spring to fall, providing a constant sense of discovery.”
This meadow is surrounded by grasses native to Australia and Aotearoa (the owners' birthplace), such as haumata, New Zealand windgrass and kangaroo grass, perennials suited to the Mediterranean climate. Sage, allium and achillea provide splashes of color from early spring to late autumn – and always with a seductive sense of surprise.
“There are more than 40 flowering species in this meadow, and you can see five to seven of them blooming at any given time,” says Jimmy.
Setting the rhythm are large haumata plants (also known as snow tussocks) as well as large gymea lilies, which have been dug up from under the overgrown vines and “transplanted for accent”. To restore privacy along the border, Jimmy added native trees with verticality (Sentinel Banksia) and arching shape (Stove Lichen), interspersed with pencil pines.
When it came to landscaping, the couple designated several seating areas where they could reflect on the beauty before them. Most notably, Jimmy enlarged the existing back patio with recycled bricks and built a shed near the back gate to store the family's bikes. Meanwhile, a winding path lined with recycled bricks winds through the area, providing a sense of discovery at every turn.
Beneath the majestic elm trees, the garden designer added a rustic bench made from 100-year-old reclaimed cypress pine trees to allow the garden to be enjoyed in all its glory.
“It would never have occurred to me to have something so far from the house,” says the owner. “It’s a little place of privacy and peace.” She often sits here with a cup of coffee, looking back at the house and marveling at everything Jimmy has created, while she enjoys sharing her paradise with the noisy miners, magpies and lorikeets – and the bees. “I love being surprised by the plants – something that was largely invisible in a week will burst into full bloom out of nowhere,” she says. “Like a box of chocolates, you don't know what to expect. I'm always surprised by what comes out.”
Like this cheerful beehive on the fence, which was clearly intended to house bees…
The design team
Sun & song: @sun.and.sing
