Landscaping ideas from Yarran Dheran
A trip to Yarran Dheran provided an opportunity to absorb some landscaping ideas from a local remnant bushland.
Mixture of groundcover, grasses, shrubs and mature trees.
The area is open bushland with a mixture of mature trees, shrubs, grasses and ground cover plants. We don’t want to put in seedlings that will grow into large trees, but it would be good to have some tallish feature trees to complement the three large ones already on our block. The ground would be covered with the low plants and materials (eg leaves) dropping from the taller vegetation.
It’s quite likely there will be some non-indigenous plants in the garden as we want to have a bit more colour that this offers. They will be native plants as we want to retain the low maintenance features of Australian plants.
Pathways leading through the bushland
No need for any lawn areas. The aim is to have walking paths through the landscaping that encourage visitors to explore the area. It wouldn’t matter if they strayed from the paths, as long as the smaller plants were respected.
Mixture of materials in the bushland – rocks, mulch and fallen timbers.
A natural setting thrives on low maintenance. If we get the preparations right, there should be minimal interference from weeds. Over time, the garden will adopt a balance between growing plants and dead materials shed from these plants. The mixture just looks right in this setting. While visiting the park, we noticed the number of birds that were flitting amongst the trees and shrubs, looking for flowers and insects. We’d love to support a thriving community in our back garden.
A place to sit or explore
Our garden won’t be complete without some artfully placed logs. They can be used as seats when sitting quietly, contemplating what is going on in the yard. For younger visitors, they could offer an opportunity for a bit of clambering and balancing.
A billabong to capture water and use it for irrigating the property
Even though the billabong in the park is an artificial construction, it does inspire the idea of having a water feature in our garden. The pond would be a useful way of storing water for irrigation and offer a source of water to native animals. Perhaps the water circulation system could contribute to cooling the house in summer.
Wandering around the park was a useful exercise that provided a chance to chat about how we want to develop our landscaping plan. Well worthwhile!
