The Southern Hemisphere’s premier horticultural event celebrated its 20th year with Melbourne’s Carlton Gardens playing host. The crowd stopping show gardens again providing attendees with inspiration they can take home to their own patch.
Garden DesignFest held its 6th annual open garden weekend this November and several of the Normark staff attended four of the twenty eight gardens that were featured throughout Melbourne which displayed some of the state’s most acclaimed garden designers.
Need some style inspiration? These are some of our favourite products for the spring season.
At Normark we like our gardens to have a consistent pallet around the perimeter. This can be achieved in numerous ways but a cost effective and high impact solution can be installing a climber frame. It would be priority to paint all boundary fences with a dark colour exterior paint so that the green of the plants are exaggerated when growing up the mesh frame. We like to use the one plant type for the perimeter to provide an elegant backdrop for the garden.
Climbing frames can either be a steel weld mesh, timber lattice or stainless steel yachting wires. Material used will depend on the end result desired.
Have a look at some of these climbers, they look so much nicer than a plain fence.
Following on from our previous blog on heating we thought we would share some more stylish heating options. Whether you are looking for a portable heater that you can move around or something more fixed these heaters not only provide warmth but can also be a feature in your garden providing ambiance and style.
Outdoor heating is essential for alfresco living in the winter months. There are various outdoor heating appliances available including gas patio heaters, chimineas, fire pits and heatstrip heaters.
These vibrant flowers add a striking hit of colour over the winter period. The bold flower that sits atop of a long stem comes in colours ranging from red, yellow, orange and all variations in between. Originally from South Africa Red Hot Pokers are drought and heat tolerant and grow from 60cm to 2 metres in height.
These clump forming perennials attract local birds such as Rosellas to their tubular florets. Plant them in full sun where they will flower from May. Dead head continuously and they should flower all the way through winter into spring. Clean up leaves at the end of spring. They can be propagated by plant division, just remember to cut back late spring or autumn with crowns just above the ground.
Retaining walls are structures designed to restrain soil to unnatural slopes. They are most useful on a sloping block as a means of terracing or levelling sections of land which can be shaped and engineered for more specific purposes.
Normark recently completed the landscaping for this courtyard. By looking at the before and after it’s hard to believe it’s the same space with the after shot looking so much larger!
