You’d expect a couple of landscape designers to have one seriously impressive garden of their own. The coastal garden of Peter and Simone Shaw of Ocean Road Landscaping certainly lives up to expectation!

This talented duo combine creativity and pragmatism at Sunnymeade, their rambling Anglesea property. They’re realistic when it comes to favouring plants they know will survive, but are also willing to put in the extra effort to maintain some uniquely artistic elements.

Our gardens columnist, Georgina Reid of The Planthunter, chats with the Shaw family about the 15-year transformation of their property.

Cruden Farm at Langwarrin, south-east of Melbourne, was given to the late Dame Elisabeth Murdoch in 1928 as a wedding present from her husband, Sir Keith Murdoch.

The exceptional story of this garden, created through the dedication of Dame Elisabeth and gardener Michael Morrison, is told through the pages of  Cruden Farm Garden Diaries. This beautiful book charts the evolution of a quiet, creative and incredibly productive relationship between two kindred souls.

Gardens columnist, Georgina Reid of The Planthunter, learns more from the book’s co-author, journalist Lisa Clausen.

Cloudehill is a once-in-a-lifetime garden for owner and passionate plantsman Jeremy Francis.

Combining Art and Crafts elements with spontaneous design, the two-hectare plot includes more than 20 different garden ‘compartments’ as well as a shop and nursery.

Our gardens columnist, Georgina Reid of The Planthunter, takes a tour on one beautifully misty morning.

Our Gardens column has become one of our most popular features, yet for some inexplicable reason, we rarely interview landscape designers. Major oversight!

Today, we chat to Phillip Withers, the passionate Creative Director of Richmond-based  Phillip Withers Landscape Design.

You can visit the Phillip’s garden installation ‘I See Wild’ at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, next week – March 29th – April 2nd 2017, Garden A76.

The Moonee Ponds backyard of Robyn Prent is wall-to-wall with an abundance of plant life.  Robyn designed the garden herself, deliberating over the design for many years before realising her vision, using simple materials and colourful seasonal plants.

Our gardens columnist, Georgina Reid of The Planthunter takes a tour.

Savvy green thumb David Whitworth has earned a bit of a ‘Plant Man’ reputation, nurturing unwanted specimens back from the brink. This young landscape gardener rewards himself with potted purchases, and lives for tending his share-house lot in central Sydney.

Nestled in the town of Olinda is Beechmont, a 10 acre garden property belonging to Cherrie Miriklis-Pavlou. As Managing Director of iconic Melbourne florist Flowers Vasette, it’s no surprise that Cherrie is mad about flowers. She and her husband weren’t even looking for a new home when they stumbled across this property, but as she describes below, the pull of Beechmont was instant, and they couldn’t resist the calls of this green oasis. 

Our gardens columnist, Georgina Reid of The Planthunter gives us the full story.

Today we chat to one of Australia’s pioneering landscape designers, Paul Bangay. Ever since he was a child, Paul has been obsessed with gardens, and particularly lush, sprawling country gardens.

After completing a Bachelor of applied Science in Horticulture at Melbourne University, Paul went on to open his Toorak nursery, where he designed a courtyard in the space. From this example came countless local commissions, followed by national and then international requests. Three decades later, eight authored books, a team of 12 employees and 1000s of gardens in between, Paul has just released his latest book, Paul Bangay’s Country Gardens! This book features many of the beloved country gardens he has designed over the years, and is a retrospective keepsake of one of Australia’s top garden designers.

Georgina Reid caught up with Paul to find out more about this celebrated local designer.

Matt and Lentil Purbrick of Grown & Gathered are with us again today, with another garden tutorial from their first book, Grown & Gathered!

From their farm in Tabilk, Matt and Lentil grow vegetables and flowers in abundance, which they sell and trade in Melbourne. In today’s excerpt, their share with us their simple but essential tips for growing seedlings from scratch.

Matt and Lentil Purbrick are the dynamic couple behind Grown & Gathered. On their farm in Tabilk, an hour and a half north of Melbourne, they grow vegetables and flowers in abundance, which they sell and trade in Melbourne. Over the past few years, they’ve gathered a cult following!

This month, Matt and Lentil celebrate the release of their first book, also called Grown & Gathered! It’s a truly gorgeous tome, beautifully photographed and designed, and dense with really useful information about growing vegetables, foraging for things like mushrooms, native greens and wild fruits, and raising animals.

TODAY Matt and Lentil share with us an excerpt from the book, covering the fundamentals of building a productive garden.