Usually, when people downsize to an apartment, they lose the opportunity to have a garden beyond a few well-placed pot plants. Not so for today’s green thumbs!

When Klaus and Anne Schindhelm moved from a one-acre property in Sydney’s Northern suburbs to an apartment in Rozelle, their garden-life was far from over. After enlisting the help of landscape designer Adam Robinson, they created an expansive green oasis in their apartment’s ‘backyard’ that could rival most gardens in the ground!

Georgina Reid visits Klaus and Anne to learn more about their slice of paradise that thrives in the harsh, exposed conditions.

When engaged to design the conversion of a Redfern factory into apartments, SJB director Adam Haddow jumped at the chance to purchase the penthouse. 

These days, you’ll likely find Adam and his husband relaxing in their now complete apartment, opening to a spectacular multi-zoned, rooftop garden created by William Dangar of Dangar Barin Smith. 

This home is an example of what can be achieved when an inner-city rooftop’s potential is truly harnessed!

Lyle Filippe is a collector of kerosene lamps, art-deco chandeliers, clocks and, perhaps most obviously, plants. He and his ‘long-suffering’ wife Cheryl run Roraima Nursery in Lara, near Geelong in Victoria.

The nursery specialises in weird, wonderful and collectible plant species.

Australia is internationally renowned for its stunning landscapes – ochre-red desert, ancient rainforest, snowy mountains, and craggy limestone coastal cliffs. But in addition to these iconic natural landscapes, we are also lucky to have a wealth of talent in landscape design.

From an impressive swag of entries, today we share the ten TDF Design Awards Landscape Design finalists!  Next, our esteemed judges Paul Bangay, Rick Eckersley, and Georgina Reid will award one lucky winner, and commendations – stay tuned for that announcement in September!

The first female Governor of Victoria in the position’s 163-year history was appointed in 2015. Taking up the role, Linda Dessau AC decided that she wanted to start a personal project to support women.

‘The Peace and Prosperity Kitchen Garden, (named for our State motto), is the result,’ begins the Governor. ‘Created on the same site where in the past there had been a kitchen garden, it is in itself a beautiful place, but it is really what happens in the garden that matters…’

Landscape Architecture is increasingly being recognised as an important in not just shaping the cities we live in, but for helping to address the climate crisis. Landscape Architects protect, enhance and rejuvenate the spaces where we live, work and play – and so shape the health of our cities and towns!

With this in mind, we are excited to present highlights from this year’s Victorian Landscape Architecture Awards. Across 13 categories, the awards celebrate how ‘beauty, sustainability, nature, and wellbeing come together’.

Not your average photographer, Angharad Johnson is the Digitising Officer at the National Herbarium of Victoria.

Highly knowledgeable yet modest, she’s a charming ambassador (our word not hers!) for Women in STEM and her fervour for furthering global, collective knowledge is infectious.

From Mandurah to Melbourne, with a stint at London’s esteemed Natural History Museum in-between, this mother-of-two gives us an insight into her next-gen career!

Thanks to a chance encounter between two plant-lovers, we have the privilege to share a very special garden today!

Featuring an abundance of Australian natives, succulents and grasses (and no irrigation!), Jo Ferguson’s Mornington Peninsula oasis is an inspiring example that embodies the myriad joys of gardening.