Getting the Look
Looking to update your garden and incorporate plants that are water misers?. You can still theme your garden to match your home and lifestyle. It is simply a case of selecting water-wise plants that mimic the style you are after.

Remove thirsty species and prepare the soil with coir peat and compost. Select plants that suit your chosen style to achieve a garden that looks good and saves water.  Remember that deep-rooted trees rarely require supplementary watering once established as they access water from deep within the subsoil. Nearby plants can benefit from their shade canopy.

Tropical - Frangipani, dracaena, bougainvillea, bromeliad, rhoeo, cordyline, croton, philodendron

Bushland - Grevillea, acacia, banksia, paper daisy, lomandra, dianella, austromyrtus, ivory curl tree

Formal - Lirope, murraya, duranta, mondo grass, brunsfelsia, Indian hawthorn, groundcover gardenia, star jasmine

Traditional - Oleander, nandina, allamanda, abelia, rondeletia, bauhinia, acalypha, jacaranda, citrus, camellia

Cottage - Heritage roses, rosemary, thyme, lavender, salvia, Angel’s trumpet, petrea, honeysuckle, echinacea

Modern - Agave, yucca, sansevieria, echeveria, flax, euphorbia, jade, kalanchoe, dietes

Edible Plants

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Peruvian Parsnip Arracacia xanthorrhiza
This root vegetable from South America produces long, cream-coloured, parsnip-like roots. You can also harvest the tops as a green vegetable or garnish. Propagate from root cuttings.
Water Chestnuts Eleocharis dulcis
Taste a fresh water chestnut and you will never go back to tinned ones again. Few plants are more productive with one corm producing 50 new chestnuts in one season! Turn you pond into a productive food garden.
Yacon Polymnia sonchifolia
Also known as sweet root, this hardy plant produces large sweet potato-like tubers that are crisp and juicy. Extremely productive, its grows easily from stem cuttings or vegetative tubers.
Mexican Coriander Erynigium foetidum
This perennial form of coriander produces dandelion-like leaves and prickly seed heads.  Keep removing the seed heads as they form if you want greater leaf production.
French Sorrel Rumex scutatus Garden Sorrel Rumex acetosa
French sorrel grows best through the cooler months of the year, whereas the larger garden sorrel is perennial. Both can be harvested for salads, stir fries, green vegetables or soup. The lemon flavour is sharp and clean.
Non Running Sweet Potato Ipomoea babatus
Most people are familiar with traditional varieties of sweet potato. They are very productive, but tend to take over your entire garden!  This selection grows as a neat, easily contained groundcover, yet still produces bucket loads of white fleshed tubers.
Madagascar Beans Phaseolus lunatus
This perennial vine produces bountiful crops of beans. Use them fresh as a substitute for broad beans or use the shelled dried beans, cooked in soups, stews and vegetable burgers!
Curry Leaf Tree Murraya koenegii
The leaves of this drought tolerant tree are harvested to flavour dishes. Grow it in a container as curry leaf trees can sucker in the garden. Prune off any fruit that forms to prevent seeds germinating in the wild.
Turmeric (Curcuma domestica), Ginger (Zingiber officinale), Galangal (Alpinia galangal)
All three of these common spices find their way into food we eat, yet few people grow their own fresh supplies. Start with a rhizome purchased from an organic market or green grocer. Simply plant out in the garden and harvest garden fresh rhizomes whenever you need them.
Taro Colocasia esculenta
The large, attractive leaves of the taro plant look great in a tropical garden. Plant it where the soil is moist or plunge potted specimens into a pond. One tuber multiples quickly, producing young tubers that can used cooked like potatoes. The easiest way to ensure you get a sweet, edible variety is to buy your planting stock from the supermarket or green grocer.

Ask for them at your local nursery. Some plants from this list may also be available at certain times of year from Green Harvest www.greenharvest.com.au

Fire-retarding plants

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If you live in an area adjacent to bushland, open grassland or other fire-prone vegetation you may like to think about including plants with low flammability that are resistant to fire.

Remember that while some Australian native plants have the ability to regenerate after fire, this characteristic does not make them fire retardant. Eucalyptus trees have a remarkable ability to regrow after severe bushfires, but the trees themselves do not retard fire. In fact, the volatile oils in their leaves make them prone to fire. The foliage and timber explodes with heat and is often responsible for starting spot fires ahead of the main fire front.

Some plants are very difficult to burn. Plants with thick, fleshy leaves, a high salt content in the leaves and those with thick, milky sap and leathery leaves are often hard to burn.

If you live in a fire prone area your local rural fire brigade is the best source of information on ways to protect your family, home and property against fire.

The following plants have a low flammability when compared to most species:

Native Plants
Matt Rush (Lomandra spp)
Norfolk Island Hibiscus (Lagunaria patersonii)
Brushbox (Lophostemon confertus)
Kurrajong (Brachychiton populneus)
Lillypilly type plants (Waterhousea, Syzygium, etc)
Spotted gum (Eucalyptus maculata)
Fig trees (Ficus spp)

Exotics
Bay tree (Laurus nobilis)
Cape chestnut (Calodendron capense)
Carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua)
Photinia (Photinia rubra)
Mirror Plant (Coprosma repens)
Gazania (Gazania hybrida)
Succulents like jade plants and sunjewels (Portulacaria spp)
Geraniums and Pelargoniums (Pelargonium spp)

Plants with high flammability are best avoided close to your home including conifer hedges and plants with high concentrations of volatile oils such as most eucalyptus, callistemons, leptospermums and melaleucas.

Hedges

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Why have hedges become so popular? When hedges had to be trimmed by hand, the effort involved tended to curb the enthusiasm of even the most ardent gardener. Power driven hedge trimmers have changed all that!

The wide availability of electric and petrol hedge trimmers has lead to a tendency on the part of some gardeners to turn every shrub in the garden into a ball or square. Garden maintenance companies have been quick to recognise the efficiency associated with this geometric approach.

A quick whiz over with the powered hedge trimmer ensures a neat look and is much quicker than weeding, planting, mulching or mowing. Look at the surrounds of any fast food chain and you will see what I mean.

How to use Hedges
Precision trimming of shrubs can look sensational. Wide shrub borders edged with low hedges can lead your eye in the direction of a water feature, garden seat or statue. Hedges can be use to create a secluded, secret garden. The contrasting formality of a low trimmed box or azalea hedge, set against an informal cottage garden or wide beds of rambling old world roses, enhances the appeal of both the formal and informal elements of the garden.

In gardens filled with a passionate collection of mismatched plants, a formal hedge or low clipped edge planting can be the unifying element that saves the day. A hedge can provide privacy from neighbours or screen an unattractive outlook.

Are there hedges that need minimal trimming?
The answer is YES. The trick is to select species with a growth habit and mature height that matches the type of hedge you have in mind.

What to Avoid
Very vigorous, quick growing species. They will require more frequent trimming. Stay away from potentially weedy species that will self sow around your garden and the local environment. Avoid planting species affected by pests and diseases.

What to Look
Select species whose growth habit and mature size conforms to the size and shape you are looking for. Look for plants with attractive foliage colour or flowering and fruiting species that cope with regular trimming and still produce blooms.

Some hedge species include:

Edging hedges
Nandina domestica, Gardenia ‘Radicans’
Low hedges
Syzygium ‘Tiny Trev’, Azalea ‘Plumtastic’, Rosemary 'Tuscan Blue'
Medium hedges
Osmanthus fragrans, Plumbago ‘Royal Cape’, Buxus japonica
Fruiting/Harvestable Hedges
Myrciaria cauliflora “Jaboticaba” Lauris nobilis “Bay Tree”
Tall Screening hedges
Syzygium ‘Elite’, Backhousia citriodora 'Lemon Myrtle'

Spices

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• Using freshly harvested herbs and spices can really make a difference to meals.

• Growing and harvesting a range of exotic herbs and spices is easier than you think.

• All can be grown in pots or as garden plants and are relatively free of pest and disease problems.

• All are either perennial or self sowing annuals.

• Hold appeal for both adventurous cooks and gardeners who like to grow something a little different.

Ginger
Growing your own ginger generally involves searching out sprouting sections of fresh root ginger from the local green grocer and planting them in a well drained, nutrient enriched soil.  Just plant the sprouting, knobbly sections that are too small to peel. Plants die down in the cooler months, so it is wise to place a marker to indicate where the ginger has been planted. Any unharvested rhizomes will emerge the following season. To harvest, simply slice off a section of rhizome, leaving the remainder of the plant to continue growing.

Turmeric
Turmeric and galangal have a similar growth pattern to ginger and much the same planting and cultural requirements.  Turmeric adds a distinctive bitter flavour to food.  Orange turmeric provides the rich orange/yellow colouring that makes Indian meals look even more mouthwatering. You are probably most familiar with the ground powder used to colour curries.  Turmeric dies down during winter, but has green and white globular flower heads during summer.

Galangal
Fresh galangal rhizomes suitable for planting are available from fruit shops and supermarkets, but some nurseries also stock potted plants.  Galangal provides a sharp, aromatic taste to dishes and is most easily recognised in Thai soups. There are two types of galangal (greater galangal and lesser galangal). The smaller growing, lesser galangal has exquisitely perfumed, white flowers. Both are great additions to a tropical style garden or can be grown in pots.

Rosemary
There are hundreds of different types of rosemary, some of which have remarkably different aromas. I grow several different types, but the variety I prefer for cooking is known as Tuscan Blue. This is a particularly vigorous variety with a good flavour. It has straight, thick stems perfect for using as skewers when making lamb kebabs. Rosemary loves it hot and dry, so it is perfect for pots or exposed, neglected parts of the garden. Tuscan Blue also makes a great low hedge.

Parsley
Triple curled parley may be better known but  flat leaf or Italian parsley is much easier to grow, wash and use. It has a slightly stronger flavour and also tends to self-sow around the garden much more easily that curled varieties of parsley. Just allow your plants to go to seed and you will always have the odd seedling around to replace aging plants. All parsley is short lived (around 12 months) so you should aim to have a succession of younger replacement plants. If you want to sow parsley from seed and have it germinate quickly, soak the seed in hot water before sowing.

Oregano/Marjoram
Oregano and marjoram (different species of the one plant) make great groundcovers for sunny dry situations. For a really decorative look, try yellow oregano. This variety gives any garden a lift or can be grown in hanging baskets.

Lemon Grass
Lemon grass is easy to grow, especially during spring and summer. You should expect that plants will be less vigorous during late autumn and winter.  Clumps grow to around 1m in height with a similar spread.  Regular harvesting of complete stems is the best way to maintain plants to a manageable size and keep them in good condition.  The white stems at the base of the plant provide the best flavour.

Perennial Coriander
As the heat of summer approaches, annual coriander quickly goes to seed and dies.  Not so, the perennial coriander.  This low growing perennial produces dandelion-like leaves and prickly seed heads.  Keep removing the seed heads as they form if you want greater leaf production.  Perennial coriander has a stronger flavour than annual coriander, so you only need a few leaves to provide that great taste. 

Kaffir Lime Leaves
The leaves of the Kaffir lime are generally used in the same way as a bay leaf, that is they are added to dishes during the cooking process, but not eaten.  For a stronger flavour you can cut the leaves up very finely and consume them.  This hardy citrus tolerates regular trimming, but try to allow the plant to become reasonably well established before you start harvesting leaves.  Like all citrus, the Kaffir lime requires regular fertilising. Oil or soap sprays will keep scale, sooty mould and citrus leaf miner at bay.  You can successfully grow a Kaffir lime in a pot.

Curry Leaf Tree
Believe it or not, the curry leaf tree is a relative of the common murraya.  It is a drought hardy small tree.  The leaves are harvested to flavour dishes.  The leaves can be fried in a little oil or coconut milk along with other spices when making curries or cooked and added to salads or vegetable dishes (see recipes-Potato). The curry tree is very adaptable to growing in a container. I prefer to grow mine in a container as they can sucker in the garden. Prune off any fruit that forms to prevent seeds germinating around the garden. 

Bay Tree
I love using fresh bay leaves and bay trees are really easy to grow. They are perfectly adapted to growing in pots and respond well to regular trimming. Plants can be slow growing initially, so allow your bay tree to become well established before harvesting too much foliage. Scale and sooty mould can be problematic, but oil or soap sprays quickly bring these problems under control. Fresh bay leaves are also an excellent repellent for ants. Crush a few fresh leaves and scatter them around the pantry, windowsill or on top of your worm farm and your ants will disappear.

Lemon Myrtle
This native tree (Backhousia citriodora) is widely grown as a garden ornamental, but few people actually use the leaves in cooking. It grows into a tall shrub or small tree. It is trimmed as a tall hedge in Brisbane’s Roma Street Parklands. The crumbled, dried leaves make a nice marinade for chicken. The flavour is quite strong, so do not overdo it. Fresh leaves are very popular for lemon tea. Include lemon myrtle foliage in your next vase of flowers and enjoy the aroma throughout the house. (See recipes using Lemon Myrtle)