Whether establishing a new garden or pondering how to lift the spirits of an existing one, there is always an opportunity to add a “wow factor” through plants. To discover what it takes to create a wonderful luxury feel, you just need to speak to the people who live and breathe all things green.
Plants add many facets to a garden profile, at times they can simply be green wallpaper, allowing structural or ornamental elements to feature. Conversely, plants can also be the standout landscaping heroes, it all depends on your yard design and green life selection.
Erin Lyons is the manager at Wholesale Plants & Products.
Wholesale Plants and Products is a Cavan-based, trade-only consignment market that is a premier one-stop-shop for landscapers, councils, florists, garden centres and small resellers. Manager, Erin Lyons, knows what her customers and their clients are looking for when needing to add a touch of plant luxury. “Established plants provide instant wow,” she says.
“On trend in the modern arid landscape are structural statement plants such Euphorbia ammak, a columnar grower with upright pale green, prickly stems featuring classic cacti arm shapes. In more formal designs, buxus topiary balls and living verandah maples – standardised trees incorporating a mesh top – are hotly sought after.”
Topiary buxus balls require many years of growth and shaping, but are well worth the effort.
Erin keenly points out the amount of time and effort involved in developing an established plant. “A 50-centimetre diameter Japanese Box topiary ball takes around six years to grow and train; though not often considered, all that work helps elevate a garden instantly,” she says.
“For a stylish look, plant out some Japanese Box topiary balls, a backing frame of Chinese Star jasmine to provide blooms and fragrance, then fill the space with tough and airy Miss Muffet asparagus fern – what a stunner!”
Statement plants are always popular at Wholesale Plants and Products. Advanced olives, some decades old, complete with gnarled base and stems, offer age and interest, as do large cycads. Dragon trees and Xanthorrhoea (grass trees) are other exceptional features sure to add an x-factor.
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Still in vogue are clipped hedges and screens, with interest generated using differing shades of greens and greys, plus varied leaf size and texture. Teucrium fruticans or germander, a small, very hardy, evergreen shrub with striking silver-grey foliage is one of the very best contrast plants to use.
Newman’s Nursery’s managing director, Daniel Hall, is a fifth-generation nurseryman.
Daniel Hall is a fifth-generation nurseryman and managing director of the award-winning Newman’s Nursery on North East Road in Tea Tree Gully. Daniel has grown up among this manicured garden centre and camellia-filled foothill backdrop.
“As garden spaces are getting smaller, it becomes even more important to get the selection right on any feature plant,” says Daniel. “Best to go with a few large specimens that really wow, rather than a whole lot of small growers that tend to get lost.”
Seasonal colour is also a high priority for anyone looking to include a feeling of luxury and, unsurprisingly, for this camellia specialist nursery, these winter beauties are one of Daniel’s favourites.
“While deciduous plants take a rest through the cooler months, camellias are a standout adding an important focal point to the garden, lifting the spirits of both the yard and those in it,” Daniel says. “We are spoilt for choice when it comes to camellias.”
Successful camellia growing starts with selecting a spot protected from the afternoon sun. A south-easterly aspect receiving filtered light is ideal, along with well-drained soil. For those living on the Adelaide Plains in areas of highly alkaline ground, these acid-loving plants do much better in containers filled with a specialised camellia potting mix.
Incorporating a selection of camellia varieties extends the flowering season and colour buzz. Sasanqua camellias are the earliest bloomers and more sun hardy. Japonica camellias with larger leaves and elaborate flowers are the mid to late winter super performers. Reticulata camellias produce voluptuous dinner plate sized blooms that are always a keen conversation-starter.
Camellias make an excellent espalier to add interest to a garden.
Another of Daniel’s winter wonders is the hellebore. Perfect for underplanting or pots, their big colourful, cup-shaped flowers come in a range of light and dark hues along with single and double forms.
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“Because hellebores cross-pollinate and self-seed, you are likely to get a crop of new cultivars popping up the following year that are entirely exclusive to your yard,” Daniel explains. “Now that’s something special.”
For spring, summer and autumn colour, roses are top of Daniel’s list. He says: “Roses come in so many different forms, from groundcover and bush, to standard and climber. My current favourite is a plum pink variety called Forget-Me-Not, incredibly perfumed and low maintenance; I always see roses adding a huge luxury factor to the yard.”
Espaliers provide the perfect solution for high-end vertical spaces. “Camellia and citrus work so well as espalier and can be positioned to gain the best visual aspect and garden appeal,” he says.
The upside for citrus is also their edible credentials. If you want to turn up the dial on your traditional Lisbon lemon or Washington Navel orange, have a go at growing something different such as a Yuzu lemon, prized for its ability to maintain sourness at high cooking temperatures or Dekopon mandarin that is sweet, juicy and easy to peel.
Carl Heyne with an advanced Silver Banksia. Using mature trees, such as these, makes an instant statement.
With a long lasting and deep-rooted connection in South Australia, Heyne’s Wholesale Nursery, General Manager, Carl Heyne is a proud fifth-generation member of this very well-known Adelaide horticulture dynasty. Over their 155 years of growing and supplying plants, the Heyne family has had their finger on the pulse of many changing garden trends.
“There is always a balance between budget and patience when it comes to creating that wow green space,” Carl says. “Advanced trees quickly fill the yard, providing the bones around which the rest of the plants grow. It is a great feeling for any customer returning home from work to be greeted with a garden that has transitioned from bare area into an almost established garden in only a day, all thanks to those mature trees.”
The “Best Friend” rose is a gorgeous, highly scented and easy-to-grow rose variety.
Putting funds into securing large specimen trees that have taken years and years to develop, then adding smaller shrubs and ground covers which may be only a season or two away from reaching their peak, makes good sense.
“Green walls are a staple in any luxury garden,” says Carl. “Whether it is a commercial grow system allowing a range of plant types and designs to be incorporated, or simply lengths of REO mesh attached to a fence filled with Chinese Star Jasmine or other massed climber, you can still create a fabulous foliage-filled statement.”
While well-groomed hedges and borders are still popular, we are now seeing a shift towards “domesticated” Australian native plants that can be clipped, trimmed and adapted into formal and semi-contemporary luxury gardens.
As Carl explains: “Thanks to breeding programs with plants such as Westringia or coastal rosemary, we are seeing an amazing collection of forms incorporating shorter growth, high foliage density and different hues. You can now use several Westringia cultivars, each with their own unique attribute, to create a dramatic effect.”
Another group of Australian native plants finding a welcome home in high-end gardens are Correa and Eremophila. These dryland beauties not only supply structure, but they also provide welcome colour with a broad floral palette.
“Australian natives are cut out for our conditions, so it makes sense we use more of them,” Carl says.
