Strolling through the garden...

How lovely it is to see our customers take pride in their gardens. Our customer Helen Rodda  has built her magnificent garden up with large Shade trees, lovely flowering perennials and box hedging.

Helen's garden is called " Camelot Garden Stroll"and is situated at Kadina on South Australia's York Peninsula. Helen's Garden was open to the public in October and attracted over 300 people and helped raise funds for the local cancer council. Well done Helen, what a beautiful garden.

Take a look at the wonderful photos Helen sent into us...

Teak Garden Sculpture Balls from Serenity Nursery where strategically placed in a section of the garden.

Helen said "Everyone fell in love with them".  Comments like “Who made them”,  “Where did you get them from”,  “ I’ve got to have some of them”, to ‘I’ve never seen anything like them before” kept coming all the time.

Serenity Nursery's statue of Rose is enveloped by blooming roses and a metal garden arch.

Small wooden hearts from Serenity Nursery hang from the weeping mulberry tree.

Helen put together this nostalgic little nook. An old washer, washboard and basket

 complete the quirky display.

Pruning Standard Lilly Pilly...

So the hot weather has past and left us with some scorched plants...It's time to clean up and prune any burnt new growth off your lilly pillys ( or any plants in the garden that copped it).

 

It is important to start with a good pair of garden shears. I have a quality pair of Wiltshires from Serenity Nursery. Keep them sharp with a sharpening file and clean them after each use with bleach or disinfectant, this will help prevent spread of disease.

 



This is my lilly pilly standard. It barely resembles a topiary as woody growth towers towards the sky and it has lost it's shape due to a little neglet. Lilly pillys are extremely vigorous growers and if planted in the ground can reach  up to 10m tall, so it is important to prune them regularly...guilty!

 

 

I always like to start by pruning some of the woodier branches with the hand secateurs. It is easier to get a cleaner more controlled cut with them. These branches can be cut in towards to middle of the topiary allot harder than the finer new growth, to prolong the time in between pruning and prevent the shrub getting too tall and woody in general.

 

 

It is always easiest to prune the finer new growth with the shears. I round the top first and then continue around the bottom. Here I have prune under the right side quite significantly to show how visually important it is to the form of the entire topiary. Prune right up to the main trunk to help create the sphear form.

 

 

Work around the topiary taking little bits off at a time. Stand back from time to time to assess the form from a distance and from all angles. One thing I learnt from my sculpture classes in art school was to leave the project and come back to it with fresh eyes, this may help you see the form better and see what areas need more pruning.

 

 

The finished product. I could probably spend another hour or so perfecting the shape..but this is a big enough improvement. Once I'm done pruning I give the shrub a treat...a good drink of liquid sea kelp to de-stress it after all of the hot weather we have had.

 

Enjoy your garden...

Krystal

A day with family in a topiary courtyard...

This is my aunty and uncle's courtyard topiary garden in the eastern suburbs. I wanted to show what you can do with a small space and achieve a practical low maintenance garden. I must say we had a great bbq lunch here and sat by the Mexican chiminea (note: this same authentic chiminea is available @ serenity nursery).
The courtyard is basically a potted garden, the only thing planted in the ground is a massive old fig tree that shades and envelopes the courtyard. Buxus box and lilly pillys form conical shapes in the assortment of terracotta pots for a Tuscan touch.

A terracotta bowl filled with cascading lobelia casually sits on a teak folding chair. A couple of  hand spun tall round pots by South Australian company Bennett's Pottery are a long lasting terracotta product that won't fret and are perfectly teamed with  lilly pilly cone topiary. Parsley is potted for use in the kitchen near by.

My Aunty snapped up this old iron table and chair set from a chuck-out near by. It was white and rusted but once given a sand back and a lick of black paint it came up as good as new. It really adds character to the garden.

 

A perfect place to relax: Teak furniture and a sandstone outdoor dining table make this a great spot to chill out with family. Check out the cream provincial urns on the dining table- A gift from us at Serenity!

 



 

The English box topiaries have flourished with new spring growth bringing splashes of

 green to the courtyard. 



Step on it.

My front garden is very simple with low growing hedging box plants and a couple of patches of flat mulch. The mulch is fine as it allows the rain to penetrate into the ground and water the plants around it.I have been thinking about amping up the style and filling the mulch voids with some large format pavers and planting some low growing plants in between.

I found these images that gave me some inspiration...

I like this idea as environmentally it allows water to go in between each paver. Don't rule out using pebbles in between pavers either. Pebbles can act as a mulch by retaining moister in the ground and suppress weeds.

I plan on using the pavers  hand made at Serenity Nursery, they are 500mmx 500mm which is a large format paver and looks great in a small space.

Low growing plants that work well in between pavers:

Dichondra

Creeping Thyme

Dwarf mondo grass

Liriope

Trailing Succulents

Baby tears

New for Out doors..

Assorted Rustic benches are rolling in at Serenity from Tim and I's overseas buying trip.

We love this one! Thanks Tim and Ken for lifting it into the ivy hedge for this photo shoot!

Front verandah make over...

This weekend I set out to make over our front verandah with some pots and plants. I have had the two cream glazed urns for a while now, we were growing cherry tomatoes in them in the back yard this summer. I  pulled out the tomatoes and planted two standard Murraya paniculata ( commonly known as Orange Jessamine)  and placed them either side of our front door. Murrayas are evergreen shrubs ideal for hedging with creamy white fragrant flowers. The cane chairs were an op shop find and go well with my green/ cream semi tropical theme.

I did a little garden centre shopping ( at Serenity Nursery of course) and picked up this large tapered cream pot and advanced philodendron .  I also had to grab one of Serenity's terracotta frogs which is now at home under our frangipani tree.

images by Krystal James

New Zealands Earthly Delights

 A sculpture made from rustic barbed wire.

 In the shape of a sheep, of course!

 A place for the birds.

A Simple yet elegant cast iron urn draws in the eye.

I love the rustic vegy patch to the right and the stark white gazebo in the background looks divine.

 The contrast of neatly pruned box hedge and romantic cottage plants is perfection.

 Old fashion dahlias and sedems in the forefront add colour to the greenery.

 An espaliered beurre bosc pear tree is a great use of space. Dwarf Tahitian lime trees are planted below making it a mini garden of Eden.

 Standard Olive trees with silvery grey foliage compliment the green box topiary.

 Another espaliered tree. This one is an apple tree. Not only does it look good its produces lots of yummy fruit. Dad brought this idea
 back home with him.

 An espaliered Fig tree is a magnificent idea.

I love the use of this gorgeous teak garden bench. It becomes a practical focal point in the garden.

I was amazed by Marian and Rodney's ( Mum and Dad's) photographs that they took on a recent holiday to New Zealand. A few of you have asked me to post some of their garden tour snaps on our blog.. so here they are. I hope you get inspired and excited as much as I did when I saw these lovely  garden pics. Enjoy...

The height of Blue and White

 A snippet of blue and white lace cap hydrangeas, a dreamy blue gate way and blue gorgeous house that Marian and Rod visited this week.

 The blue milk can, cane chairs and bird cages were nostalgic elements found around the house and garden.

 Marian Loved the use of this blue glazed pot and said the hydrangeas and fuchsias were stunning.

 Love this look.

People from all over came to visit this pretty place.

Mum and Dads New Zealand adventures continued as they explored another beautiful house and garden. Laden with pretty cottage plants and magnificent established trees this place put a twinge in their heart.

Images by Serenity Nursery

Choose your favourite...

 Choose from our delectable range of fragranced candles.

Our all time favourite fragrance is the bright green Nashi Pear and Cucumber because it is so refreshing.

The new Tangarine Blossom & Lychee is amazing too and the bright orange hue is perfect for Autumn/ Winter. We also have matching fragrant room difusers to pair with your fave candles.

Our little birdy tealight holders are an adorable little gift.

Images via shadows candles

It's all a bit French.

 ...Lots of wonderful French provincial finds around the nursery this week.

Our talented Jen created this display. I would love an outdoor room that had this feel.

Images by Serenity Nursery

Green scene

GO GREEN

When I designed my front garden  three years ago I was determined to have

an all green garden. Green foliage with a hint of white flowers was the plan. This theme would go with my mist green roof and cream timber posts on my little cottage.

Green plants that I used in my garden pictured above:

Frangapani- Cream flowers, large broad green leaves.

Buxus Faulkner- Green foliage, excellent evergreen border.

Cycad- Palm ideal planted in urns or pots.

Escallonia Iveyi- White flowers, dark green foliage.

Viburnum- Excellent screen, White flowers

Hellebore " Ivory Prince"- Cream to green flowers

Viburnum Laurustinis- One of the hardiest hedging plants around. Will grow 3m + and can be pruned to suit your location. Here I have used the viburnum to screen the fence line. I planted them 1m apart and prune the tops regularly to promote bushy plants. Doing so has paid off as they formed a hedge quickly. I like to use Neutrog SeaMungus throughout the year to keep the hedge healthy. Neutrog sudden impact for lawns is also great for leafy plants.

Hellebore "Ivory Prince"- A gem in the garden. I have planted my "Ivory Prince" under my advanced frangapani trees, they provide part shade for this amazing plant. The flower starts off cream and changes to green ( pictured above).

I have blogged this picture before, Its a favourite of mine. I think it must remind me of our garden centre, with all of the life size elephants roaming around.

Green Ivy walls. I would never get sick of this sight.

Grow Green. Grow your own edibles not only for eating but for visual effect. Try a border of green kale, creeping thyme as a ground cover or feijoa as a hedge.

It's a green life. I found this image on Martha Stuart.com. and thought I might share it with you.

I absolutely love this. Try it yourself, by placing a few pavers in the garden and envelope them with a sea of green.

Green Ideas for planting in between pavers:

Dichondra- A small kidney shaped leaf that grows close to the ground ( available in seed or seedlings). Dwarf Mondo Grass, low growing dark green foliage. Creeping thyme, will take light foot traffic and will be fragrant too.

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