David Baptiste garden, Morphett Vale, SA

Only the plane trees along the drive, the orchard and beds next to the house are on irrigation.

Suzanne Gale’s garden at Morphett Vale, South Australia. Picture: Sam Roberts.

Suzanne Gale grew up in the house her grandfather, Charles Wakefield, built at Morphett Vale, South Australia in 1904. Back then the property included a 32ha vineyard, an almond orchard and 60 pine trees but today Morphett Vale is a southern suburb of Adelaide.

Suzanne Gale’s garden at Morphett Vale, South Australia. Picture: Sam Roberts

When the heritage-listed house on half a hectare passed to her in 1988, Gale “wasn’t at all interested in gardens”, she admits. Deciding they needed expert help, she and her husband Rob engaged David Baptiste to design their garden, and set to doing the work themselves. A year later they left Australia, but on their return after nine years they found the garden basically intact, if a little overgrown. Since then they have worked in earnest to create a dry-tolerant Mediterranean garden.

They swapped the original lawns for quartz sand paths and every plant has been chosen to cope with summer heat, minimal watering and the soil (20cm of clay over limestone). There is 130,000 litres of rainwater storage, but Gale says it doesn’t go far; the tanks haven’t filled in recent winters. Only the plane trees along the drive, the orchard and beds next to the house are on irrigation.

Suzanne Gale’s garden at Morphett Vale, South Australia. Picture: Sam Roberts

“My love of hedging started with David’s design and has evolved ever since,” she says. Baptiste had incorporated a bay tree hedge surrounding a car-parking zone, with a pair of topiary balls to punctuate the downswept ends. “I’d also seen pictures of clipped balls in garden magazines that caught my eye. So I planted some saltbush and started to shape it into balls. Then I just kept going,” Gale laughs.

Suzanne Gale’s garden at Morphett Vale, South Australia. Picture: Sam Roberts

Clipped balls are a signature of the garden, using rosemary, English box and silver germander (Teucrium). Other plants are shaped into clouds and mounds, including natives such as coastal rosemary (Westringia), Correa alba, emu bush (Eremophila), and old man saltbush (Atriplex). The 60m-long front hedge is also a native species, Grevillea olivacea, as is the low hedge of saltbush (Rhagodia spinescens) that snakes through the front garden. Rosemary hedging surrounds the formal rose garden. “When you have a relatively dry garden, having clipped shapes adds structure instead of plants looking straggly in summer,” Gale explains.

Suzanne Gale’s garden at Morphett Vale, South Australia. Picture: Sam Roberts

Drifts of perennials provide colour and seasonal interest. “I like the combination of formality interspersed with softer, natural shapes,” she says. Favourites include lavenders, bearded irises, salvias, Californian poppies (Eschscholzia) and Chinese lantern (Abutilon), most of which Gale has grown from cuttings or divisions from friends’ gardens.

She spends about an hour per week clipping – less in the heat of summer – in a regimen in which most plant groups get a monthly trim. “Frequent clipping is the key to keeping the shapes dense,” she says. “It’s actually easier than a big seasonal prune – and much more satisfying. It can be addictive.”

Q&A

Why are my strawberries stunted or disfigured and don’t mature? They’re in premium potting mix with plenty of water and sun. Mark Miller, by email

Deformed fruit like these are called nubbins, and there are various causes. Flowers can be damaged by frost or insects such as mites feeding on them. It could be a lack of calcium or boron, or very hot temperatures. And it can be caused by incomplete pollination.

Is there something nasty in imported Canadian moss? I had a zero germination rate mixing half moss and half perlite. With the remaining seed I used bagged seed-raising mix and had 90 per cent success. Guy Butcher, Cooee Bay, Qld

Peat moss has high water-holding capacity, retaining up to 20 times its weight in moisture. It has been widely used in horticulture but perhaps was too wet for your seeds; it can also be very acidic, but would not be toxic. Suppliers claim they harvest sustainably from ancient sphagnum peat bogs but these days its mining is considered to be environmentally taboo – these fragile ecosystems are irreplaceable and are enormous carbon sinks. Coco coir from coconut husks is a better substitute and comes from closer locations.

Is it harmful to put washing-up water on flowers or vegetables? I use ordinary dishwashing liquid such as Palmolive. Frances Teys, by email

Generally you can use this water. Small amounts of dishwashing liquid won’t harm plants or soil, but disperse greasy, dirty or very soapy water on robust shrubs and trees rather than young plants or edibles. Spread it around, alternating with clean water.

Send your questions to: [e-mail] or Helen Young, PO Box 3098, Willoughby North, NSW 2068. Website: helenyoung.com.au. The best question for February wins a Composta, the Australian made and designed worm farm and garden in one, worth $119; composta.com.au. December/January’s winner is Jackie Byrne of Scarborough, Qld, for her question about lichen.