Joanne Neylon garden, Manly, NSW

Transforming an overgrown and sloping site into a beautiful, child-friendly backyard haven.

Joanne Neylon. Picture: Jason Busch.

Joanne Neylon had her work cut out with this garden in the Sydney seaside suburb of Manly. Back in early 2016, it comprised “a series of small, unusable spaces with impractical surfaces”, says Neylon, who was given the challenge of transforming the overgrown, sloping site into a beautiful, child-friendly garden with separate zones for play and outdoor entertaining. The resulting design-and-construct project won her company two awards in last year’s LNA Master Landscapers Association Excellence Awards.

A palette of native and Mediterranean plants. Picture: Jason Busch.

The property’s owners, Andrew and Jacqueline Snow, had just welcomed the first of their two girls into the world when work started three years ago. Andrew, a pharmacist, says that although the project took a year to complete, good communication meant that realistic goals were set – for design, for getting council approvals and for construction.

Invasive bamboo along one boundary gave privacy from neighbours but was out of control. “It is a nightmare to get rid of,” agrees Neylon, principal of Joanne Green Landscape & Interior. “We cut and poisoned it, and then dug all the roots out with an excavator.” Designer Rory Graham managed the significant level changes across the site with a series of walls and steps, creating a level lawn space for the children and comfortable pedestrian movement up from the street and throughout the garden.

Bluestone pavers and stone walls. Picture: Jason Busch.

The use of natural materials in the bluestone steppers and stone walls fits the modern aesthetic of the house as well as harmonising with the plant-rich gardens. For the entertaining and cooking area they used decomposed granite instead of traditional paving to minimise the hard surfaces. Delineating this area is a blade wall of stone, from which a long, custom-built timber bench runs at right angles, designed to double as seating for the table.

“The main outdoor living areas and pool are above the garages, so they wanted a garden that was luxuriant to be in, with privacy from the adjacent apartments, and gardens at the side and front that were beautiful to look down on to,” Neylon explains.

The entertaining area. Picture: Jason Busch.

Being just two blocks from the beach was a major influence on the plant selection. “It’s a palette of native and Mediterranean plants with areas of lush foliage,” says Neylon. Cascade lillypillies (Syzygium ‘Cascade’), blueberry ash (Elaeocarpus reticulatus) and coastal banksias (B. integrifolia) contribute to the screening, while the sides of the entry path and steps are softened with lush spiral ginger (Costus barbatus), silver lady fern, Liriope ‘Just Right’, weevil lily (Molineria capitulata) and silver spur flower (Plectranthus argentatus). Alongside the driveway, which was enlarged and paved, is a row of Italian cypress with prostrate rosemary, thyme and oregano spilling over the wall.

Prostrate rosemary, thyme and oregano with Italian cypress. Picture: Jason Busch.

“My biggest surprise was how quickly it all grew,” says Andrew. “Even after six months it looked like a fully developed garden. It’s irrigated but I’m sure that quality plants made all the difference.”

With the project finished, the Snows invited the whole street over for a Christmas party to say thanks for being good neighbours. It’s now an annual event. “The entertaining areas are being used to the maximum,” says Andrew. “It’s more than we hoped for.”

Q&A

My three magnificent frangipanis have developed orange pustules under all the leaves. Will it kill them? What should I do? Paula O’Hara, by email

Plumeria rust affects only frangipanis, but like all rusts it spreads virulently. It will defoliate trees but not kill them. At its early stages in summer, or as a preventative, spray fortnightly with a fungicide registered for rust. In autumn, if leaves are close to falling, it’s probably not worth spraying. To limit reinfection next year, remove all fallen leaves and spray around the tree in winter.

We’ve tried to grow avocado trees at our property for ages. Seedlings and two-year-old trees, in the open and with shadecloth, have all died. Is it our climate or us? Chris Roberts, Toodyay, WA

Avocados are grown commercially in WA from Carnarvon to Albany, but they need certain conditions. Being subtropical trees with shallow roots that are sensitive to even mild moisture stress, they must have regular water. They’re also highly sensitive to salts and dislike hot or cold drying winds. Soil must be well drained. Add plenty of organic matter and keep mulched. They’ll need shade protection for the first few summers.

What are the jelly-like blobs on the trunk of my Fuji cherry? Jill Merrington, Launceston

This is sap, which oozes to form blobs like that on Prunus (stone fruit) trunks. It’s a condition called gummosis, often indicating stress. Insect damage, cankers and bacterial infections can all be triggers.

Garden Lust by Christopher Woods.

Send your questions to: [e-mail] or Helen Young, PO Box 3098, Willoughby North, NSW 2068. Website: helenyoung.com.au. The best question for April wins a copy of Gardenlust: A Botanical Tour of the World’s Best New Gardens by Chris Woods (Timber Press, $70)