Surf & Salad

Herbs and vegies are the street planting of choice  at one of Australia's most beautiful beach towns.

Landscapology decamped to Yamba over Easter, and what a smart decision that was. If you’ve ever been there you’ll know that Yamba is one of the loveliest coastal towns in Australia. You get to look at stuff like this every day:

Not bad huh.

Pandanus unfurl themselves across the headlands, the spinifex glows silver in the breeze, and the water whispers your name. Heaven.

But wait, there’s more!

Yamba is also home to a brilliant edible garden scheme. Supported by the local council, Edible Yamba was launched last Easter.

Garden beds on the main street have been planted with a rich assortment of vegetables and herbs.

Where no footpath space is available, simple, robust timber planters have been installed.

Little signs display information about unusual specimens.

I've never seen za'atar growing: only the traffic and crowds stopped me from getting closer.

Oregano: good for pizzas and prostates. Apparently...

...and here it is in the flesh.

Larger signs encourage everyone to participate by using the crops.

Such a generous idea.

Some shop owners have personalized their planters, adding flowers to the bounteous mix of edibles.

Kale. Mealy bug free obviously, as every insect in the country lives in my crop.

As you'd expect, several of the local cafes have also embraced the concept with enthusiasm.

Caperberry, in its prime corner location, directs its Facebook followers to recipes that can be made using items from the street plantings, such as this lush lemongrass.

Perennially popular Beachwood Café was ahead of the pack in tending a jam-packed herb garden on the tiny verge outside.

Could this be the hottest street in town?

Lovely fennel flowers.

At the moment, rosellas are blooming amongst the other plants.

Oh rosella jam...how you make my heart sing.

Newcomer Irons and Craig is also awash in rosellas. Growing in the garden behind the café, they are harvested and bottled as preserves or jam each Wednesday, when the café is shut for pickling day.

A few stalks of corn from a larger crop still thrive out the front, next to chillis and capsicums.

Underneath, oregano makes a soft and fragrant groundcover.

Look up, and vines twine up an old hills hoist.

The edible gardens also pop up behind the signage that marks the arrival into the main shopping area.

Here, capsicums and curry plants and joined by geraniums and a stand of pawpaw trees.

Part of the decision to instigate Edible Yamba was to show that fresh, organic food could be grown easily and look just as attractive as a purely ornamental garden.

I don’t know about you, but seeing such abundance on every street corner was incredibly satisfying. How brilliant to brush past a thriving rosemary or curry plant on your way to get the paper, and release that wonderful scent into the seaside air.

I think it’s safe to say that Edible Yamba has made me love the place even more.

What do you think?

Do any streets near you contain edibles? What are they? What one herb or edible plant would you like to see used more in your city streets. Let us know in the comments below.

If you think a friend would find this article interesting I’d be honoured if you passed it along.

Thanks for reading, and see you soon for more from the wonderful world of gardens, landscape and design.

Grounds: Café Gardens & Garden Cafes

Paddock Bakery

For many Brisbanites, Easter is their final beach holiday before the weather turns cool. (I would personally chew my own arms off for a touch of cool weather, but that's another story...)

Each year the precious four days are anticipated and longed for, over weeks of perfect sunshine and blue skies. Invariably the result involves torrential rain or <shudder> flooded campsites.

Whatever hand fate deals you, if you’re heading to the Gold Coast, or even just passing through, it’s worth a detour to enjoy the garden at Paddock Bakery.

Paddock unfolds itself along a big corner block, one street back from the Gold Coast Highway at Burleigh. A white-painted timber house has been converted to become home to the café.

Glass doors at the rear reveal the bakery engine room and kitchen. Tight t-shirts and singlets reveal the arms of tanned, bemuscled patrons.  

There are inviting seating choices inside, all with good views out.

There are more options out in the garden itself. At the front, picnic tables hunker under big shady trees.

To the side, a new edible garden is taking shape. Chunky timber framed raised beds are home to the usual suspects of culinary herbs, as well as flowers, lush vegetables and citrus.

Passionfruit tendrils have laid siege to the elegant arbour; the whole structure will be invisible this time next year.

Little tables and chairs are dotted around, and the ground surface is relaxed – old bricks, slabs of stone, deco…nice.

Have a coffee and a freshly baked pastry, read the papers, get a loaf of chewy sourdough to take away and you’ll be set for another day of boardgames in the caravan.

Note: Paddock Bakery is at 20 Hibiscus Haven, Burleigh. Open 6:00am – 2:00pm. 

Design Class: Borrowed Landscapes

How your neighbour's trees can help you create a better garden.

One of the biggest challenges when designing your garden can be knowing where to start.

Do you kick off with some paths, or new garden beds? Should you concentrate on an outdoor dining area, or somewhere to grow herbs?  Or do you just start planting things in the hope that something will emerge from the chaos?

Sometimes we’re so busy concentrating on what needs doing within our own backyard that we don’t even notice the really obvious starting point that’s staring us right in the face.

I’m talking about what designers call the ‘borrowed landscape’: things that look great from your place, but are actually in you neighbours’ gardens.

A classic example of a borrowed landscape is an amazing neighbourhood tree. Remember last week’s story about the Brisbane Quaker Arboretum? All the neighbours living around its perimeter are able to ‘borrow’ views, shade, shelter and more from the Arboretum, making their gardens feel somehow connected to this bigger landscape.

If you think that sounds like a good idea, here are four tips for incorporating borrowed landscapes into your garden.

1. Look Beyond Your Fence

Seems obvious now that we’re talking about it, but sometimes the best part of your garden is in someone else’s back yard!

Nope, nothing here...

...or is there?

If you can identify what’s around that makes an impact when seen from your garden, then you can make a plan that best incorporates it.

2. Don’t Crowd the Red Carpet

If you’ve identified something that can play a starring role in your garden, then let it be the star. If the most amazing tree you can see is in your neighbour’s garden, and it creates shade right where you need it, and has gorgeous flowers in spring and summer, then it’s OK for your garden to play a supporting role.

Hmmm, where did that amazing tree go?

More often than not, if you try and compete, you’ll lose the impact of the thing that was so amazing in the first place.

3. Ah, ah, ah, ah Stayin’ Alive

No point having an amazing borrowed landscape next door if you kill it, is there?

Remember that the things you do on your side of the fence can have an impact on the tree on the other side.

Depending on the species, that fabulous tree next door might have a root system that extends under your property. Be mindful of this if you’re planning work next to the boundary. Excavations for swimming pools or walls can cut into root zones and damage them.

If you’re planning something like this it can be worthwhile having an arborist provide advice on establishing a protection zone around the critical area.

4. Next Generation

Finally, if you really love your borrowed landscape, and it’s a critical part of the success of your garden, what do you do if the tree does become unhealthy and die, or a new owner decides he doesn’t love it quite so much and plans to chop it down?

This is always a risk with borrowed landscapes, but one way of future-proofing your garden is to consider succession planting. If you have the space, you could plant a young specimen of the beautiful tree on your side of the fence. Yours will be growing as the neighbouring one ages.

If the amazing tree is in a park or street verge, you could talk to your local council to see if they have considered a succession planting plan.

At the end of the day, good succession planting will be beneficial not just to you, but to local wildlife, and the rest of the neighbourhood.

Now it’s over to you.

Does ‘borrowed landscape’ play a part in your garden? Tell me one thing that contributes to your garden, but which is actually located on another property.

And in the spirit of borrowing, if you know someone who might find this story interesting, please feel free to share it.

Thanks for reading, and see you soon for more tips and stories.

100 Hidden Hoop Pines

The Brisbane Quaker Arboretum.

In many places the city tree is becoming almost an endangered species. In city streets, trees have to compete for space with power lines, underground water, gas and telecommunications, car parks, building awnings and more. A desire for very large houses on not-so-large blocks of land also restricts the type of trees that can be grown.

We rely on trees to cool and clean the air, and provide shade, fruit and flowers. Australians love our outdoor lifestyle and unique native species, yet when it comes to trees, our actions sometimes don’t match our words.

So it was a real surprise and delight for me to visit a place right in inner-Brisbane where trees are held in high esteem.

This is the Brisbane Quaker Arboretum.

Located on a half-hectare site in Kelvin Grove the property was purchased by the Quaker community in 1972.

It had previously been owned by Storrie & Co., Joinery and Manufacturers, who had planted Hoop Pines (Araucaria cunninghamii) throughout the site.

Today 100 hoops remain, averaging in age from 80 to 90 years old.

The Hoop Pine takes its name from the textured bark, which peels away in ribbons, or 'hoops'.

When the Quakers purchased the site it had become overgrown with weeds and introduced species. The task of cleaning it up began in the early 1990s.

Over many years the non-natives have been removed and the hillside site revegetated.

The revegetation work is ongoing.

Tracks wind through, taking visitors up and down the slope, and offering numerous places to stop and sit.

The rockpool is near the bottom of the gully, surrounded by subtropical rainforest plantings.

The paths themselves are edged in stone, a material that also appears as walls and steps throughout the arboretum.

After crossing this bridge the path leads up to a play area that includes a flying fox.

This dry stacked stone seat is integrated into a retaining wall near the front of the property.

Amongst the planting are Lemon Scented Myrtles (Backhousia citriodora), a species named after Quaker James Backhouse, an English-born naturalist who travelled and worked throughout Australia between 1832 and 1838.

As I discovered, lemon scented myrtle can be used to make a bloody good cordial, a refreshment being savoured by many others enjoying their visit to the Quaker Arboretum as part of the Australian Open Gardens Scheme.

This is the third year the Arboretum has been open to the public, and a steady stream of visitors wandered the grounds, chatting to the people at the butterfly garden stand, and indulging in the holy grail of community events: homemade scones.

Learning about attracting butterflies to the garden.

Scone HQ.

Barely three kilometers from the city centre, the Brisbane Quaker Arboretum is both a calming retreat and an inspirational example of how we can slowly, diligently and persistently care for our environment.

Brisbane's luckiest neighbours look onto the Arboretum from their house and garden.

Solar panels on the carport roof. Water tanks collect rainwater from all buildings on site.

Marking the entry.

The inner-suburban street setting gives little clue to the oasis beyond.

Now it’s over to you.

What did you think of the Brisbane Quaker Arboretum? Did you know that such a place existed, or were you as surprised as I was to discover this hidden treasure? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

In the spirit of sharing, if you know someone who might find this story interesting, please feel free to pass it along.

See you soon for more garden, landscape and design stories.

The Brisbane Quaker Arboretum is at 10 Hampson Street, Kelvin Grove. It is open to the public annually for one weekend as part of the Australian Open Garden Scheme.

A Growing Interest: creative Brisbanites share their gardens

Nicole Phillips

I’ve noticed that many of the creative people I meet around Brisbane have a keen interest in the landscape. Whether it’s their own garden, a local park, or a place they’ve visited on holiday, these folk can all talk with great passion about a landscape that is special to them.

I’ve enjoyed hearing about these special places so much, and I thought you would find it interesting too. So today, we bring you the first in our new quarterly series ‘A Growing Interest’.

It’s a privilege for us to be let into the private gardens and treasured landscapes of these busy creative people, and to hear what interests them about gardens and landscape.

To start us off we have the lovely and fabulous Nicole Phillips. It’s taken us quite a while to get our schedules (and the weather!) to align, as this super-talented typographer, graphic designer and print maker is a lady in high demand, but we finally managed to sit down and talk recently.

Nicole Phillips in her print pavilion. Her 1872 Albion press is shown behind. Photo: Toby Scott.

Nic, where are we today?

You are in our backyard, tucked behind our modest postwar house in suburban Brisbane.

What do you love about this place?

Since we planted a lot of natives we are fortunate to attract a lot of wildlife: we have fantastic birds, lizards, tree and marsh frogs.

Grevillea and Silky Oak shine in the sun.

The beautiful foliage of the grevillea...

...and its equally stunning flowers.

I love that our garden comes alive with birdsong at dusk and dawn, and with the call of the tree frog in times of rain and of an evening. I also really enjoy being in the pool because it’s tucked away behind the gabion walls.

Nicole's equally talented husband Michael made the gabion screens throughout the garden.

More grevilleas grow around the base of the timber-clad pool.

It’s quite private and peaceful – it feels like an escape! I also really enjoy seeing our pups play and enjoy the space. Cooder our oldest dog had always lived in apartments and small courtyard town houses. When he moved in here it was as if he had won the lottery.

Lottery winner Cooder.

How long have you been gardening here?

We started work on the garden 6 years ago. Its form and function have evolved numerous times since then to suit our needs so it’s still very much a work in progress.

When we moved here there was a hills hoist in the centre, a large pile of rubbish where the pool is now, and the rest was just grass. There was a small wooden deck riddled with termites. It was more a utility space than somewhere to be enjoyed.

Even though neither of us have green thumbs we were excited by the potential of the space so we created large garden beds and started planting. It took a lot of trial and error - many of the plants we were familiar with from home (New Zealand) failed spectacularly. We planted pittosporum and flaxes, none of which did well. I also had a thing for roses, hydrangeas and gardenia (do I sound like a nana?!) but all those floral shrubs also died off quickly.

The natives we tried went really well, as did the frangipanis.

White flowers on the Plumeria pudica beside the print pavilion.

So once we worked out what would thrive here we planted more of those species. I especially love the ground covering plants (we have a lot of Dietes) as they minimise the weeding I have to do!

Kalanchoe 'Flapjack'

A stunning Bismarckia nobilis (Bismarck Palm).

Eventually as our budget allowed we pulled up the old termite infested deck, and Mike built us a steel and modwood platform which was much more robust and generous in proportion. We also added a steel and danpalon roof to protect us from the elements, and a small pool to keep cool in summer.

Shadow play on the deck roof.

Signs of life.

Slowly our lawn space has become smaller and smaller as our outdoor living and garden beds grew. The most recent addition to the garden was my new print pavilion.

Chunky, dark stained timber wraps the pavilion. Translucent panels open to allow additional light and ventilation.

Nicole designed the weathered steel panel that marks the entry door.

What changes have you noticed in that time?

Brisbane has seen a cycle of extreme drought and wet since we have been here and our garden has coped well with both. It’s a totally different experience in dryer times than it is when it’s wet. The garden grows differently, smells and sounds different. Its also been great to see a lot of the small trees and shrubs we planted mature and flower or bear fruit for the first time.

Pennisetum casts shadows on the rough rendered walls of the house.

How is this place important to your creative work?

As the print pavilion is in the back yard it is vitally important as it’s where I produce. I find inspiration here – I often curl up with a book or notepad to research and develop concepts in the daybed under the tree. It’s a beautiful space to work in, I love the quality of light, the privacy, the sounds and fresh air my garden workspace affords me. My consulting practice is also based from home in a small studio at the front of the house and so on days I am working in there I usually take my lunch breaks in the pool or on the back deck. On those days the garden is a space is where I relax, recharge and replenish.

Richard keeps an eye on things. He was made from Hebel by a Gold Coast craftsman.

Describe your dream garden or landscape for us:

I like the feeling of being enclosed. My dream landscape has me surrounded by dense planting and with the sound of water either from a nearby beach, a quick flowing stream or perhaps a waterfall! I like varied planting with lots of different texture. I like landscapes that engage all the senses, so I think the smell of a place is important too.

Shallow water bowls create a 'dream garden' in miniature.

Anything else you’d like to add?

I think one of the best parts about living in Queensland is the climate enabling us to spend time outdoors. It’s such a gift. Our garden is the most used living space in our home.

Well, our climate might be a gift to Nicole, but her generosity has been a gift to us. I hope you’ve enjoyed taking a look at the garden of an inspiring member of Brisbane’s creative community.

To learn more about Nicole’s work visit her website http://www.nicoleap.com.au/

Now it’s over to you.

What do you think of our new quarterly series? Did you enjoy hearing a creative Brisbane person talking about their garden? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. If you know someone who might enjoy reading about Nicole's garden, feel free to share this story.

Our next edition of A Growing Interest will come in Winter, so be sure to sign up for the newsletter so you don’t miss out. See you next week for more from the world of landscape, architecture and design.

Grounds: Cafe Gardens & Garden Cafes

Abode Cafe

Long ago when I was a struggling student, Taringa was a festering cesspit of rickety hovels and grim brick sixpacks, clustered cheek by jowl in the lowlands behind the Chinese restaurant on Moggill Road, untouched by sun in winter, or air in summer.

Actually, I’m pretty sure that was probably just the parts of Taringa that my colleagues and I could afford, a thought that occurred to me as I travelled along graceful Stanley Terrace recently, on my way to visit Abode Café.

Abode is part of the Hillsdon Road shops, the sort of corner enclave that every suburb needs, and sadly, every suburb used to have before shopping centres completely wiped them out.

The Hillsdon Road shops have been recently reinvigorated with a corner store, laundromat, art studio, pet pamperers, and more.

Even man's best friend can bubble bath in a garden setting...

Abode occupies one stretch of the corner site.

Inside there’s a banquette with a clutch of tables, and a not-too-scary communal table. There are flowers on the counter, and plants in jars and pots tucked here and there.

Outside is the garden courtyard.

More tables and chairs gather on the lawn and bricks, under umbrellas, and shaded by trees.

Pooches lie about while their humans read the papers, occasionally nipping off for a drink of their own.

Herbs bask in the sun, within a few steps reach of the kitchen.

It’s all perfectly delightful, and let me tell you, on a glorious autumn morning, the place was heaving. Minutes after these shots were taken, so was every seat in the house.

If you’re into coffee, they use Black Sheep. If you like homemade jams and the like, they’re available too. They do gluten free and dairy free fodder.

The menu is small but delicious - hello savoury mince, my old friend - and the staff, led by owner Bronwyn, are supremely friendly and unflappable. They even offered to turn off the fluoro lights in the kitchen if I preferred that for my photos!

With charms like this, it’s pretty easy to see why so many are making Abode’s courtyard garden their home away from home.

Note: Abode is at 30 Hillsdon Road, Taringa. Open 7:30am-3:00pm.  Check the Hillsdon Road Shops' blog for more info. PT users can catch the 415 bus to the doorstep.