Gardening Services Guide

Many Australian gardeners say Australia’s gardening designs are “borrowed” from places like England and Japan. But Australia has many native plants that make the Australia gardening landscape unique. Those described here are but a few of many Australian plants available to gardeners. For more information on the Australia gardening landscape contact the Australian government’s Department of the Environment and Heritage or the Australian Botanical Gardens.

The genus Acacia is important to the Australia gardening landscape because one of its species, the Golden Wattle, is in Australia’s national floral emblem.
The Australians even celebrate Wattle Day of the first of September each year. There are almost a thousand species of Acacia in Australia, and they make wonderful garden plants. Their flowers are arranged in either globular heads or cylindrical spikes. Depending on the species, there can be as few as three individual flowers to over one hundred and thirty. These plants flower throughout the year. Regular pruning will help these plants live longer.

Leptospermum, commonly known as tea trees, are also popular on the Australian gardening landscape. They are so-named because early Australian settlers used the leaves as a substitute for tea. There are eighty-three species. The tea trees are excellent garden plants. They have a tight, compact growth that makes them good screen plants. They are hardy plants that thrive in most types of soil.

Among the most interesting plants in the Australian gardening landscape are the Kangaroo Paws. These unique plants are exported all over the world. Kangaroo Paws vary in height and colour depending on the species. The one called Bush Ranger has orange flowers that grow on stalks up to fifty centimeters tall. It is drought tolerant and can survive mild frost. The species known as Dwarf Delight has apricot coloured flowers on stalks up to eighty centimeters tall. This plant is known for its longevity. The Tall Kangaroo Paw has flowers in a wide variety of colours, but most commonly yellow-green. This plant is adaptable to a wide range of soil and climate conditions. It grows well in full sunlight or partial shade. The Red and Green Kangaroo Paw has brilliant red and green flowers on a stalk about a meter high. It is a short-lived plant that botanists treat as an annual. Another favourite is called Pink Joey. It has salmon-pink flowers on spikes about fifty centimeters long. It, too, is a hardy plant. The Black Kangaroo Paw likes the sun and does not grow well in cool climates. Its flowers and stalks are covered by a dense layer of black hairs. There is much more for the gardener to discover about the Australia gardening landscape.