Touring the gorgeous garden of plant educators | Garden Design and Inspiration | Gardening Australia

Jane explores a stunning garden created by two plant educators and experts. Subscribe 🔔 ab.co/GA-subscribe Both John and Michelle are educators focusing on horticulture and environmental science; John at tertiary level and Michelle at a local primary school. “I teach plants so [the garden is] very instructional in my learning - when you kill things you learn a lot about them,” John says. Their 2-acre garden has evolved a lot over the year, especially during two years of lockdown and working from home. Michelle says: “For a hills garden it still encompasses drought-tolerant plants, edibles, rhododendrons & camellias – it has lots of different spaces. For me the garden is all about the environmental conditions - we have sunny areas when you need sun and a gully when you need shade.” Most of the top acre is ornamental, with large beds of perennials and succulents with some Australian plants used to great effect. There is also a big vegie garden, fruit trees, rows of raspberries, currants, citrus and blueberries. The soil is quite acidic - about pH of 5 - so suits blueberries well. Michelle loves being able to bring the inside via cut flowers. “I can get a bouquet out of the long border for many months, then there’s the autumn foliage, like cotinus, and flowering trees and bulbs. I can get a bunch of flowers most times of the year.” John’s work research has informed some home plantings, especially his work on Melbourne’s Woody Meadows project, which combines colourful mixes of native shrubs that can be cut back hard to boost new growth and offer a simple maintenance regime for urban areas. Gardening is work for both of them, but it’s also something both Michelle and John love, and enjoy doing together. Both are strong believers in the health benefits gardening brings. “In Scandinavia forest therapies are well established and gardening is part of their national health program,” says John. “I think we could learn a lot from that.” ___________________________________________ Gardening Australia is an ABC TV program providing gardening know-how and inspiration. Presented by Australia's leading horticultural experts, Gardening Australia is a valuable resource to all gardeners through the television program, the magazine, books, DVDs and extensive online content. Watch more: iview.abc.net.au/programs/gardening-australia Facebook: www.facebook.com/gardeningaustralia Instagram: www.instagram.com/gardeningaustralia Web: www.abc.net.au/gardening ___________________________________________ This is an official Australian Broadcasting Corporation YouTube channel. Contributions may be removed if they violate ABC's Online Conditions of Use www.abc.net.au/conditions.htm (Section 3)

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