Design principles
. Our basic design principles included the following:
the garden would contain mostly plants native to Australia
there would be little, if any, lawn - where we needed open space we would have a meadow of grasses, forbs and lilies
the garden would be attractive to birds and other wildlife
plant foliage and shape would be more important than flowers, even though flowers were needed to attract many of the nectar feeding birds
we would attempt to retain all rain water on the property for use in the garden
there should be some open water in the garden to attract wildlife
we did not want a series of enclosed garden rooms, but rather different areas that flowed into each other
there would be more emphasis on the natural rather than the formal in the garden design, including wide paths in curved shapes
while most native plants require trimming, they should only be trimmed to enhance their natural shape, not to create any formal shapes
