Welcome to this beautiful Brookfield garden, created lovingly by Anna Chandler. When the Chandlers first arrived at this block it was a complete jungle, overgrown and almost impossible to get through. With Anna's vision and creativity and a huge amount of hard work, this wonderful garden has taken shape.
A garden for kid's fun, family afternoons together, numerous dogs and chickens... and a forever changing canvas for Anna to explore her love of gardening and design.
If you'd like to find out more about garden design services with Anna Chandler she can be reached via email outsidergardens[at]bigpond.com.
Large trees tower above. The previous owner planted many specimens in a collectors style. This has given Anna some wonderful textures of trunks and bark with a winding path that invites exploration of this part of the garden.
This was a dense part of the garden previously with many weedy trees. The trees were thinned out to open up the canopy, creating these lovely vistas.
A low planting of dark orange flowering Clivia frame this quiet shady seating area. Anna has potted up a Clivia that neatly ties the space together. Clivia are a tough plant that thrives in low light, making them an excellent choice under established trees.
Behind this corner the path leads away through a short walk.
Anna is always looking forward in her garden never afraid to pull plants out and change things around. The planting changes textures as you venture along this walk. The large strap-like leaves of Neomarica gracilis or Walking Iris are featured in this image.
Down the hill the bank gets a lot more afternoon sun. Here Anna turns to grasses and succulents like Agave.
Planting into the hard, dry ground under established trees is one of the most difficult challenges we face as gardeners. Anna approached this two fold; first not skimping on organic matter and preparing the soil so that the plants had something to establish on. She also stuck to mass-planting of plants that thrived. The result is a lush, low jungle. Foreground is Walking Iris, the back is Alpinia nutans and Alpinia zerumbet, both from the ginger family.
The cubby house hides itself away amongst the jungle foliage.
Standing in contrast against a woodland backdrop is a dove house handmade by Anna's father. In the foreground Spider lilies, to the right a Brugmansia. The larger ferns are birds nests.
As you move up the hill, the garden moves into more sun-loving plants. Liriope lines the border between garden and lawn and tropical birch comes into the picture.
There is nothing so glorious as sunshine through tropical birch leaves.
Plants are repeatedly planted under a group of tropical birch trees. Salvia, liriope, society garlic and westringia (clipped in balls), are found here.
Plenty of good times to be had on the expanse of lawn.
Anna's newest creation is this bed, Crepe Myrtle Natchez with multiple plantings of westringia, 'Meigen Magic' salvia, clipped 'Baby Boomer' syzygium, society garlic and pennisetum nafray.
Salvia occupy space fast in this new bed, loving the open sunny position.
The morning light is gorgeous through this cottage-style bed. The pennisetum nafray's fluffy seed heads are wonderful set against the sunny backdrop.
We hope you've enjoyed Anna Chandler's garden as much as we have. Many of the plants used in Anna's garden are available in the nursery, some on a seasonal basis.
