THE NATURE OF PLACE

A talk given by Caroline Colton to the Illawarra Garden School, 6 July 2004

My talk today is about the nature of place, this place, the Illawarra. But what I have to say will hopefully give you all a key to understanding your place. Whether it be a garden hugging the cliff-line at Wombarra, situated amongst sandstone rock platforms in Gymea or nestled in forests of escarpment.

To understand the nature of place is fundamental to garden design. It gives you a way "in", a way of knowing the choices nature offers you and a way of knowing how best to proceed creatively beyond those choices but still within the limits of success.

This is especially important as we head into the second year of severe drought. How do we make choices about the kind of garden that is feasible, the types of plants that are going to flourish and how we should care for those plants.

Why are these choices important?

It is because plants are sensory which has enabled them to adapt to different environmental conditions. They sense intimately their environment; the wind, the light, rain, soil texture, salt, temperature etc.

Plants have three sensory systems which respond to environmental conditions which are called tropisms:

1. Water - hydrotropism
2. Moon cycles and gravity - geotropism
3. Light - phototropism

Being able to sense, plants are able to cope with the vagaries of weather. They are able to set seed at optimum times, send roots deep into the ground after water and lose their leaves to fertilise their base.

As all plants do not share the same capacity for coping with the myriad of environmental conditions embedded in nature. Finding plants that will flourish in your garden as opposed to the garden by the sea two kilometres away becomes an imperative of nature and hence an imperative for the gardener.

Determining were you are in the natural scheme of things

The starting point to looking at where you are placed in the wider natural scheme requires finding out about your climate zone, soil zone and vegetation zone.

So why is this a starting point?

From my garden designer's perspective it is because I see astonishing beauty in nature. Nature's landscape is a visual masterpiece; it has an aesthetic which eclipses humankind's aesthetic. It is a gallery from which we can learn.

From my horticulturalist's perspective it is because I want the gardens I create to do well. As gardeners we have all observed plants flourishing 'over there' but not 'over here'. So on a larger scale were we are planting trees, creating habitat for birds, animals and ourselves, knowing what nature intended for our particular part of the world gives us a starting point for our own achievements in concert with nature. This may not appear so relevant in the good times, but as we are well into our second year of drought what nature intended becomes more of an imperative if our gardens are to cope with what is either a deep cyclic event or an actual shift in the climate pattern with less rainfall being the long-term trend.

From my environmentalist's perspective I wish to make sure that the plants I grow do not become weeds; the dreaded garden escapes that choke our bushland and watercourses. I also want to ensure that my gardening practices such as fertilising do not damage ground water and creeks.

The zones that map our region are:

1. climatic
2. soil
3. vegetation

Climatic zones

There are many gardening books that will give you climatic information for the whole country, for example, Australian climate zone maps which divide the country into tropical, subtropical, temperate and cold regions. This information provides a useful starting point, however, I recommend you drill down to your local or regional level as the information about climate is more accurate and therefore more helpful.

Illawarra climate

The escarpment and the ocean are responsible for our mild climate and relatively high rainfall. The escarpment captures moisture laden clouds coming in over the ocean, funnels rain bearing winds coming in from the south and also protects us from the fierce hot westerly winds

Because we are close to the sea we do not have extreme temperatures. No scorching in summer or frosts in winter. The escarpment does create early shadow in winter for people living in the foothills and directly beneath the cliff line. This makes these areas a few degrees cooler than the coastline suburbs bathed in winter sunlight. There is also less light (shorter day length). The other temperature affect is the cool air drainage running down gullies into flat low lying areas. Very occasionally there is a touch of frost in these areas.

Rainfall map

Rainfall over the whole region is high with pockets of variation throughout the region. Below the cliff-face of the escarpment the rainfall is as high 1700mm. The surrounds of Lake Illawarra on the other hand get on average 1000mm of rain per annum. So most of the region gets between 1200 and 1800mm per annum. When you compare this to Sydney's average annual rainfall of 1107mm and the Warragamba catchment at 840mm per annum it becomes clear that the rainfall must be taken into consideration when selecting plants especially plants sensitive to moist conditions, among them many Australian natives.

Soils

Information about soil is essential to good garden design and practice. There is great variation in soil types in our region so gaining a broad spectrum knowledge of soil will assist you in making good planting decisions. For those who like to give plants to others it will help you understand the differing conditions people garden in often just a short distance away.

The key variants are in:

• soil fertility both in terms of organic matter and minerals and elements.
• water permeability and holding capacity
• compactness which relates to oxygen levels and root penetration ability
• stability - will your soil hold or slip after rain.

The soils in the region vary from very sandy soils, low in fertility and often alkaline right on the coastline; alluvial soils built up by the many creeks washing sand, silt and clay from the escarpment and foothills onto the coastal plain to the deep fertile clay loams of the escarpment and rich volcanic soils found in pockets within the region.

When rich soils and high rainfall come together it is very important to focus on growing plants that like these conditions. Many plants for sale in nurseries are suited to very sandy shallow soils. The Sydney Hawkesbury sandstone flora for example, has many species readily available in nurseries, however, these plants would not generally do very well in the Illawarra. Therefore an exploration of the local flora is very worthwhile.

Vegetation

The final step in the big picture work is to find out what native vegetation is/was in your area. This gives you an understanding of what nature wants to grow in your area and thus a knowledge of local plants. With this knowledge you will be able to determine what particular adaptions plants have made to the local conditions and extrapolate from that, what kinds of plants are most suited. For example, Grevilleas have protoid roots adapted to low fertile soils. They generally do poorly on the escarpment.

Leon Fuller in his book Wollongong's Native Trees determined three distinct zones in the Illawarra based on factors influencing plant growth. The major ones being topography (altitude) and climate. The zones are:

1. Coastline Zone
2. Coastal Plain (includes spurs)
3. Escarpment - foothills

Coastline Zone

This zone runs right along the coast and includes the cliff line communities from Austimer to Coalcliff to the low beachfront areas characterised by foredunes, hind dunes and many dissecting creeks and lagoons from Sandon Point down through Bellambi, Windang and beyond. For the gardeners who live in this zone drought resistant plants are essential. This has always been so irrespective of rainfall because the:

• sandy soils of this zone do not hold moisture; and
• stiff, salt laden winds which often have a battering effect keep both the air around plants and the sandy soil very dry.

The soils along the coastline are low in fertility. They are a mix of quartz and shell with very little decomposed leaf litter, so focus on plants that do not need a lot of fertiliser or compost.

TIP: For gardeners who wish to have a vegetable garden were the ground is poor, the 'no dig garden' bed of straw, lucerne and compost established on top of the ground is a great solution. For your herbs; the Basils can go in beside the tomatoes, but many such as the Thymes, Oregano and Rosemary are Mediterrranean in origin and can take sandy soil, full sun and wind.

So what kind of gardens can be created near the ocean? Sheltered, shady, colourful, gardens with plant variety, bird life and healthy soil. The kind of garden you would in fact expect to create in any region.

As the conditions are so drying and the soil so low in nutrients, focus on plants that do well in these conditions. As a designer I always choose the trees and large shrubs first as they represent the major plant forms which will determine what you are able to grow beneath them. They are substantial in size thus their shape and colour will dominant your garden visually. They will also determine how much shade you have and how open or closed your garden is to the wind.

As the coastline narrows to cliffs a number of local species simply get smaller as they bunker down to the winds and cope with the shallowness of the soils. A good example is the Lilly Pilly Acmena smithii which goes from 20m tall in the gully rainforest areas of the escarpment to under 2m tall along the cliffs.

Colour twist on the coast

A number of trees and shrubs that do well on the coastline have grey/blue, grey/green foliage. It is common to use these plants as contrasting plants in amongst the deeper greens. In a twist have the muted toned plants as the main colour tone and use the bright greens as the standout contrasting plants.

Key species for blue green foliage

Coast Banksia Banksia integrifolia (local - great bird attractor)

Coastal Tea-tree Leptospermum laevigatum (local - excellent for screening)

Coastal Rosemary Westringia fruticose (local - low shrub good hedging plant)

Ironwood or Pohutukawa Metrosideros excelsa (introduced - beautiful red flowers)

Key species for bright green foliage

Lilly Pilly Acmena smithii (local - lovely pink edible berries)

Grey Myrtle Backhousia myrtifolia ( local - small star like yellow cream flowers)

Native Hibiscus Hibiscus heterophyllus (local - large pink flowers)

Red Silky Oak Grevillea banksii (introduced - red flowers)

Stand out tree for right on the coast which has a beautiful pyramidal (Xmas tree) shape and very much is the defining tree of the coastline: Araucaria heterophylla Norfolk Island pine. Slow grower. Araucariaceae

Coastal Plain (including Spurs)

Most people in the Illawarra live on the coastal plain. It is by and large flat with, however, spurs from the foothills of the escarpment running down towards the sea. Tall trees (20m - 30m) occur naturally on these spurs because the soils are deep and fertile.

Eucalyptus botryoides/saligna (Bangalay/Sydney Blue Gum)

Eucalyptus pilularis (Blackbutt)

Syncarpia glomulifera (Turpentine)

Much of the Coastal Plain is low lying land around creeks prone to flooding after heavy rains although many of the creeks are now well tamed by engineering works. These low lying areas can be very chilly in winter and occasionally frost can occur although this is not common. These creeks have over the eons washed soil down from the escarpment and over time this has built up deposits of good loamy soil with a good balance of sand, silt and clay.

Botanically the creeks link the rainforest of the escarpment to the plain, as rainforest was once thick along the creek banks. Rainforest trees are still prime species to grow in these sheltered moist corridors. A good indicator of what may in the past have been rainforest on the coastal plain is the presence of mature fig trees. There are a number of species including the Sandpaper Fig, (Ficus coronata) Port Jackson Fig (Ficus rubiginosa), Moreton Bay Fig (Ficus macrophylla), Smalled-leaved Fig (Ficus obliqua) and Deciduous Fig (Ficus superba var. henneana).

Trees like the Lilly Pilly Acmena smithii with its tart fruit, Backhousia myrtifolia (Ironwood - fine grained timber used for tool handles) and the Cheese tree (Glochidion ferdinandi) are excellent species to grow for shade and they don't get too big on the Coastal Plain sitting between 6m and 20 m. This is important to note because although rainforest trees grow along the creeks, you do not find dense rainforest cover which one associates with the escarpment rainforest and places like Minnamurra Falls.

Sadly the creeks of the region are choked with weeds and rubbish, however, the potential is there to improve the condition of these corridors if residents living adjacent to creeks planted more trees native to the area and then established understorey plants like tree ferns, ferns and shade loving shrubs.

Rainforest species also occur around Berkeley Hill and Flagstaff Hill, (Figtree, Farmborough Heights and Cordeaux Heights). This is because the soil there is volcanic. It is deep and fertile and the sub-soils hold water. So again you can succeed with rainforest trees growing them in preferred conditions.

Travelling further to around Berry you can see more volcanic features such as the extinct volcano Mount Coolangatta.

Typical of the flat areas of the plain are Eucalyptus and Melaleuca trees. They tend to be smaller than the species growing on the spurs.

The coastal plain like the coastline has a number of key species which have grey/green, blue green muted tones. There are also native species of grasses as well as introduced species that can look excellent under these trees.

Key trees for muted foliage colour

Forest Oak Allocasuarina torulosa (local - pendulous tree does well along the creeks)

Forest Red Gum Eucalyptus tereticornis (local - smooth grey/white bark)

Argyle Apple Eucalyptus cinerea (blue foliage (often in florists) and brown trunk

Willow Bottlebrush Callistemon salignus (local - cream brush flowers)

Melaleuca Melaleuca decora (local - beautiful shade tree)

Key species for light & dark green foliage

Native Clerodendron Clerodendrum tomentosum (local - massed white flowers)

Maiden's Wattle Acacia maidenii (local - beautiful rounded crown of light green

Grey Myrtle Backhousia myrtifolia ( local - small star like yellow cream flowers)

Escarpment

The third zone is the escarpment. It includes all the base cliff areas and the foothills. The escarpment is covered in tall open forest and rainforest. The escarpment is covered in forest, tall native trees which grow densely. There is a great variety of tree species from numerous Eucalyptus species to Figs, Native Ashes, Native Laurels, Palms and Tree ferns to name just a few.

Strong Colour Effects

Using dramatic colour effects is an important aspect of garden design.

Many trees found on the escarpment can provide beautiful colour and highlight the garden at different times of the year.

Standout species with superb colour

Illawarra Flame Tree Brachychiton acerifolium (red - summer)

Plumwood Eucryphia moorei (white flowers late summer early autumn)

Coachwood Ceratopetalum apetalum (rusty pink fruit - calyx - summer)

White cedar Melia azedarach (white/lilac - spring)

Getting a picture of the climate, soil and natural vegetation of the region enables one to mentally set one's own garden into a broader environmental context.

Site analysis

The next step in the garden design process is to do a site analysis of your own garden space.

TIP: Sit and observe your garden at different times of the day. Observe the bird life and other creatures and get a feel for the space you have. Take photographs. Apart from giving you a "before" record of your garden, they are also very useful to study as you often see things in a photograph that you may miss observing in situ. What is happening in the background often becomes clearer in a photograph.

• determine the aspect of your land (i.e. north, south, east, west, windward side of hill, lee side of hill)
• determine your altitude (metres above sea level)
• with a combination of the above factors you will be able to determine your own microclimate. For example does your position on a slope make your garden warmer/colder than surrounds etc.
• do soil tests both the finger texture test and a pH test around different points of the garden.
• find out if you have springs on your land (water-diviner)
• determine how much sun you get
• determine which part/s of the garden get shade, how much and at what time
• what kind of views do you have. Views to keep, views to create or views to obscure.
• what are you adjacent to, (bush, other houses, commercial infrastructure)

TIP : often privacy is created by trees, shrubs, climbers and weeds on neighbouring properties. Assess the likelihood of this vegetation remaining after the property has changed hands. Often new owners will "clean up" a property and suddenly you can be left with no screening; your green jungle has gone and your privacy with it. If there are views to obscure, then obscure them from your side if you believe a clean-up may occur. Neighbouring properties may have beautiful trees that are unlikely to be removed, so just assess the likelihood of this.

As part of your site analysis list the kinds features and resources you have on your land. Sometimes a feature can also be a resource so make two columns.

Drystone Sofa by Coledale artist Alex Forbes

A wonderful example of how you can build beautiful garden furniture from local sandstone.

Share resources including land and views

I also propose that one looks towards one's neighbours for resources. It may be as simple as getting pigeon poo as I do from my neighbour. Or it may be more complex such as land sharing with neighbours.

In many new suburbs, the area of land in front and rear gardens is very small. In an effort to revegetate these suburbs residents may in the future develop larger scale garden areas through co-operation by pulling down their fences and creating shared gardens and bush like corridors.

This is not only important for people it is also important for the environment. New suburbs are completely bulldozed of their native vegetation. Without trees these suburbs get very hot as heat radiates off roofs and people and homes are exposed to greater winds. There is no bird life; and when it does rain so much area is covered in hard surfaces that precious water flows into the gutters rather than into the ground replenishing ground water. The theory that people are too busy to look after gardens and therefore no garden space should be provided in new housing developments misses the point. Working all weekend to keep a garden tidy and having a garden to enjoy are not synonymous. Gardens, parks and bushland are important for people's physical and psychological health. Cities have traditionally provided garden spaces through public parks and gardens, commons and community gardens. A gardening ethic that returns the land more to its natural state and opens up land currently divided into tiny units by metal fencing will give back to people the green spaces they need.

In London were I once lived, streets of terrace houses have postage stamp sized private gardens which merged onto a shared garden space usually in the form of a park which is gated at either end and only residents in the square have a key to the gates. There are also commons in Europe, a left over from medieval times when people lived huddled close together for protection but shared plots of land for food gardens on the edge of towns and villages. We have community gardens in Australia but they are not so numerous as the commons.

Unfortunately new housing developments are designed without private garden spaces, parks, commons, cooperative gardens, bush corridors or remnant vegetation areas to name a few of the "green" facilities that could be, but are not available to people. As it has not been planned for it will be difficult to achieve albeit not impossible.

So now we have looked at the garden within the:

• context of the natural environment of the region (its climate, soil, natural vegetation and
• in terms of the nature of your own individual space, its microclimate, aspect, features and resources.

Modifications

Now you need to decide what you are going to modify

The third step is to detail what you are prepared to modify in order to fulfil your vision. This is a step that needs monetary consideration for it is the modification of a landscape that costs money. Earthmoving, tree transplantation and built features such as retaining walls, water features, pools, BBQ areas, all modify what you have. Some modification can of course take place in a subtle way using the resources on your property. However, most modifications to the landscape, such as changing a slope, digging for pools and ponds or building retaining walls and driveways will cost considerable amounts of money so seeing what you already have and working with it if you can is an important part of the design process.

Common modifications people undertake are:

• levelling a slope
• digging for pools and ponds
• removing trees
• building raised gardens for better drainage
• paving surfaces
• laying turf
• retaining walls
• building mounds

The diagram shows the modifications impacting on both the garden and the surrounding environment. When we change slopes we change the way water runs, we when take down trees or grow trees we immediately change the environment outside our boundaries. So what we do must always be considered in the bigger picture.

Modifications due to climate - water shortage

As we are well into our second year of drought, water usage in gardens has become an important topic. This is not our first long drought in the Illawarra. Drought hit this region from 1814 to 1815. The year 1968 was very dry and fires raged along the escarpment. We also had an extended dry spell in the early 1980s when Warragamba Dam hit a record low level in 1983. On the basis of the historical record you could just simply show patience. It will of course rain again. However, for a range of reasons I believe we need to rethink how we develop and maintain our gardens not in view of the current drought but in view of the nature of our place - our climate and soils and our microclimate.

A Garden for the Future

Grow plants that are naturally suited to your environment and not simply because they are drought resistant. The Illawarra plants do need to cope with dry spells but they also need to cope with rain and moisture holding soils. Many drought resistant Australian natives require excellent drainage (sandy soils) and are not suited to the clay loam soils spread across the Illawarra. They will however, do well in the skeletal sandy soils of Gymea or Woy Woy.

Do not grow Western Australian natives for they are adapted to a dry summer and wet winter. The rain and humidity of our summer is not to their liking. For enthusiasts who wish to grow plants that do not cope with the moisture levels here, ensure you get grafted plants with east coast rootstocks.

Introduce epiphytes (tree living) and lithophytes (rock living) plants to your garden. They include many species of orchids, ferns, bromalids and mosses. They do well in moist conditions but can also cope with extended dry periods. Many also like shade. This makes them excellent garden specimens for the Illawarra. The orchid Dendrobium speciosum (King Orchid) clings to rocks and likes full sun so it remains very dry indeed. Orchids like Dendrobium kingianum (Pink Rock Orchid) and Orange Blossum Orchid Sarcochilus falcatus grow on both rocks and trees. Staghorns and Elkhorns (Platycerium species) have large brackets which cling to trees and rocks. So to do many fern species such as Birds Nest Fern (Asplenium australasicum) and Bulbophyllum and Pyrrosia species such as Rock Felt-fern.

Many exotic plants (introduced species) common to our gardens are drought resistant because they come from dry regions of the world such as South Africa which has given us many beautiful Protea species and the Wild Iris (Dietes) for example. For people gardening in the Coastline zone and Coastal Plain zone (away from bushland) many exotic species are both drought resistant and tolerant of rain when established.

Once a position is determined and plant selection made, establish your trees and large shrubs ASAP. The shade they provide will aid moisture retention in the soil. Canopy trees reduce drying air currents at ground level as well as decrease evaporation rates.

To establish trees and shrubs quickly, water all plants regularly when they are young. Currently that means you must water every day that water restrictions allow. After three months this can drop down to two days per week. Once the growing season is over the plant should be established and only watered during extended dry spells or after days of high temperatures.

If planting late spring summer I recommend you protect young trees and shrubs using hessian wrapped around stakes. This modifies the impact of fierce sun and drying wind.

Mulch your garden beds thickly. Be sure to keep mulch away from the stem of the plant. Damp mulch on the stem can cause it to rot. Thick mulch can also prevent water getting to the roots so ensure that water can run onto the roots.

It is now mandatory to use hand held trigger sprays with on/off switches. These sprays are the fastest way to water plants. Fifteen seconds per plant is all it takes when watering the base of the stem and not the foliage. Watering foliage makes it look attractive but it is not particularly beneficial.

Purpose of watering

To establish plants until they are mature enough to cope with the pattern of natural rainfall and to ensure mature plants survive extremely dry conditions. The aim is not to have a flourishing garden by watering constantly. It is rainfall they need to do that. I suspect that it is because many plants like many animals sense the coming of rain (this is in terms of random distribution) and also because growth periods are associated with patterns of rainfall (seasonal rain).

Gardens not Bush

Even if you grow native species indigenous to the area you will never recreate the bush. The bush sustains a cycle of life and death that cannot be replicated in a garden. Nature's success comes from planting hundreds if not thousands of plants of the one species of these only a handful get through to maturity. You would never contemplate such a death rate in a garden. The high death rate results in a high density of bacteria and microbes which recycle the dead matter (organic matter decomposing) essential for a functioning ecosystem. These micro-organisms will never be present to the same degree in a garden.

Note: Introduced species are plants that are not local to the Illawarra. They can either be Australian natives from elsewhere or exotics (from other countries).

Wombarra Sculpture Garden

The Wombarra Sculpture garden is the creation of sculptor Gaye Porter.

The garden is nestled high on the escarpment within the forest populated with Blackbutt (E. pilularis) and Grey Ironbark (E. paniculata) and many rainforest species, tree ferns, ferns and shrubs.

Gaye has been rehabilitating the garden with the assistance of bush regenerator Lisa Rosehill. By removing weeds and building retaining walls from sticks woven together in order to prevent erosion, the garden is re-emerging from the dark days of Lantana infestation, Privet, Wild Tobacco and many other weeds that choked out native plants and prevented easy movement through the garden.

The garden is a wonderful example of how nature and human beings can interact. By rescuing the garden from weeds, replanting local species and using materials such as sticks and stone found on the land Gaye has created a garden in harmony with nature. Against this multi-toned green backdrop are beautiful sculptures by herself and other artists. These sculptures work to both contrast and complement the natural forms in the garden such as the beautiful sculptural form of the Elkhorns.. There are also seasonal highlights such as the flowering King Orchid Dendrobium speciosum..

The garden is open 10:30am to 4:30pm the first weekend of each month beginning from 7-8 August 2004. 57 Morrison Rd, Wombarra. For more information please refer to: www.gayeporter.com.au

I choose to end my talk about the relationship between garden design and the nature of place with the Wombarra Sculpture Garden as the garden demonstrates how much beauty can be drawn from nature if only we remove impediments to both the plants and people and animals. Remove the weeds, repair the erosion and create simple, safe easy access through the space.

The garden also shows how beauty created in the hands of people can draw out the beauty of plants. Art works can enhance the beauty around them and symbolise the possibilities of human beings living in harmony within gardens.

Custodia

The Bronze sculpture Custodia represents the protection of life at the very beginning of life. The strength of bronze folds around the egg or seed like arms or wings. Nearby is a Birds Nest Fern, Asplenium nidus, which also protects the precious new life forming at its centre. The fronds, fanning out, at one direct water and food (falling leaves) to the emerging frond and also protects it from the burning sun. This fern grows readily in trees and on rock ledges as well as on the ground.
 

Concordia

Sculpture of limestone from SA. Agreement - concordance - harmony. This sculpture symbolises the harmony within this garden. The limestone is from SA symbolising the successful introduction of "other" into a landscape.
 

Exotic Fruit

This beautifully cast sculpture which also works as a fountain, sits within a tangle of Giant Maidenhair Aspenium formosum. The curvature of fronds outlined by the blackness of the space between them outlines the same beautiful flow of line in the fountain.
 

Fern Birds

These dove like birds with their glossy ceramic glaze wet from the rain capture what little light there is in this sheltered glade. The birds are bright but also at one with the ferns having a similar arching curved shape to the fern Culcita dubia (False Bracken or Common Ground-fern). The picture is completed by the back-drop of saplings.
 

Contactus II

Limestone sculpture with Tree Fern (Cyathea australis) and young Gymea Lily Doryanthes excelsa.
 

Giselle - by Josef Paulini

The stringy bark of the great towering Blackbutts, Eucalyptus pilularis has fallen on the ground. The shape of the bark is mirrowed in the shapes forming Giselle. Art reflecting nature.

Adolescent

This bronze sculpture of the immature figure of a developing girl is, as one would expect, in the company of other adolescents. The Rough Tree ferns Cyathea australis are at the adolescent stage of their growth. They like the girl have a fair way to go before they reach maturity at 6 metres with a base of up to 1 metre.
 

Lilly

A beautiful sculpture, that brings perspective to the garden. More than a feature it brings a warmth of feeling and surprise. It makes you feel as if you are interacting with a person, that we are not alone in the world.
 

Elkhorn

The Elkhorn a beautiful sculpture in its own right Platycerium bifurcatum.

Tutorial II

This wonderful sandstone sculpture is back-dropped by the Cabbage Tree Palm Livistona australis, also strong in sculptural form. The focus that this sculpture brings to this part of the garden can also be created in unique ways. The sculpture is representing a group of people, however, you could create a focal point in this space by placing a sandpit in this area. Thus you have children playing the people are real and just as colourful and interesting to see.
 

Wombats

Wombats foraging on grass. Cement casts from the original bronzes. The wombats look very real in this setting and add to the naturalism of the scene.
 

Metal Sculpture

Sculpture in metal, its black form in unity with the trunks of the Eucalyptus trees in the background.

Bibliography

Hazelton, P.A. Soil Landscapes of the Kiama 1:100 000 Sheet. Sydney, Department of Soil Conservation and Land Management, 1992.

Hazelton, P.A.& Tille, P.J Soil Landscapes of the Wollongong-Port Hacking 1:100 000 Sheet. Sydney, Department of Soil Conservation and Land Management, 1992.

Fuller, Leon. Wollongong's Native Trees. Sydney, Kingsclear Books, 1995.

Mills, Kevin & Jakeman, Jacqueline. Rainforests of the Illawarra District. Jamberoo, Coachwood Publishing, 1995.

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Last updated August 31, 2004
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