DANIEL ALTHAUS THE CIRCLES OF LIFE

You hear the garden before you see it. Soft, trickling water gently caresses the raw Castlemaine rocks and cascades down a 3-tiered water feature. In amongst native grasses and ground covers, a bird bath is nestled and rotates gently in the wind. It attracts native animals and insects who are enticed by its familiarity to the natural habitat that once was. This will become a haven for hydration, reproduction, and bathing.

The meandering gravel path takes the eye on a journey, emulating the Australian bushland and the animal trails that weave through it. Each turn of a corner opens new potential and allows the mind to wander deeper into the landscape.

The path is smothered by striking shrubs, forming a gentle companionship where one does not exist without the other. The structured clipping and sculpting of these plants signals intent and prepares them for their otherwise foreign surrounds of a domestic garden.

Above the layered shrubs, stands a timeworn Angophera costata. It is the life source of the garden, offering shade from the harsh Australian sun whilst also nurturing and feeding the microclimate beneath it. It lures you in to absorb the colours and textures, unique to Australia and its ecosystem. The intricate and organic relationship each living fragment has with one another in this environment is what this garden is all about. Welcome to The Circle of Life.

KEYBOTANICAL NAMECOMMON NAME

AC2 Angophora costata

Sydney Red Gum

AS2 Adenanthos sericeus Coastal Woollybush

CA Correa alba White Correa

CS Correa Reflexa Native Fuchsia

LB Leucophyta brownii Cushion Bush

WJ Westringia fruticosa Coast Rosemary ‘Jervis Gem’

AF Agonis flexuosa ‘Burgundy’ Willow Myrtle

AS Austrostipa stipoides/ Prickly Spear Grass

Prickly Spear Grass

AO Anigzanthos ‘Orange Cross’ Kangaroo Paw

PP Poa poiformis ‘PP500’™Kingsdale Tussock Grass

AW Adenanthos cuneatus Coral Carpet Flamebush ‘Coral Carpet’

CG Casuarina glauca ‘Cousin It’ Cousin It Swamp Oak

XS Xerochrysum ‘Sundaze Flame’ Everlasting Daisy

HH Hardenbergia violacea Happy Wanderer Lilac Vine ‘Happy Wanderer’

BJ Baumea juncea Tussock Swamp Twigrush

MC Myriophyllum crispatum Upright Water Milfoil

NC Nymphoides crenata Wavy Marshwort

MD Marsilea drummondii Nardoo