Start small, grow big

What starts as an empty patch or overgrown garden can become something entirely different with the right design. Landscape architect and urban designer Natasha Morgan has spent years transforming spaces into beautiful, productive gardens. From her work at Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne to her latest project, a small 515m² block in Daylesford called Little Cottage on a Hill, she has explored ideas that work at every scale.

For this chat, we asked Natasha what she’s learnt about transforming a space into a thriving garden, and her advice for anyone starting from scratch or planning a major renovation.

Q: What is the best starting point for someone with a blank patch of dirt?

Don’t buy any plants just yet. When I moved to our property in Daylesford, a car accident on moving day put me in a neck brace for six weeks! So I had no choice but to sit and watch: where the frost lingered, which way the water ran, which corners puddled. This observation time was precious, it was the garden giving me clues before I’d done a thing. Also ask: which piece of ground should I start with? It isn’t automatically the space behind your fence. I began on the front verge, my biggest, most visible canvas, and everything out there set the scene for the rest.

Q: How much should a beginner think about design before planting?

Live in the space for a year if you can, so you see all four seasons – six months at a minimum, so you’ve caught the shortest and longest days and where the light lands. Design doesn’t mean a finished plan, either. In my workshops I hand people a fat black texta instead of a sharp pencil, so they can’t get bogged in detail and have to think conceptually: sun, shadow, wind and frost pockets go down first. The most common mistake is planting before you understand the space – or what actually speaks to you. Make a mood board before Grandma’s rose goes anywhere.

Q: Does the advice change between two hectares, like your previous property, and 515m²?

Not the thinking, just the decisions. Two hectares gives you the privilege of space, but that easily becomes sprawl rather than cohesion. On 515m², every plant has to earn its keep. It’s what I call high-performance planting: interest across at least three seasons, bulbs as the final layer. Scale sharpens clarity. You don’t need more space; you need intention.

Pick up Issue 168 of ABC Organic Gardener in stores now to read the rest of this story filled with Natasha Morgan’s garden design advice, or subscribe at mymagazines.com.au to get every issue delivered straight to your door.