This Week in the Garden: Planting For Resilience

Shifting seasons and future proofing our gardens

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It’s another week in the garden, and I can feel the season shifting. The warming weather has triggered an explosion of growth in the plants I tucked into the soil just two months ago.

Here where I live on Yugambeh Country, the Kombumerri people called this season Thaii Woongara—the time when the wattle flowers are just fading. It’s the shortest of all the Indigenous seasons, usually cool and windy. But in our rapidly warming world, this time of year in SE Queensland is now more like hot and windy. Yesterday, it hit 31 degrees. Which is unsettling.

When Dave and I started planning our house reno last year, I came across the concept of future-proofing. Essentially, retrofitting your home to withstand the challenges that come with Australia’s volatile weather – heatwaves, bushfires, floods. Using smart design to maximise natural light, improve ventilation, and integrate renewable energy sources and water-saving devices.  

I like to think of rewilding our backyards as a form of future-proofing. Setting our gardens up to thrive in a world where the weather is increasingly unreliable. Planning and preparing to cope with extreme temperatures and times when we can’t water. By planting resilient natives honed by thousands of years of evolution to thrive in exactly this environment. Supporting wildlife and helping cool our suburbs.

Westringea and Casuarina

You might notice the visuals in this newsletter have changed. Last week, for the first time in years, I picked up my camera again. I’ve had a bit of an on-and-off affair with photography—something I dabbled in more during the early days of blogging and social media. Then video became to go to content format, and my camera slowly found its way to the back of a cupboard.

Last week I was attempting to photograph a bee, and my phone wasn’t cutting it. So, I ducked inside to grab my camera, and now morning photoshoots in the garden have become my new favourite thing. I thought I would add photos to the newsletter to share the garden when words alone don’t quite capture the magic of it all.

Chrysocephalum and Callistemon

Deep in planning mode for the next section to plant

With construction on the new alfresco set to kick off in just a few weeks—perfect timing for summer—I’m starting the research and design for another section of the backyard. There’s an area in between the start of the corridor next to the step stones and where the new alfresco area will end. Until this week, I hadn’t given much thought to this space. While I was swept up in landscaping the corridor and retaining wall garden, I thought I would figure it out later. Later has arrived, and I still don’t quite know what to do with this area.

Do I want more ground cover? Maybe rocks? Will the rocks get too hot in summer? Shrubs and grasses, or keep it clean? I’ve always loved the idea of creating ‘rooms’ in a garden, spaces that feel distinct but connect together. Moving from one garden room to the next, each with its own vibe, as I potter around the yard.

This is the space. Three areas flanked by the alfresco, a small tiled landing outside our bedroom, and the pool, connecting to the corridor stepping stones.

There’s a 6-metre strip that runs alongside the house, currently mulched to prevent Charlie tracking mud through the house. A small 4m² patch next to the retaining wall and pool fence. There’s a lovely date palm that overhangs; it’s quite shaded, so I need to think about what will grow there. And a 24m²  space that may or may not flood come next wet season. Only time and the capiphon drains will tell.

Some of my design inpso

Mcnuttndorf Landscapes and St Remy Studio

Cooke Land Arc and Outdoor Establishments

Up until now, the planning and design of the backyard has been a slightly chaotic, mix of Pinterest Pins, Instagram inspo saved in a folder, and a scattered collection of notes, research, and planting lists. It’s all been floating around in a handful of Word docs and an ever-growing Google spreadsheet—organised, but only just. I’m in the process of reining it all in, bringing some much-needed structure to the creative madness.

ground covers growing in

What’s been happening in the gardening this week:

An explosion of growth. The Viola and Pratia in the corridor, which had been inching along at a glacial pace for the past two months, have suddenly gone into overdrive, spreading fast and filling the bare dirt. The front porch garden is filling in faster every day. The meadow flowers I planted last week have sprouted their first tiny green shoots.

First flowers from the Carpobrotus—also known as Pig Face or Angular Sea Fig. I’m counting down the days until I can see a sea of pink cascading down the retaining wall. Did you know this plant is edible? Apparently, they taste like a salty strawberry mixed with a hint of kiwi fruit.

An abundance of Hoverflies. I recently discovered that these little guys are fantastic for the veggie garden. Hoverflies are excellent pollinators and beneficial predators. Their larvae feast on aphids and other soft-bodied sap suckers like scale, mites, thrips, and tiny caterpillars.

A native plant market haul. Last weekend at the Qld Native Market I walked away with some Kunzea, Pygmy Possum Banksia, a White Lace Melaleuca, and this stunning Philotheca myoporoides. Not a single one was on my list, of course. Now to figure out where I’m going to plant them!

More insects and lizards, and birds. It’s that old adage—build it, and they will come. Provide the basics—food, water, and shelter—and you’ll start to attract a whole host of wildlife to your yard.

Every week, I can’t help but feel a deep sense of satisfaction watching my backyard evolve. Seeing all the bits and pieces of inspiration—the Pinterest boards, the Instagram folders, the scribbled notes, and all the hard work—come together to create a space that’s not just beautiful but also resilient and full of life.

There’s still plenty of work to do, but with each new plant and every new creature that finds its way here, I’m reminded of why I started this journey in the first place. Creating a sanctuary, a space that’s future-proofed against whatever nature throws our way, and one that brings a little more beauty and a little more life into our everyday.