Come spend a day learning about garden maintenance from a designer | Discovery | Gardening Australia

Costa tags along with horticulturist and garden designer Will Gibson, getting a taste of his everyday work, and learning a few tips and tricks along the way. Subscribe 🔔 ab.co/GA-subscribe
Will started posting videos of his gardening projects, especially hedge-trimming and topiary work, and he and his dog Humphrey now have a solid following.
First up today they’re visiting a garden that Will installed less than a year ago. There’s a lot of foliage, form and texture, with layered hedging and tightly clipped topiary, all set around beautifully laid, practical paving.
Will says the key is starting with good soil, improved with lots of compost, and good water.
Costa gets stuck into clipping one of the Westringia topiary spheres, following Will’s advice to start by looking directly down onto the ball to ensure you maintain an perfectly round shape. The first cuts are all around the outside, but not taking much foliage off at first, making sure you’ve found the right shape first. “The more time you take the better it’ll become,” he says.
“Small cuts, more frequently, is better than larger cuts.”
Next project is trimming a straight bay laurel hedge. To make sure the plant thickens from the bottom you need to trim from the top to make sure it grows gradually and you avoid losing any undergrowth.
Prostrate Rosemary can be kept low and level by trimming out any upright growth.
The second garden Costa and Will visit has a softer structure with more flowering plants and less hard landscaping.
Here Will has some olive trees he wants to espalier, chopping out any branches that are growing forward or upwards, creating a slightly formal look to contrast with a looser, more rambling underplanting.
They wire the trees up against the wall with marine-grade stainless-steel attached to bolts fitted into the brick wall behind. The side branches are then reduced down to four laterals on either side to train out along the four wire supports.
Costa shares a key tip for keeping a lawn green, lush and neat; the one-third rule. This is that you should never cut off more than a third at any one time, but do it in steps instead, otherwise you risk scalping the grass, exposing the roots and soil, which can dry up, and giving weeds a chance to move in.
As well as the traditional lawn grasses of kikuyu, rye and buffalo, there are a number of new options on the market worth trying, including native grass species.
To get good crops from fruit trees, you need to fertilise regularly, to replace the nutrients used to grow the fruit. The best time to fertilise is in spring and autumn. With espaliered trees, you don’t want to encourage a big rush of growth that will spoil the carefully manicured shape, so it’s best to feed a small amount more regularly.
Filmed on Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country in Armadale and Malvern, Vic
Featured plants:
Coastal rosemary (Westringia fruticosa cv.)
Bay tree (Laurus nobilis)
Prostrate rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus cv.)
Forest pansy (Cercis canadensis)
*Olive (Olea europaea cv.)
Kikuyu (Cenchrus clandestinus)
Apple (Malus cv.)
*Check species before planting: they may be environmental weeds in your area
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[@jamessandeman7548]

Thanks, great seeing the perspective of a pro garden designer who also maintains their own designs, makes me want to get out in the garden.

[@SanchiaMarshall]

Can you guys do some vids around gardening for people who dont like gardening. Super low maintenance. Where to start, what to do and how best to maintain a garden when you dont have the time or want to spend all day clipping topiary balls.

[@Nienpet]

I only clicked on the video because of Humphrey 😊

[@moomoon1410]

Beautiful!! What other plant could do the lateral design? I live in West Africa and there are no olive trees here😅😅. But i really love the idea. I seen such in the Nederland. It was amazing. I wondered how they were able to achieve this look. I am happy i got the answer here.

[@raewynb2119]

I love you guys but you rarely take into consideration Western Australia conditions.

[@misterscienceguy]

To be fair, WA only has 11% of the total population in the country. The majority of their viewers are almost certainly NSW/VIC based.

[@rodlysle5428]

It's a big state with a variety of conditions,what about Josh?Some rain would be a great start!

[@colcol23]

I disagree, Josh does the majority of his stories in W.A. and he is a regular/main member of the G.A. team. Keep doing what you're doing. 👌

[@chongseitmooi2593]

Interesting episode but least prefer to drill anything on the wall 🎉esp house wall . Garden wall is fine ❤

[@ManivaHouse]

💚

[@andrewsemple692]

Anyone know what type of apple tree that was?

[@georgettea7836]

These types of gardening shows are great but how can most Australians relate to this when gardens are shrinking in size? The next generation will be lucky to afford a tiny flat with a balcony.

[@SW-rx2pt]

Hate this type of garden, offers nothing to wildlife or habitat, plant local natives and plenty of layers then watch them come!

[@jamessandeman7548]

i agree biodeversity is the best but i've found over time that the best food, art, music & gardens havedesigners that have combined things from different cultures & traditions, to make things better, more biodiverse, gut, mind or garden.

[@kiwiopklompen]

I heard that all gardens are great if not the best thing for biodiversity. Because they’re always changing they are great places for all manner of life and no one species gets to dominate. (Sarah raven podcast with dr Steve head. Episode 153) - super interesting and inspiring.