Southern Highands Garden expert reveals all you need for the best garden

Even if you don’t have a green thumb, you can achieve a beautiful Southern Highlands Garden garden. It just takes a tiny bit of research and a moderate amount of effort.

Southern Highlands Garden Tips From An Expert

I was recently lucky enough to chat to Georgina Reid, landscape designer, who’s founding editor of The Plant Hunter online magazine and gardening expert for Belle Magazine. She offered some great tips on creating a beautiful Southern Highlands garden that truly flourishes.

Georgina Reid, belle Magazine’s gardening expert, was also instrumental in creating the app Plant Life Balance and edits her own digital magazine, The Plant Hunter!

Georgina is a wealth of information and has years of experience in the gardening and landscaping industries. Before launching The Plant Hunter in 2013, Georgina spent nearly a decade working as a landscape designer; for the likes of Jamie Durie and Garden Life, and more recently for herself.

She’s also facilitates regular plant and design based workshops, and speaks at writing and cultural events. Georgina has qualifications in journalism, horticulture and landscape design. So, it’s safe to say she knows her stuff! She recently worked as a consultant to an amazing new app called Plant Life Balance , which perfectly matches plants to you, your home, your gardening prowess and your lifestyle.

Keep reading to find out how you can help your garden grow beautifully!

You’re the gardening expert for Belle magazine. What does that job entail?

I get the opportunity to chat design with some of the world’s best garden designers and landscape architects. It’s a great gig!

What are your favourite plants?

I can’t really say I have any favourites. The older I get, the more I find beauty in everything. At the moment I love anything the wallabies don’t like eating!

What kinds of plants would you best recommend for a flourishing Southern Highlands garden?

There are thousands of different plants that will grow well in the Southern Highlands. It really depends on the style of garden you like, what your soil type is, how much sun and wins the area gets and how much maintenance you are willing to do.

The best way to make sure you have plants that will grow well in your garden is to do a thorough site assessment. This will help you understand sun, aspect and soil. From there, visit your local nursery or horticulturalist and ask for advice based on your site assessment and your likes and dislikes.

What are the best kinds of plants to grow indoors in this area?

Many of the same plants that grow in Sydney or Melbourne would be fine for the Southern Highlands. Things like Ficus elastica ‘Burgundy’, Spathyphyllum ‘Sensation’, Hoya australis, and most rhipsalis species should be fine in an indoors Southern Highlands garden.

On that note, certain indoor plants are known to be best for purifying air and improving mood. Can you please suggest the best plants for the home in this regard?

Many indoor plants improve air quality by filtering out particulate matter, or air pollution, as well as other airborne toxins caused by organic chemicals in things like paints and furniture finishes. Winners in this regard are spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum), devils ivy (Epipremnum aureum) and dragon tree (Dracaena marginata). Check out Plant Life Balance app. It’ll help you choose the right plant for your Southern Highlands garden –indoors and out.

What plants are best to keep in an office environment for a stress-free and harmonious environment?

Research shows that a mix of plants, over a clump of the same plants, is more likely to induce feelings of wellness. So, in an office or at home, consider a range of different types and sizes of plants.

What would you suggest as the ultimate home herb garden?

My ultimate herb garden would be huge and include everything! I love cooking, so I’d definitely need the standards. Parsley, rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano, mint, dill, as well as edible flowers, pollination attractors and a bunch of weird and wonderful herbal curiosities.

What are your tips for those of us who don’t have a green thumb? How can we help our gardens flourish with as little effort as possible?

I’m sorry to say, gardening is about effort! If you want a good garden, you need to work at it. There’s no such thing as a low maintenance garden. If you don’t have a green thumb, you can cultivate one, but the way to do this is to garden. A green thumb is not something you are born with, it comes from digging, planting and playing with plants.