Blog

A moment of beauty

By noni.young on 21 September 2015 - 5:53pm

I've just spent the weekend at the Australian Landscape Conference in Melbourne. One of the presenters was asked to give his interpretation of beauty in the landscape. His response was that he sees beauty as moments that have an emotional impact on him. I had a moment of beauty this afternoon. While visiting a client I was greeted by the most stunning peony in her front garden. Next time I visit this client, the flowers will be gone as will that moment. I'm so glad I took a photo.

Another way to treat Elm Leaf Beetle

By noni.young on 11 May 2015 - 1:04pm

A few weeks back I visited the historic homestead on Churchill Island ... just off Phillip Island. I was intrigued to see that the old Elm trees had sheep's wool around their trunks. Apparently it is there to deter Elm Leaf Beetle which do not like the lanolin in the wool. It creates a barrier to the beetles ascending the tree to the canopy where their larvae do all the damage.

Award winning Display Home with NYGD garden.

By noni.young on 25 November 2014 - 4:23pm

In late 2013, Noni Young Garden Design designed and created the gardens for two new Hotondo display homes on the Berwick Waters Estate in South Eastern Melbourne. The single storey home, known as the Erskine, has been awarded the Hotondo Display Home of the Year and has recently featured on the front cover of the Herald Sun Home Insert. By default a small snippet of the garden can be seen through the open doors. Congratulations to Tim & Marg Van Dam from Van Dam Hotondo on their award.

A solution to a weedy sideway

By noni.young on 18 November 2014 - 3:23pm

My clients, Ewen and Rosie, have a blind sideway down one side of their house that was looking untidy and very very weedy. The answer ... some weed mat, pavers and steps made from recycled red bricks and a load of tuscan screenings. A simple solution that allows access and keeps the weeds down. Congratulations to Ewen on his excellent brick laying!

Fixing up a mess

By noni.young on 17 October 2014 - 3:30pm

Got a call from a client early last year. The water company had done sewage repairs in the back corner of her established garden. In the process they had ripped out all the plants and left a bare pile of clay. After applying a good load of... compost and gypsum (to improve the soil), the garden was replanted with Weeping Lily Pillies along the fence for screening; a Japanese Maple and Snow Pear for vertical interest; and Mexican Orange Blossom, Oak Leaf Hydrangeas and Loropetalum for mass, contrast and colour. The garden edge was softened with cat mint.

Leader Local Grants ... and the winners are

By noni.young on 4 July 2014 - 5:46pm

A big thank you to family and friends who voted for the Aurora Early Learning Centre Indigenous Garden Project in the recent round of Leader Local Grants. Unfortunately we weren't the successful project this time but we will go on regardless.

Congratulations to Orchard Grove Primary School who won the Whitehorse Leader grant for its Egg-static learning project.

http://www.leaderlocalgrants.com.au/idea/egg-static-learning

Play space for deaf and deafblind children

By noni.young on 29 May 2014 - 2:45pm

The Aurora School is a school for Deaf and Deafblind children in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. I have the pleasure of working with them to design a new play area for the new Early Learning Centre. We are planning a creek, an indigenous garden, a forest of maple trees, tee pees, veges, frog pond and a whole lot more. I look forward to sharing photos as the design takes shape.