Gardens that grow into themselves
Garden design and planting for Melbourne homes. We design for the garden you will have in five years, plant it with our own crew, and come back through the first year.
Booking site visits for autumn planting
Photos: the Slow Ground crew planting a native garden in Northcote, gloved hands planting a seedling, and the same garden five years on.
We draw every garden at its size in year five, plant it with our own crew and come back through the first year until it can look after itself.
Every line on the plan becomes part of the garden
This is the plan for a back garden in Northcote. Choose a part of the drawing to see it five years after planting.
1 of 4
The deck
Spotted gum, set where the late afternoon sun lands last, one step down from the kitchen.
Design, planting and the first year of care
Book one, two or all three. Most gardens use all three, because the first year decides how the garden grows.
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Garden design
A site visit, two layouts to choose from and a planting plan with every plant placed, named and spaced for its size in year five.
- Soil test and a sun and shade map
- Two layouts, each with a build estimate
- A full planting plan, ready to build
From $3,800
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Build and planting
We manage the landscaper through the paths, walls and deck, then plant the garden with our own crew, so the plan goes in as drawn.
- Plants grown to order by a Victorian nursery
- Planted in autumn or spring, when roots take best
- Mulched, watered in and labelled
Quoted from the plan
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Year-one care
Four visits through the first year to prune, replace any losses and adjust the plan to how your garden is actually growing.
- A visit each season
- Any plant that fails is replaced
- A watering plan you can stop by year two
$1,200 for the year
The people in your garden
The same three people design it, plant it and look after it, so nothing gets lost between the plan and the planting.
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Ruth Ellery
Garden designer and founder
Draws every plan by hand, then checks it against the soil test before anyone digs.
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Dom Petrakis
Crew lead
Runs planting day. Lays out every plant before the first one goes in the ground.
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Tess Moreno
Horticulturist
Leads the year-one visits, and knows every plant on your plan by name.
From the first visit to the end of year one
About eight weeks from the site visit to a plan, then planting in the next autumn or spring.
1Week one
Site visit
An hour in your garden to hear what you want, test the soil and see where the sun falls.
2Weeks two to four
Two layouts
Two ways to lay out the garden, drawn over a survey of your site, each with a build estimate.
3Weeks five to seven
Planting plan
Every plant placed, named and spaced for its size in year five, ready to price and build.
4Autumn or spring
Planting day
The landscaper builds the paths and walls, then our crew plants everything in a day or two.
5The first year
Four care visits
Pruning, replacing losses and adjusting the plan as the garden settles in.
Gardens across Melbourne and the Peninsula
A back garden in Northcote
A snow gum, a stepping-stone path and grasses that close over by year three. Watered by hand only after the first summer.
- Size
- 180 m²
- Plants
- 340
- Planted
- Autumn
Something in flower every month of the year
We plan each garden so the flowering passes from plant to plant through the year. Choose a month to see what is out.
Roughly, for Melbourne gardens. A warm spring or a cold winter shifts every plant by a few weeks.
Plan your site visit
An hour in your garden for $280, taken off the design fee if you go ahead. Tell us a little first.
Questions before a site visit
Ask Ruth. She has answered most of these on a site visit already.
Ruth ElleryGarden designerHi, I am Ruth. Ask me anything about getting a garden designed and planted.