The Terra Australis Garden was developed by the Australian Native Plants Society (ANPSA), as a stylised representation of the Australian geography and its diverse flora. The garden celebrates the varying Australian landscape through landform, rock form, and plant species, to showcase a more formal garden using native plants.
The design encapsulates the basic form of the Australian continent; featuring a cascading rock pond, small ephemeral salt lake, central rock formation representative of the Great Dividing Range, and an extensive range of new Australian native cultivars.
The regions represented include:
- Tropical Coast and Hinterland
- Subtropical Coast and Hinterland
- Temperate Coast and Hinterland
- Temperate Montane
- Southwest Western Australia Coast and Sandplains and
- Outback
The Terra Australis Garden course provides a journey for visitors to experience the authentic Australian inland, and fully appreciate the beauty, natural diversity and unique colours of the Australian flora.
Sponsored by the Australian Native Plant Society Australia (ANPSA) ACT Chapter
Designed by Lawrie Smith AM Landscape Architect
Constructed by Eifer in 2018.
Opened by Angus Stewart on 25th November 2018.
The garden was made possible through the ANSPA and generous assistance from other sponsors.
- Australian Native Plants Society Canberra Region Inc
- Australian Plant Society Victoria
- Australian Plant Society South Australia
- Australian Plant Society Tasmania
- Australian Plant Society New South Wales
- Australian Plant Society Wilson Park (Berwick) Inc
- Australian Plant Society Southern Tablelands
- Australian Native Plant Society Australia Eremophila Study Group
- Angus Stewart
- Bronwyn Blake
- Christina Kennedy
- Cool Country Natives Nursery
- Gondwana Nursery
- Lawrie Smith
- Merricks Nursery
- New World Plants Tasmania
- Native Plants Queensland
- Ros and Ben Walcott
- Station Creek Tree Farm
- Central path with varying width to create interest
- Rectangular steel panels across the pathway which incorporate lines from the poem ‘My Country’ by Dorothea Mackellar.
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror –
The wide brown land for me!
- Sandstone seats designed to visually connect to the subtropical coast and hinterland region, and the outback region.
- Characteristic geological formations created by natural rock
- A flowing waterway within the sandstone escarpment depicting a coastal river system
- An ephemeral ‘dry lake’ placed as the focus of the outback landscape, which will contain water after rain, and will evaporate just as occurs in nature.
The plant species have been chosen for their unique qualities in representing varying native flora from around Australia. The majority of the plants in the garden were donated from nurseries from around Australia, and carefully selected, placed and planted by ANPSA representatives.
There are two large specimen trees in the garden, a Xanthorrhoea glauca and a Macrozamia moorei – both of which are estimated to be hundreds of years old. The garden and plantings will change over time, particularly as a canopy and resulting microclimate start to develop.
Trees and shrubs | Acacia acinacea Acacia covenyi Acacia glaucoptera Acacia howittii ‘Canberry Honey Bun’ Acacia leprosa ‘Scarlet Blaze’ Acacia verticillata Adenanthos sericeus ‘Platinum’ Banksia spinulosa ‘Cherry Candles’ Banksia spinulosa ‘Coastal Cushion’ Brachychiton populneus Callistemon ‘All Aglow’ Callistemon ‘Great Balls of Fire’ Callistemon ‘White Anzac’ Chamelaucium ‘Lady Stephanie’ Chamelaucium ‘Paddy’s Pink’ Chrysocephalum semipapposum Correa baeuerlenii Correa pulchella ‘Minor’ Dicksonia antarctica Eleaeocarpus reticulatus pink Eremophila ‘Beryl’s Blue’ Eremophila glabra ‘Bellalla Gold’ Eremophila longifolia Eremophila maculata 'Aurea' Eremophila maculata ‘Compact Lemon’ Eremophila glabra ‘Hello Cocky’ Eremophila longifolia Eucalyptus leucoxylon ‘Rosea’ Eucalyptus neglecta Eucalyptus pumila Eucalyptus puverulenta ‘Baby Blue’ Eucalyptus risdonii Grevillea ‘Lady O’ Grevillea plurijuga ‘Purple Haze’ Gymnostoma australinium Hakea francisciana Hakea ‘Stockdale Sensation’ Hakea ‘Pin Ball’ Leptospermum ‘Copper Glow’ Leptospermum ‘Mesmer Eyes’ Macrozamia moorei Melaleuca thymifolia ‘Pink Lace’ Myoporum floribundum Olearia aff. lanuginosa Philotheca ‘Flower Girl’ Pimelea nivea Prumnopitys ladei ‘Mt. Spurgeon Black Pine’ Rhagodia ‘Grey Edge’ Rhagodia spinescens Senna barronfieldii Westringia ‘Deep Purple’ Xanthorrhea glauca |
Accent plants and ground covers | Adenanthos cuneatus ‘Flat Out’ Anigozanthos flavidus Landscape Orange Brachyscome multifida pink Brachyscome ‘White Delight’ Casuarina glauca prostrate Chrysocephalum ramosissimum Kunzea ambigua prostrate Lomandra ‘Lime Tuff’ Scaevola ‘Mauve Clusters’ Scaevola ‘Super Clusters’ Stemodia florulenta Xerochrysum bracteatum Yellow |
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