There's a group of plants that are a little bit shy and understated,
yet elegant and refined.
Best of all, they're low maintenance, need few haircuts,
and are cheap.
Don't look at me.
Strap yourself in
for my take on the wonderful world of strappy-leaf plants.
If you were looking around your garden or backyard this morning
wondering how to fill the gaps between your feature plants,
cover a hard edge or green up a wall,
then look no more.
Strappy-leaf plants are the answer.
They have long, linear leaves
with many of them low-growing.
They're perennial, tough and herbaceous,
rather than woody, like shrubs and trees.
When it comes to our typical strappy-leaf native species,
the most common are these lomandra and dianella.
They add lush greenery and soft edges to public spaces.
However, there's other great options for you to choose from.
One of my favourites is the Carex 'Everillo',
with its wow-factor lime foliage
that makes a great border and ground cover.
Or the Carex 'Feather Falls',
with its long, clean and crisp low-maintenance foliage.
However, some carex may be an environmental weed in your area,
so check before buying.
For something strappy but less grassy,
you can always try succulents
like aloes and mangave.
They spread by forming pups
here at the base,
which you can then detach and pot up
or plant elsewhere in the garden in free-draining soil.
Strappies aren't just about the leaves.
Many have beautiful flowers too
that look good in a border or a pot.
One of the stars of the show is the Conostylis candicans,
with its gorgeous yellow flowers.
To me, they look like tasty sweets.
They sit above a compact clump of grey-green leaves
and like full sun with well-draining soil.
Their cousins, the kangaroo paws, have similar attributes
but they require a little bit more pruning
to keep them flowering and vibrant.
They like full sun and good drainage.
Some flower all year round, like 'Bush Pearl' and 'Bush Glow'.
Flowering plants in the iris family are really good for mass plantings.
They spread from underground stems, or rhizomes.
We have our own natives, such as the morning flag,
with its swordlike foliage and blue flowers in summer.
And there's also this butterfly iris, Dietes iridioides.
And look at its stunning flower.
Another strappy great for mass ground cover and courtyard planters
is the New Zealand rock lily.
It has lush clumps of elegant arching leaves
and loves dry, shady spots.
Not all strappies are ground huggers.
The bold-leaf cordylines and dracaenas
can slowly grow a tall trunk,
making them an eye-catching alternative
to trees and shrubs.
Cultivars for both can range from thin, stripy straps
or wider, floppier leaves, with plenty of colour variation.
Strappies are perfect for softening edges on borders or paths
and filling in spaces in gardens or in pots.
With their interesting colour, shapes and textures,
they make for a fantastic display.
To plant up the strappies,
I'm using an 80-centimetre-wide planting trough
and filled it with a premium, good-draining potting mix.
I'm starting with the taller structural plants first.
In this case, the cordyline's going at the back.
In front of that, I've planted a lower-growing,
and flowing, cascading Carex 'Feather Falls' which will go over the front.
Next to that, I'm contrasting that
with the conostylis, its nice grey foliage.
And then behind this,
I've used the Lomandra 'Tanika'
with its beautiful lime-green foliage as a backdrop.
An appreciation of what strappies have to offer
really does elevate them beyond just space fillers and an afterthought.
Think of them as team players
that bring a binding element to your garden
and that could be through elegance or softness,
texture and, of course, colour.