(LAIDBACK GUITAR MUSIC)
JANE: Just because you're gardening in a small space
doesn't mean that you can't think big.
And that's exactly what's happening
in a tiny courtyard garden in suburban Melbourne
that's being transformed by a gardener with big ideas,
Jenny Downes.
So when you came here, you found disadvantages,
but certain advantages of living in a smaller space.
Yes, I...
The proximity of the plants
means that you actually are closer to nature
and you can see things that you wouldn't perhaps notice
in a bigger garden
and it's really quite interesting.
It is frustrating, though,
that you have to limit your... your garden palette
in terms of the size of the plants,
but I find it creative to use them in another way
to try and create a rainforest sort of effect.
If you can use plants to do a job like that...
Yes. ..it's wonderful.
This area, I wanted to have a separate decking area
but I also wanted to have a destination to go to.
So what you see isn't necessarily all there is.
I wanted to be able to walk into the garden
and have a bit of an adventure as well.
I wanted it to be thick and dense.
Also, I wanted to block a few ugly views as well.
Yes. So...
So that's what that the crepe myrtle's doing.
Yes, the crepe myrtle.
It loses its leaves,
but the camellias that have been freed up
and are growing up, they'll cover that space for me.
And at the back there, the whole way round,
you've got camellia hedge.
Yes, I wanted a little forest.
And, of course, this beautiful maple tree.
Yes, that's really one of the features.
I just love that dissection.
It's so beautiful. It's beautiful.
It's really...I think it's one of the most attractive Japanese maples
because it's got such a lacy, beautiful foliage.
Mmm. And it's just gorgeous.
(GENTLE GUITAR MUSIC)
This is such a nice little nook.
And I really think seating is so important in a garden.
If you don't have a seat, you're just gonna keep working all the time.
That's absolutely right. I...
We often come out here, have a coffee, read a book,
just watch the birds.
But you've cunningly - cunningly - created this little area
because it's not just a seating area,
it's your clothesline!
It is. It's a fixed object.
I couldn't hang it anywhere else, there wasn't enough room.
So I thought, "Well, how do I disguise it?"
So there's a cover over it,
I can still dry my clothes.
But also your plants, I like what you've got.
You've got the hoyas hanging up.
Yes, I've had to use plants
which are light in their pots
because otherwise I wouldn't want the weight of it
pulling down the side of the washing line.
So hoyas are a good plant for that.
And also by using something like that,
you can disguise the washing line itself.
When you have an almost empty space,
it can be hard to know where to start.
But Jenny went from bland to beautiful
by taking her design cues from nature.
This is my creek bed.
When I first arrived, it was a new build.
So this little area, tiny though it is,
it's got sort of a self-contained...
Yes. Yeah. ..feeling to it.
And why have you done it like this, though?
I want it to be able to be visible from here
so that you can look down and see the plants.
And hopefully when these grow up and these grow up,
you'll actually be doing a forest walk.
In addition to the main garden area,
there are several other small and narrow spaces.
One features a wall of epiphytes in pots
hanging on a frame on the side fence.
This is such a narrow space, isn't it, between house and the fence.
It is, but it shows you can do a lot with plants
to cover the wall and to keep your house cool
and get variety of planting in as well.
Well, it's a whole green wall filled with plants
that are literally just hanging in pots.
And you've got such a lot of variety. Like this one.
Yes, the Rhipsalis.
It's...it's a great one to have
because in a green wall, it helps you to blend plants in.
Yeah. And I love the zygocactus.
The flowers are just beautiful.
And lovely to watch. And it's gonna have flowers for ages.
Yes. Look at the buds coming on.
It's a real treat. And this is a treat.
Isn't it gorgeous? Hoo.
Another rats tail - Rhipsalis. Yes.
It's amazing that they flower.
Look at these tiny little things. They're just gorgeous.
Yeah, that's gonna be a mass of flowers.
Yes. And all of these are epiphytes.
They are. That's them just hanging down.
It brings the outside in
and it's just really relaxing to be able to see this.
And it brings the nature into the house.
(ENCHANTING MUSIC)
Another, Jenny calls the bayou
because of the old man's beard dangling over a seating area.
On the far side of the unit, Jenny has squeezed even more plants
into a very narrow walkway.
This baby tears is good in a small area, isn't it?
It's great. It just manages itself, really.
And if you run over the pavers, just pull it off and that's it. Done.
And this one, this is terrific.
You don't often see a tea tree doing that.
No, it's been sort of espaliered along the fence,
but I also like to let it run a little bit loose
because it's got a nice weeping habit.
Which one is it? That's Leptospermum 'Starry Night'.
And the beauty is you're using the fence again.
Yes, yes, you have to because it's such a narrow space.
And you've got to manage the plants
in a way that they're probably not growing the way they would
but you can make them do different things.
Jenny shows that you don't need to be limited by a small space,
but, instead, use it as an inspiration
to bigger and better things.
It doesn't matter how small your space is,
your garden is whatever your imagination desires.
It's just - if you want it, you can do it.
(WATER SPRAYS) (LAIDBACK MUSIC)
(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY) (BOTH LAUGH)