Garden Design Archives • Orterra

The Best Way to Not to Kill Plants….

April 12, 2023April 12, 2023 debbieGarden Design, Infrastructure, Property Development and Commercial, Residential, Tech

Did you know that there’s an Instagram hashtag used over 45,000 times? It’s #plantkiller and while some of the captions are hilarious, we think it’s time to dispel some myths about how ‘hard’ it is to keep plants alive and thriving. Let’s put that hashtag to bed with a little secret that’s not really much of a secret at all: improve your soil, and your plants will thrive. Plants aren’t necessarily fickle or precocious. They put up a good fight and can thrive only to the extent to which their soil is healthy. Not unlike baking a gorgeous cake that’s […]

Easement 101 I have one. Now what?

March 2, 2023March 2, 2023 debbieGarden Design, Property Development and Commercial, Residential, Uncategorized

Easements are one of those features that are often misunderstood. They sometimes cause undue stress about their potential impact on a landscape design, of what can and can’t be included. Here at Orterra, it’s not usual for a client to say in the design brief process themes along the line of ‘we’d love a row of trees on that back boundary but there’s an easement,’ or ‘that easement along the side means we can’t xyz’. There’s that undeniable sigh of relief when we tell them that their ideas for their space may not actually be limited by the presence of […]

The Year That was 2022

November 29, 2022November 25, 2022 debbieAbout Orterra, Education, Environment, Garden Design, Infrastructure, Residential

It’s been a year- this has been a challenging year hear at Orterra. We have had some amazing highs and some lows. We have been a bit quiet on the blog front lately. I know we generally like to give your great content consistently however, we have been very busy creating some amazing designs over the last few months for our clients and as we don’t like to provide you with terrible content hence we have let this slide a bit. But don’t worry we have been planning and there are some great things in the pipeline for next year. […]

Weeds and How To Tell If You Have One?

September 21, 2022October 9, 2022 debbieEnvironment, Garden Design, Property Development and Commercial, Residential, Tech

For many gardeners and non-gardeners, the notion of weeds is that they are this very bad thing that grows too fast and makes the place look ugly. However, the issue of weeds is more complicated. They cause a lot of damage to our natural environment. They cost billions of dollars a year and have a large impact on our biodiversity. What is a weed? The definition of a weed is “a plant that grows very quickly where it is not wanted and covers or kills more desirable plants” Basically, it is a plant growing where you don’t want it to […]

What do the Terms Cut and Fill Mean?

August 23, 2022August 23, 2022 debbieGarden Design, Infrastructure, Property Development and Commercial, Residential, Tech

When talking to our clients we often use the terms cut and fill. These often come up when discussing how you might change the ground to create different types of spaces in a garden. Often they are terms that clients are unfamiliar with. So wanted to go into more detail today about what this meant. If you have a development or build on a slope, it is extremally helpful if you understand these two terms. And, how it affects your site. Today, we are going to break it down for you. So you can have a better understanding of what […]

What is Better Organic or Inorganic Mulch?

August 9, 2022November 14, 2022 debbieGarden Design, Residential, Tech

We often have discussions with clients about mulch. What options there are, costs, lifecycle. But today we thought we would just talk about what are the pros and cons of organic vs inorganic mulch to help you make a more informed decision when it comes time for you to choose. What is Mulch? Mulch is “ a protective covering (as of sawdust, compost, or paper) spread or left on the ground to reduce evaporation, maintain even soil temperature, prevent erosion, control weeds, enrich the soil, or keep fruit (such as strawberries) clean” They supress weeds, prevent soil compaction and help […]

How To Screen Out Your Neighbours With Plants?

June 15, 2022November 24, 2022 debbieGarden Design, Residential

With property land sizes shrinking and the size of the average Australian house growing, privacy is becoming compromised in the urban suburbs. There are many ways to screen your neighbours for more privacy in your yard. However, in this blog, we are going to focus on some of the types of plants that make great screens and provide you with a bit more privacy making your yard feel more secluded. In this blog post we are going to look at some groups of plants to consider. However, with all our advice on plants make sure you choose the right plant […]

5 Of the Easiest Plants to Propagate by Water and How to Do It

April 21, 2022April 21, 2022 debbieEnvironment, Garden Design, Residential, Tech

Propagation is a fantastic way to multiply your plants, without spending any money! Water propagation has to be one of the easiest ways to do this. Here, we will guide you through the steps to rooting your plants in water and we will give you 5 plants that you could use. What plants can you propagate? There are many plants you can propagate by water cuttings, these are 5 that we believe have the best results. Pothos or Devils Ivy – Epipremnum aureum Philodendrons Monsteras Arrowhead Plant – Syngonium podophyllum Wandering Jew – tradescantia pallida What do you need? You […]

No One Wants Rubbish Bins at their Front Door

March 9, 2022March 4, 2022 debbieEducation, Garden Design, Property Development and Commercial, Residential

Today I am going to talk to you about rubbish bins, and rubbish collection. Rubbish is not the most sophisticated topic for a blog, however, it is probably one of the most talked-about topics during projects. This applies to schools, residential, subdivisions, or commercial. How to deal with rubbish and recycling can make or break the project. There is nothing worse for us than going to a new client’s house after they have designed their dream home and asking, have you thought about where you would like to put the rubbish bins? The look of shock on their faces and […]

Herbs And Vegetables That Are Great To Plant In Autumn

February 23, 2022February 23, 2022 debbieEducation, Garden Design, Residential

Fresh vegetables and herbs straight from your garden are up there with some of the best things in life. You get to reap the benefits of the fresh flavours in your home-cooked meals while saving money on store-bought food. Here is a quick guide as to what to plant in your edible garden this autumn for sub-tropical regions. What Vegetables should I Plant? First of all, depending on your available space, pick what will fit in your garden and only plant what you like to eat. Here are 10 of our favourite vegetables to plant in autumn: Carrots Radish Lettuce […]