Seaside Garden
Evoking memories of beach holidays and exploring Australian coastlines, the Seaside Garden is an immersive landscape centrally located in the northern display gardens within the Australian Garden. An extension of the neighbouring Melaleuca Spits, this landscape displays flora from coastal, estuarine and rolling sand dune ecosystems. Explore the coastal species used to create a contemporary seaside garden design. Specialised pruning techniques are used within the garden to create the effect of wind-swept paperbarks found along estuaries throughout southern Australian coastlines.
When visiting the Seaside Garden:
- You will notice a showcase of hardy and accessible coastal flora which can be used in home gardens.
- Observe pruning techniques used to create wind-swept effects and sculptured spheres for visual interest.
- This is a prime position for birdwatching and fauna photography, overlooking the water into sections of the Casuarina Grove and Teatree hedge.
- Evoke memories of coastal dunes and sandy beaches by treading lightly on the pebble pathway
Key Plants
Saltwater Paperbark
Melaleuca cuticularis
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Prickly Speargrass
Austrostipa stipoides
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Moonah
Melaleuca lanceolata
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Sea Box
Alyxia buxifolia
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Dune Fan Flower
Scaevola calendulacea
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Butterfly Spyridium
Spyridium coactilifolium
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Saltwater Paperbark
<em>Melaleuca cuticularis</em>
A shrub or small tree with soft papery white bark, and soft creamy-white flowers. Found along saline lakes, areas of brackish water and coastal regions.
Notes from the Curator
Caitlin Gray
The Seaside Garden is easily distinguished from other areas of the gardens with its coarse sand, wood decking and feature rock walls. Slow down and take in the fresh air off the neighboring Melaleuca Spits and Ian Potter Lake. The garden is used as a refuge and nesting area for water-loving birds and wildlife alike, with summer flowers attracting nectar-feeding birds. Stroll through clipped mounds of Melaleuca decussata and feel the soft papery bark of the wind-swept Melaleuca cuticularis. The exposed nature of the garden allows visitors to closely survey interesting pruning techniques and plants reminiscent of Australian coastlines, estuaries and dunes.