The warm apricot colours of the flowering cherry contrast with its black limbs.By Kath Gannaway
PLANTING an autumn garden starts with a road map and a camera as the first leaves begin to turn.
Plan for a couple of fact-finding excursions over the next month or so armed with a camera, a notebook and, just for fun, a friend who shares your enthusiasm for gardening and a road trip!
The first step is to take a good look round your garden and draw up a plan of what areas are suitable for a deciduous plant, height, shape, aspect and, importantly what colour or colours would suit.
Think about what function you want the plant to serve in the garden, whether it is to be purely aesthetic, or planted to take advantage of the natural energy – shade in summer and allowing the sun’s rays to shine through in winter.
In smaller gardens it may be you are looking for a tub variety for a deck or courtyard.
Once the weather starts to cool, from Toolangi through to the magnificent Dandenong Ranges, in private gardens, along roadsides, in specialist nurseries and in public parks such as Queen’s Park in Healesville, the National Rhododendron Gardens and Pirianda Gardens at Olinda, the Alfred Nicholas Gardens and George Tindale Gardens at Sherbrooke, and others, you have a living catalogue to choose from. In addition to the exquisite reds, yellows, oranges, purples and rusts of the foliage, it is worth a return trip later in the season to look at the bones of the trees.
Many deciduous trees take on a sculptural effect, including stunning colour in the bark, when stripped of their leaves.
They take on a particular grandeur when viewed against the dark afternoon skies of late autumn and early winter.
Take photos of the entire tree in its setting, and where possible, a close-up of the leaf for reliable identification. Avoid flash which will distort the colour.
Note the location, aspect and any other features, such as whether it appears to be a young or mature tree, which might help with identification and how it will fit into your landscape.
Armed with your game plan, the next step is a visit to any one of the many specialist deciduous plant nurseries across the Yarra Valley and the Dandenong Ranges to choose the shrubs or trees which will turn your garden into a blaze of autumn colour next season.
Be prepared to take advice from the experts. By choosing carefully you can have a stunning run of colour throughout autumn with the added benefit of a bountiful supply of leaves for your compost bin!
