Need help designing a naturalistic, sustainable native garden?

We love designing low-maintenance gardens that thrive in the Australian climate, create habitat for wildlife, and practically look after themselves.

Let’s chat

Native landscape design Melbourne

We design beautiful, sustainable native gardens

Are you looking for a low-maintenance, drought-tolerant garden?

Do you like a naturalistic look, using indigenous plants and natural materials?

Do you want to attract and feed local wildlife?

Is reducing your impact on the environment important to you?

If you answered ‘yes’ to any (or all) of these questions, a sustainable, native landscape design will suit you down to the ground.

Native landscape design.

Using our extensive horticultural experience, we can plan a native garden that’s perfect for your lifestyle, climate, and environmental goals. We know our natives, meaning you’ll have a garden that thrives. Soils around Melbourne can vary enormously, so we’ll help you select plants that will do well in typically difficult conditions like sand and clay. We love using naturalistic principles so that the garden looks just like natural bushland, enhanced by lots of natural stone, timber, and water features for a serene and tranquil result.

Sustainable garden design

Native gardens tend to tick a lot of sustainability boxes, because they’re so suited to the climate, resistant to pests, and don’t require much maintenance to thrive. We can also help you design a sustainable garden that includes edible plants and vegetable gardens that have a low environmental impact, generating abundant produce, and giving you great satisfaction.

If you need help getting started on your native garden design project, let’s connect.

Book Now

What is included in our native landscape design service?

We have a proven sustainable native landscape design process that includes:

  • Pre-meeting design inspiration work
  • A 90 minute initial design consultation
  • A series of four intensive design development meetings
  • Provision of 2D and 3D final designs that include full visualisations, material plans, and exterior styling plans.

For extensive detail on our sustainable native design process, visit our process page.

Lisa Harper Designs Landscapes Melbourne

Our philosophy

First and foremost, landscape design needs to work for the people who live there. That’s why we collaborate with you to understand your needs, your personal taste, and the potential of your space, to deliver beautiful, functional exteriors you’ll never want to leave.

Book Now

What things do we consider in designing your sustainable native garden?

Your native garden will be your new oasis, a place to relax, and feel connected to nature. Your plants will attract and sustain wildlife and you can incorporate an edible garden to feed your family. Before and during the design process, we ask lots of questions to deeply understand what you want to achieve.

Why do you want a native garden?

What appeals most to you about a native garden – looks, low maintenance, environmentally friendly?

What do you want to do in your garden – dine and entertain? Grow food? Relax? Play with kids? What’s the most important aspect to you?

What features do you want –  wandering paths, a natural stone stream, natural pools, simple shelters,  bird attracting natives, natural stone walls, raised garden beds, rainwater irrigation, outdoor dining in secluded areas

Where is the path of the sun?

Do you want to focus on indigenous plants or a variety of Australian natives? Would you like an edible “Bush Tucker” garden to honor our custodians and delight the culinary adventurers.

Do you want more impact in your native garden with mass plantings  for colour, layered hedges for a more formal structured effect, definition and style?  We can make native garden look more formal, contemporary and elegant if that is your preferred aesthetic or we can keep it naturally simple.

Why choose us?

Native Garden Design Projects

Native Garden in Mooroolbark

Our happy customers.

“I engaged the services of Lisa Harper to design, and oversee, the establishment of an attractive courtyard area for my school. I wanted an area that was not only visually attractive, but also functional as a passive play area for the students. It was also important for the area to be environmentally friendly and sustainable. Lisa did a remarkable job overseeing the development of this area achieving all of our aims. She ably and patiently coordinated a motley crew of parent volunteers, students and contractors to engineer and construct an area that we are all very proud of. Lisa is obviously skilled in her field and provided many helpful suggestions and ideas along the way. I would wholeheartedly recommend her services to any prospective customers.”

Peter Cliffe, Principal, Heatherton Christian College

Frequently asked questions.

What is the most sustainable garden design?

Sustainable gardens are designed to grow easily and naturally without added resources or lots of maintenance, which minimises your impact on the environment. Careful selection and placement of drought tolerant plants, not using chemicals, harvesting rainwater, composting, and plant propagating are all great ways to design a sustainable garden. Designing sustainably means thoughtful choice of hard landscape materials – they may be recycled, or for instance decking timber can come from sustainable plantations. Using materials sourced locally or manufactured from recycled or repurposed materials is another way to plan your garden sustainably.

How much does native garden design cost?

The size of your garden, and the materials and plants you choose will determine the cost, which can vary widely. To get a guide, book your native garden design discovery call now. With a rough idea of the result you’re after, we can provide you with a free estimate to help get your project started. We can give you a garden design estimate after we have been to your site, and discussed the finer details of what you want and need in your garden. This all begins with our free 20 minute discovery call and your first booked consultation.

How do you plan a native garden?

When planning your native Australian garden, be sure to research the best varieties for your climate. There are literally thousands of species available and not all are suited to every pocket of our vast island. Native garden design is all about free-form planting rather than straight lines and formal hedges. Use plant groupings, where they are clumped as they would be in nature, plus a mix of grasses, shrubs and trees to create depth.

What is naturalistic garden design?

Naturalistic garden design is all about creating landscapes that look like they were always there – rugged, simplistic and full of natural beauty. Think indigenous plants, rocks and water features that work with the natural lay of the land and create a self-sustaining ecosystem.

You can get more detailed information through our “Book Now” links.

Book Now