Projects
Bowral, NSW
Birch Woodland, Spring walk & Hedgerow
A magical 3 acre Southern Highlands garden sits high on The Gib, surveying the serene valley below. Behind a pretty rosy hedgerow, the stone chimney gently smokes! Two sentry trees stand guard - a grand old oak and a lovely Linden. A serpentine pathway takes us through a forest thick of white-trunked Birch. Light shimmers, leaves rustle, our senses are on alert. A carpet of ephemeral bulbs ebb and flow throughout the seasons: bluebells, epimediums, white ‘Thalia’ daffodils, snowdrops and hellebores.
A wild hedgerow is planting with ancient medicinal plants such as rugosa roses, hawthorne, may and viburnum. A long white spring border takes us to another time and is planted with hydrangea, viburnum, cornus, spirea, hellebores and dogwoods.
Architecture, interiors and fittings: Walter Barda Design
Garden Care: Turf 2 Trees
Middle Camp, Catherine Hill Bay, NSW
Frog Hollow
Linda’s own rustic coastal showpiece is a good example of a garden in symbiosis with the natural environment and spirit of place. Her garden is found in Awabakal lands, in an heritage village Catherine Hill Bay on the edge of a Melaleuca forest, bordering 350 hectares of National Park. The garden is a mix of indigenous and exotic plants which are a magnet for blue wrens, blue tongue lizards and blue banded bees. Designed and created over the last 14 years from a bare grass paddock.
Project complete.
Martinsville, NSW
Classical country garden
As head gardener, Linda was employed to provide plant care, plant sourcing and horticultural expertise for this Paul Bangay designed property, which is located deep within the Watigan Forest, Martinsville, Lake Macquarie. Hundreds of bee attracting salvias, lavender, agastache and buddleia were planted in a perennial gardens to support the bee hives on the property.
Garden Design: Paul Bangay.
Stonemasonry: Ben Cheverton
Project Complete
Moonee, Catherine Hill Bay
Coastal Wildflower Meadow
A new-build needed a soulful garden for Karen and Greg to connect to the greater environment overlooking Moonee Beach and attract local wildlife. Linda created a stunning wildflower meadow with a timber jetty and gravel beach.
“My native wildflower meadow is whimsical and magical. You created a gentle balance of fluttering wildflowers using the soft blue, lilac, ivory and lemon colour scheme I requested. But your gravel beach idea and timber jetty reminiscent of the beachside nearby was inspired. It's the perfect sancturary for a keen surfer and nature lover.” Karen Priestley
“We were looking for a garden designer to help us with our front yard. The name Linda Ross kept coming up! We found Linda to be knowledgeable, easy to communicate with. She designed a beautiful native garden exactly what we were after. We highly recommend Linda to anyone seeking a garden to be very proud of.” Greg Blythe
Project Complete
Beecroft, Sydney
Subtropical
When a 1940’s Federation house in Beecroft was getting a facelift, Linda’s clients decided to update the original English style garden and replace it with a more climate appropriate subtropical paradise. Her masterplan incorporated changes of level, retaining walls and a wide staircase linking garden rooms, paved outdoor entertaining, terraced decking, nocturnal fragrances for the party season and an exciting array of cool subtropical planting to make her clients feel like they were on holidays.
“Linda knew what our garden needed without us realising it. We though we needed heritage rear garden but with skyrocketing summer temperatures we went with her exciting subtropical array of plants and mature palms that make us feel like we’re instantly on holidays. It’s heavy on exciting foliage plants and seasonal flowers that brings so much joy. Hand me a daiquiri!’
Project Complete
Beecroft, Sydney
Federation Garden
Liz and John love gardening, sowing seeds and cultivating flowers in their Beecroft garden - filled with azaleas, camellias and mixed flowers. This elegant heritage home needed an elegant garden to frame the pretty 1903 brick arched facade. Linda introduced strong formal elements and deep burgundy foliage to complement the brickwork and soft drifts of flowering perennials.
“Linda has created a beautiful garden for us - in keeping with the style and age of our federation era home - skillfully designed so it embraces and enhances – with a wonderful mix of plantings of all shapes, sizes and colours – all blending seamlessly to produce a stunning effect – absolutely elegant with a modern feel.
Linda’s approach is hands on, thoughtful, fresh and exciting and her knowledge, design skills and creative touches shine through. We are delighted with the result.”
“Just a hello from us -We wanted to let you know how lovely our two year old garden makeover (Linda Ross Garden Reno Inspiration 2020!!!) is. It has weathered the big wet very well - and now that Spring has arrived everything is looking amazing and happy. It is such a delight - and gives us great pleasure every day - absolutely fabulous - thanks to you!”
John and Liz Lawes, Beecroft
Project Complete.
Catherine Hill Bay
Coastal
One of Catho’s original miner’s cottages (1896) received an exciting new skillion roofed extension and was is desperate need of a wrap around garden, pathway, fruit forest and coastal inspired wildflower garden you could look over to watch the ocean. Linda designed the garden to include utilities and practicalities, yoga platform, and a coastal bush garden filled with bird attracting flowers. She wanted to evoke the feelings, textures and tones of the distant coastal headlands to give this property a deeper sense of place. She installed the garden and maintains it regularly for her special clients.
Carpentry: Features of Distinction
Murray’s Beach
Bush Forest Garden
Linda has designed a shady bush garden filled with bird attracting flowers in the middle of a Angophora woodland on Lake Macquarie. Linda designed the garden to include utilities and practicalities, alfresco eating, fire pit circle, stepped decorative pathway, chickens, veggie beds and welcoming front garden.
Newport, Northern Beaches
Tropical Flower Garden
Stefani lives in Newport Beach on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. She was keen to extend her tropical back garden oasis down the sides and into the front to create a stunning showpiece to greet the street. Lawns were dug up and a meandering pathway created. Gardens were densely planted on either side beneath franipanis and Brugmansia trees. And a kaleidascope of subtropical hibiscus, heliconia, bromeliads, coleus, succulents and gingers filled to brimming. Sleek steel edging completed the look.
“Have been wandering through beautiful my ‘Port Douglas’ garden and it’s looking exquisite. Even in 24 hours some little plants are showing off their glorious colours. I was welcomed this morning by a darling hibiscus ‘Tequila Sunset’, everything is growing so well. So many thanks to you for designing and implementing this beautiful tropical oasis. Please thank Rosie - she is a gem - a lovely person. Thanks again.” Stefani, Newport Beach.
Project Complete
Sensory therapeutic gardens
Linda collaborates with Therapeutic Gardens Australia to create sensory gardens to provide a range of horticultural therapies in childcare centres, aged care facilities and hospitals across the country.
Kirribilli, Sydney
Retro
This authentic 1970 home, in Kirribilli’s most famous street, needed a seventies inspired garden to show it off. Great position, great light, excellent aspect & groovy architecture. The garden needs to be retro, exciting and seventies inspired.
Creating a garden in Kirribilli for Gail has been a complete delight. Highlights include bringing in a giant Plumeria pudica, designing a textural retro planting scheme to complement the 1970 architecture, building an gigantic 40m2 tensioned-wire rose-wall and curating a flower garden for Gail to fit all her sentimental treasures, some saved from her own mother’s garden.
Project Complete.
Catherine Hill Bay
The School House garden
This 1915 Schoolhouse transformed into a family home and needed a new garden masterplan. Sandy and Grant had lived in the local area for decades and had diligently restored a number of schoolhouse buildings. Linda’s Garden Masterplan incorporated heritage gardens, rose garden, pool, fountain gardens, native wildflower and wildlife gardens, giant chess board, productive kitchen garden and entertaining areas. A country French theme was adopted with tall Cypress, Olive grove, lavender, golden roses and fragrant gardenias.
Project Complete
Turramurra
Mid-century materpiece
This 1971 home needed new gardens, courtyards and entrance. Set on a large North Shore property in Turramurra Linda designed a large bright and bold perennial garden with timber pavilion, alfresco area with stone table, Japanese courtyard and native front garden with timber driveway.
Beecroft, NSW
Jungle garden
Mature palms, frangipanis and cycads were brought in to create an instant tropical jungle. The project included the transplanting of seven mature Chinese Fan Palms (Trachecarpus fortunii) coordinated with Alpine Treemovals.
Kitchen Garden
With over 15 years experience teaching Kitchen Gardening Workshops across NSW, Linda loves sharing valuable information with her clients. Over the years she has designed and built productive, organic and biodynamic Kitchen Gardens across NSW. Follow the progress in her Veggie Patch in her regular Instagram stories.
Coral garden project
Inspired by an afternoon snorkeling under the jetty at Catherine Hill Bay, Linda designed a shallow planter bowl to evoke the colour and textures of the coral and seaweed on the sea floor. Succulents such as echeveria, sempervivum and sedum do the job beautifully and the pot remains an easy to grow reminder of a brilliant weekend.