Last year’s AILDM student competition saw many outstanding entries. In previous issues of Landscape Outlook we have shown you the plans of our first and second prizewinners, Tamsin Edwards Francis and Mark Hill.
Winning third prize in this competition is an outstanding achievement considering the extremely high standard of entries. Donna Laing was a Certificate student from the Blue Mountains campus of the Western Sydney Institute of TAFE who was given special permission to enter, as usually the student must be studying for a Diploma as a minimum. Donna’s teacher saw the talent in her student and put forward a good case for her – and the result certainly supports her confidence.
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AILDM Student Design Competion 2006 (PDF 864KB)
STORY AND PHOTOS CATHERINE STEWART FAILDM, MHMA
With two enticing plant fairs on outside Sydney last weekend and only one weekend day available, it was a very tough call to choose which one to see. So what to do but go to both? It was an exhausting day but well-worth the trouble and the travel.
What makes a good plant fair? First for me is obviously the range of goods on sale but the plant knowledge of the vendors comes a close second and it must all be tied up with good organisation or the day is spoilt.
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Fair Go (PDF 490 Kb)
STORY HELEN THOMPSON MAILDM
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE FRIENDS OF THE ROYAL
Late March was Botanica exhibition time again at Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens, so I took myself and my daughter along to the Lion Gate Lodge off Mrs Macquarie’s Road for a morning’s meander around over 100 illustrations and paintings produced by a total of 58 botanical artists based in NSW and the ACT.
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Botanica 2007 (PDF 356 Kb)
STORY MARION TYREE MAILDM, MAIH

Colour is one of the basic elements of landscape design. It goes hand in hand with line, form, scale and texture. Part of the use of colour is to give balance and focus to the design. Colour also draws the eye towards an object. Placement of plants, their flower and foliage colours can be used to enhance the garden’s proportion and balance. Because of its bold stand out and look-at-me effect, red in the landscape creates a focal point.
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Simply Red (PDF 829 Kb)
WISTERIA GARDEN
Location: Queens Park, Sydney
The Design Brief was to: update the garden and replace tired looking surfaces and pathways, create a planting style that provided a cool outlook with strong green backdrops and flower display and improve the access from the rear of the house to the rear laneway.
This garden is a pretty, much loved family garden. The new entertaining area is located in a sunny corner of the garden while the lawn area is a cooler space when the family wishes to retreat to the shade on hot days. A wide pathway divides the two areas, with planting softening the edges of the path.
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AILDM Designs – Secret Gardens of Sydney (PDF 257Kb)