Like so many small nurseries, our story began when we were asked to open our garden to raise funds for the local community. The garden was very popular and we were constantly asked to have plants available for sale next time. So I spent the time until the next open garden madly propagating and potting hundreds of different plants. It was a huge success and Barrangi Garden mail order nursery was born.
Barrangi means possum in our local Worimi language. We chose this name because of the many possums, both brush tail and ring tail, that call our garden home.
We purchased this 1.2ha block of land in 1993 and set about selectively clearing it for our horses. The original cottage was built in 1994 and when we moved in we started dabbling in gardening. Mark and I both come from a long line of fantastic gardeners but we were both pretty naïve when it came to choosing plants and the list of failures was long. But I didn’t give in. This just made me more determined to research plants that would thrive in our not quite temperate but not quite subtropical climate. By 2006, the horses had gone and the tiny garden beds that surrounded the original house had well and truly advanced into the paddocks.
Ours is a garden of memories. We have so many plants in our garden that came from friends and family, many who are no longer with us, from cuttings taken on travels and plants gifted from other friend’s gardens. It is these old fashioned, rare and unusual plants that are difficult to come by that create the most interest to visitors. I love to propagate and when a plant works well in our garden, I multiply it to create continuity within the garden. I’m not fussy about particular species, as long as it works well with its neighbour and the colours blend harmoniously it stays. I’m constantly moving things around when I see a composition not working well. I’m sure our plants shudder when they see me coming with my post hole shovel!
Now, many years later, after lots of hard work and a lot of trial and error, our knowledge of what grows well allows us to offer a wide range plants.
The Plants
The majority of plants I propagate tend to be hard to find in nurseries. They may be old fashioned treasures, rare or just unusual. But they must all be garden worthy and perform well in our climate. Some plants might be ugly ducklings in the pot but will flourish when planted in the garden We stock perennials, shrubs, small trees, grasses and even the odd climber.
All plants, apart from the shade lovers, are grown outside and are exposed to the elements. I feel this gives them the best start when they are planted out in your own garden.
The plants are not grown in tube stock! All plants are grown in either 10cm wide x 11cm high round or 9.5cm wide x 10cm high square pots so plants are able to develop a good healthy root system.
The descriptions I have provided with each plants are based upon how they perform in our garden here in Salt Ash NSW. Plants may perform differently in other climatic and soil conditions.
