Native Planting and Garden Design
Location: Fernvale, QLD
Project Type: Native Planting, Horticultural Landscaping & Privacy Screening
Completed: May 2026
Client: Nick & Jodie
What did they want?
Nick and Jodie wanted long-term privacy around their property. Future development nearby was likely to change the outlook, and they wanted screening in the ground before that happened rather than after.
They did not want a straight line of trees along a boundary. The brief was something that looked like a landscape rather than a fence, visually interesting and layered whilst remaining low maintenance once established.
What we did?
We planned a three-tier native planting scheme, using separate planting lines at different depths instead of one flat row. The three zones ran to roughly 18, 20 and 24 metres.
Species selection and spacing were worked out around mature height and width, evergreen coverage, and how the three tiers would read together in five to ten years rather than on plating day. We selected Lily pillies, Illawarra plum pines, tuckeroos and waterhousias, each placed for what it would become over time.
Then the planting areas were prepared and the trees installed.
What were the challenges?
The main consideration wasn’t simply planting trees, it was planning how the landscape would look and function almost a decade into the future.
The spacing and positioning needed to provide privacy without overcrowding maturing plants, and the different tiers had to complement each other rather than creating three rows that didn’t match each other.
What changed?
The property now has the foundation of a layered native screen instead of a conventional hedge line.
As the trees mature, the tiers will progressively close in and give real privacy, while still reading as a natural landscape. It is the clearest example we have of the principle the whole native planting service runs on: plant for what it becomes, not for how it looks on the day.
See the project gallery below.
