We are all about DIY gardens at Hello Hello Plants. We’ve helped thousands (actually—we counted) of customers from Melbourne & Victoria work out a design for their garden that they could implement themselves. To get a high-end looking, classy garden without bringing in a landscape architect (at a high-end, classy price), here are Chris’ top tips:

• Number one piece of advice is to choose plants that you know will work and will do well in the conditions you have in your garden, or that particular part of the garden. This means they will flourish and do really well. If it’s a shady spot, choose plants that love the shade. If it’s a hot, sunny spot, choose a hot sun lover.
• Select a combination of plants that are going to look good together and keep it simple. Don’t go for rare or expensive plants that will struggle and be hard to care for. We broke down the essence of Toorak gardens, some of the most fabulous in Melbourne, and you can find out what you can do to create the same sense of style here.
• Use mass planting. This is where many of the same type of plant are planted together in an area, with or without a pattern, to create a lush sense of impact. To do this on a budget, select inexpensive plants like Silver Birch trees that still look impressive, or sacrifice size and buy smaller (younger) plants.

We can provide assistance in working all of this out as part of our free Garden Design service.