South African & New Zealand Planting in South East London
Strappy leaves, sculptural shapes and hot summer colour from the southern hemisphere. Plants from South Africa's Cape and New Zealand cope with drought, wind and our winters, and give a modern, low-maintenance look that stays interesting all year.
Buy it as a planting pack, let us plant it for you, or have us design and build the whole garden around it.
Gallery photos show examples of the style for inspiration.
Key Plants
Agapanthus for blue and white summer flowers. Red hot pokers (Kniphofia) for flame-coloured spikes. Pittosporum and hebe for neat evergreen structure. Phormium (New Zealand flax) and cordyline for bold, spiky leaves. Libertia and astelia for bronze and silver foliage.
Design Ideas
Contrast spiky phormium with rounded hebe and pittosporum. Line a path with agapanthus, or fill big pots with them on a sunny patio. Mix with gravel and grasses for a coastal feel, or keep to greens, bronzes and blue for a sharp, contemporary front garden.
Hard Landscaping Features
Large-format porcelain paving with gravel or planting strips between the slabs. Rendered or sleeper raised beds at seat height. Steel edging and pale gravel for clean lines. Big fibre-clay pots on a terrace, and a low timber or composite deck for a coastal look.
We design and build all of this ourselves: see our landscaping and garden design services.
Setting It Up for Success
These plants hate wet feet, so we dig in grit for drainage and use peat-free compost for anything going in pots. Mycorrhizal root grow goes in with every plant, a gravel mulch keeps the crowns dry and weeds down, and taller red hot pokers get stakes in windy spots. A potash-rich feed in spring and summer gives the most agapanthus flowers.
Add a success kit to any pack: we'll bring the right compost, root grow, stakes, mulch and feed, matched to your soil.
Where does it work best?
Sunny, well-drained spots. These plants shrug off wind, so they're good for exposed front gardens. Agapanthus flower best when a little crowded, which makes them great in pots too.
How much looking after does it need?
Deadhead agapanthus and red hot pokers after flowering, tidy phormium leaves in spring and give pittosporum a light trim to keep its shape. Water through the first summer, then only in long dry spells.
How do I order a pack?
WhatsApp a few photos of the space, rough measurements and your postcode to 07490 103088. We'll size the pack to your garden and come back the same day with a price for the plants on their own, plants plus planting, or a full design and build.
"Matthew has done an outstanding job transforming our overgrown and messy borders into tidy, easy to maintain, pretty borders. His workmanship and work ethic cannot be faulted."
Helen G.
"Matt did an amazing job transforming our garden. It had become quite overgrown, with lots of trees and plants all tangled together, but he carefully worked through everything and refreshed the lawn so the whole space feels renewed."
Laura W.
"Matt and Lenny came over to strip out our overgrown and difficult to maintain garden. They removed and trimmed all the unsightly weeds while keeping the flowers, and Matt gave us really helpful maintenance advice."
Aaron L.
