Pebble Garden Glows With Colour...

The sixth in a series of 'getting to know our gardening neighbours'.. 


'Pebble Garden Glows With Colour'*

Facing the railway wetlands in Brookside Drive, Mawson Lakes is an unusual and intricate pebble garden that is entered in the 2010 Mawson Lakes Garden Competition.

Shui Cheng from Hong Kong is a keen gardener who uses white marble chips in creative patterns to highlight her plants which include succulents, oriental herbs, fruit trees and a variety of long-flowering, non-invasive oxalis.

A wide variety of colourful succulents provide an artistic focal point to the garden which wraps around a corner opposite a parkland.

“I like to experiment with plants to see what will grow at Mawson Lakes. I give everything a try. At present I’m trying sub-tropical fruit trees such a pawpaw and mango,” said Sui who has lived at Mawson Lakes for 10 years.

Sui has an extensive library of gardening books and as we talked she referred to books to point to the medicinal qualities of some of her plants. She also grows edible herbs. She rarely needs to water as she maintains a thick cover of mulch, and the pebbles stop evaporation.  

You’ll see her in the garden most mornings removing weeds, enjoying the wetland views and listening to the birds.  

“Gardening is my pleasure and very good for my health and soul,” she said. 


*© Article & photograph supplied by Linda Vining, organiser of the 2010 Mawson Lakes Garden Competition.