Garden Designers using Perennials
- Simone Taylor
- Sep 2, 2025
- 4 min read
When it comes to creating gardens that are exciting and ever changing, few do it better than Garden Designers who specialise in perennials and ornamental grasses. Their work blends structure with softness, colour with texture, and a rhythm that shifts beautifully from season to season. In this blog, I have featured some of the Australian designers who use these plants as their signature palette and whom have inspired me. They craft spaces that are bespoke, suited to their location, sustainable and of course stunning. Proving that perennials and grasses truly are the backbone of superb garden design.
Tim Pilgrim
Based in Central Victoria, Tim Pilgrim is known for his naturalistic cottage-style gardens. With over 15 years experience Tim has developed a distinct style that blends the traditional and modern, edible and ornamental. His formal horticultural training provides a strong foundation in hands-on skills, and understanding of how plantings will work in real-world contexts. He has worked in some of Australia’s most renowned gardens including Garden of St Erth (Diggers), Sefton, and Paul Bangay’s Stonefields.
In his garden designs, Tim draws on the work of contemporary innovators such as Piet Oudolf, Jinny Blom, and Dan Pearson, and their ethereal style. The outcome is a much sought-after naturalistic aesthetic, applied to the Australian context. A true plantsman, Tim’s exceptional plant knowledge and natural eye result in immersive planting design. His plant selections are highly sought after.
Karen Wagner
Karen Wagner’s Design Studio is based in Hobart, Tasmania. With a background in Agricultural Science, professional Horticulture and many years of experience creating gardens, you’re in good hands to start the journey of creating a garden you’ve always dreamt of having.
Susan McKinnon
Susan McKinnon is based in Hobart and can offer a full design service, starting from scratch or working with what you have. A full design can include: Organising a survey of the property if required. Conducting an extensive briefing with you to find out everything I need to know to design a garden that will meet your needs and expectations. Development of a sketch plan and colour concept plan. Hard Landscape plan so that you can construct the garden yourself or put out to tender. Planting Plan, Schedule, Soil Preparation, Planting Information and Maintenance guide. I can also assist with the project, liaising with the landscape contractor, sourcing the plants, planting and establishment, as well as on going maintenance.
Catherine Shields
Catherine Shields has gained extensive experience around the world since completing a Masters in Landscape Design at Manchester University, UK in 1991. Catherine has been designing gardens and running the Alchemy of Gardens in Tasmania since 2000.
"Whilst it is imperative that a garden fulfills all the practicalities and needs of the client , to me it is not simply another outdoor room. If treated as such it may be in danger of becoming too sterile. A garden is no less than the transition between the safety of the interior and the wild places. There is always some essential feeling to a place and it is this feeling that drives and inspires me. My primary aim is to help connect, or reconnect, people to the beauty of nature and, hence, to their own innate nature. There is a balance to be had between the feeling of being in control and a little gentle chaos which allows us to loosen and unwind.
I am deeply inspired by the extraordinary island of Tasmania, we live on. Its intimacy, the sense of community and especially it's wildness. How we nurture our own spirit, create places to live that are a reflection of the history and beauty around us and how we build in a way that is deeply respectful to the environment are questions I return to time and time again"
Ralph Bristow
Ralph views the world through an artistic lens, with a painters colour pallet and a love of nature his gardens are truely unique. An accomplished painter, Ralph has exhibited for many years. His abstract style is reminiscent of the gardens he creates, combining chaos, beauty and colour.
Ralph is always looking for new ideas, new planting combinations and new design elements. The garden is an evolving space, with each season and each year bringing new delights
Jacqui Chirgwin
Jacqui Chirgwin from Hope and Heart Garden Design has a passion to create beautiful gardens that nurture and uplift, gardens that heal and connect with nature. Our aim is for your garden to become a place that brings hope to your heart. Every garden we design is unique and is carefully conceived to bring to life each client’s vision. We are happy to assist you with a garden renovation, a new garden or just a solution for a difficult corner. Hope and Heart provide a boutique service that is personalised, friendly, reliable and attentive. Our commitment is to listen carefully to your needs and wishes in order to develop the best possible garden for you. Guiding principles include attention to detail, sensitive use of colour, inclusion of distinctive focal elements, use of appropriate plants for the conditions, integration of a sense of place and a regard for the ongoing development of the garden. Practical considerations focus on best space usage, solutions to site problems and maintenance requirements.
Jackie McWilliam
With an eye for beautiful and different plants and how to combine, place and source them, Avantgardener is Jackie McWilliam, a Melbourne-based landscape designer (RMIT 2004).
Avantgardener landscapes focus on aesthetics, enjoyment and functionality. From small urban garden designs to large country landscapes or coastal retreats, our gardens are designed to meet your individual desires and requirements. They can be radical and different or more conservative but still creative, and developed and installed with as much or as little input from you as you wish
Comments