Native garden advice · North Shore
Native garden advice
Paid, on-site advice from a qualified horticulturist for a garden of local North Shore natives: what grew here, what to plant, where, and what to pull out first.
Native Garden Walk
$180
About 1 to 2 hours walking your garden together: soil, light, drainage and existing plants, the natives worth keeping and the weeds to deal with first.
- Emailed shortlist of 10 to 15 local native species within 48 hours
- Quick wins for habitat
- Most North Shore gardens need an hour or two
Advice Visit + Written Plan
$395
A 90-minute visit, then a written plan within 7 days that you can follow over the year.
- Your garden's likely plant community
- Local species by layer: trees, shrubs, groundcovers
- A placement sketch and habitat ideas
- Weed priorities and a staged 12-month action list
- Where to buy plants, including free council plant programs
Garden Design & Planting Plan
Design service
A to-scale planting plan and plant schedule for your garden. Plants, materials and installation are quoted separately once the design is settled.
- To-scale planting plan
- Plant schedule with quantities
- Separate quote for plants and installation
- A follow-up visit 6 weeks after planting
How it works
- Book by phone or the form. I'll ask a few questions about your garden first: size, soil if you know it, what you'd like, and any trees.
- The visit: we walk the garden together. I look at soil, drainage, light, existing plants and nearby bushland.
- Your shortlist or plan arrives by email (48 hours for the Walk, 7 days for the Plan).
- Optional: I can quote to plant it, using the credit above.
Which one suits?
- Just want ideas and happy to DIY? The Walk.
- Want something written to follow over the year? The Advice Visit + Plan.
- Want a proper design, or changing a lot of a bigger garden? The Garden Design & Planting Plan (plants and installation quoted separately).
- Only need maintenance, or a quote for planting you already know you want? See garden care.
Advice is horticultural advice. It isn't an arborist report, a bushfire assessment or a landscape plan for a development application. Large trees may need council approval before any work.
Why go native?
Good for your garden, good for local wildlife
Made for local conditions
Local species evolved in North Shore soils, from shale clays on the ridges to sandstone sands in the gullies. Matched to the right spot, they need less water and fuss once established.
Food and shelter for birds
Layered planting with small, dense or prickly shrubs gives small birds somewhere safe to live, not just nectar plants. Add a bird bath and keep some leaf litter.
A stepping stone for bushland
Gardens near reserves can either feed weeds into the bush or help it. Swapping garden escapes like privet, ochna and asparagus fern for local natives makes a real difference.
Free help from your council, too
Several North Shore councils run free programs: Hornsby's Native Plant Giveaways, North Sydney's Native Havens, Lane Cove's Backyard Habitat Program and Ku-ring-gai's online Native Planting Guide. They're run by the councils, not RF Horticulture. If you pick up free plants from one of these programs, I can include them in your planting plan and plant them for you. See service areas for links.
Get in touch about native garden advice
Call, text or send a quick enquiry and choose "Native garden advice". No travel fee on the North Shore.