This big communal garden in Point Piper (Sydney’s eastern suburbs) had been minimally maintained and rather neglected when we came in to look at renovating the existing planting and take over the maintenance. The brief required colour and interest, with hedges and low cost both a factor. We avoided the obvious Sydney planting: the old Murrayas, Viburnum and Lilly Pillies had to go. In their place we planted Hibiscus ’Tiny Tina’, Michelia coco and a top row of Callistemon viminalis ’Slim’ for the birds. We kept the lovely tree fern and underplanted that shady spot with Bergenias, Impatiens and Acanthus mollis. As groundcover in the lower bed we planted the ever-reliable Limonium perezii and a lovely native daisy that is still underused Brachyscome multifida.