Costa is at a magical water garden that he has wanted to visit for years.
Austral Watergardens in Cowan, NSW, sits on 7 acres with views of the Muogamarra nature reserve. Subscribe 🔔 http://ab.co/GA-subscribe
Kevin and Lisa Metelik have been managing the mountain paradise for decades.

Kevin’s grandfather bought the land, set up the water gardens in the 1940s and inspired his daughter to follow in his footsteps; Kevin got the gardening bug from her.

Lisa met and married Kevin and got the bug as well.

Some of the original concrete ponds still exists, with plenty of new ones too, all filled with a range of different water plants. Visitors can choose plants from these stock plants and take them home for their own pond or bowl.

The water is kept clean by finding the right balance of shade and sun, plus native fish to keep down mosquitoes without affecting the frog populations.

Kevin says there are two main groups of water lily: Hardy or European and tropicals.

Hardy or European are the style seen in Monet paintings, with red, pink, yellow and white flowers that sit at water level. They flower earlier, from October to April, and blooms range from miniature to large.

Tropical waterlilies hold their flowers above the water line and are usually fragrant; colours include blues, white, yellow, and pink, and they bloom from December to June in the Sydney area (all year in tropical climates) but may not survive winters in colder areas.

Hardy waterlilies have rhizomes while the tropical ones have bulbs.

Lotus are different again; they are large plants, are revered as sacred in many cultures. The leaves sit above the water and flowers form distinctive seed heads.

Other less obvious but equally useful plants include the native Snakeskin vallisneria, which grows underwater and improves water quality as well as providing habitat for fish and frogs.

Border plants such as jointed twig-rush can tolerate quite deep water.

Red-stemmed thalia gives a tropical look to a pond and is a favourite with frogs.

How to build your own water garden:

A water feature will bring frogs, dragonflies and beauty to a garden, creating a mini oasis. Here are some basic steps to get you started.

Consider the size and depth of a water bowl as well as the material – a lightweight fiberglass or polymer resin makes a large vessel easier to handle. Ceramic bowls may need to be sealed.

The minimum depth is 30cm for water plants; deeper is better. Lisa tries to create three levels in a pond:
* a submerged aquatic plant
* a shallow-water creeper group to grow on the edges
* a tall marginal plant for height

Add in water lilies for flowers and floating leaves; if you can fit two plants, choose one hardy and one tropical species for a longer flowering display.

Put river sand or gravel on top of the soil mix in the pot to avoid muddying the water.

Aim to cover about half to two-third of the water surface with plants.

Add native, tadpole-friendly fish to keep mosquitoes at bay

Filmed on Dharug Country in Cowan, NSW

Featured plants:
Waterlily ‘Escarboucle’ (Nymphaea cv.)
Waterlily ‘Marliacea albida’ (Nymphaea cv.)
Waterlily ‘Blue Triumph’ (Nymphaea cv.)
Sacred Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera)
Snakeskin vallisneria (Vallisneria nana)
Jointed twig-rush (Machaerina articulata syn. Baumea articulata )
* Red-stemmed thalia (Thalia geniculata)
Water milfoil (Myriophyllum ‘Dragonfly’)
* Taro (Colocasia esculenta cv.)
Waterlily ‘Colorado’ (Nymphaea cv.)
Waterlily ‘Green Smoke’ (Nymphaea cv.)
Firetail gudgeon (Hypseleotris galii)

* Always check species before planting: they may be environmental weeds in your area.

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