"Mediterranean Gardening Dilemmas"
Aside from his work as a garden designer, Michael is a writer, broadcaster, international garden tour guide and host of Australian ABC TV’s Dream Gardens. His design work has been featured in magazines and books - particularly in Claire Takac’s Dreamscapes, Australian Dreamscapes and Wild.
First achieving a Bachelor of Science in botany, Michael then qualified as a gardener and spent ten years working in large private gardens, in which was included a summer living and working with Christopher Lloyd at Great Dixter, in East Sussex, England. He has written for the press for over 30 years, and has authored three books on gardening and design.
Michael gardens in Woodend, roughly 80 km north of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, where summers are usually hot and dry, but relatively productive and imperfectly drained soils make classic Mediterranean gardening challenging. Much of his professional design work allows for moderate levels of irrigation, but at home, he has only enough tank water for basic house use, and the garden, which Michael insists must display extravagant seasonal change, has to survive - preferably thrive - on the natural rainfall.