Sarah Nicholson, Author at Sage Journal

Sarah Nicholson

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A Richmond garden that reveals itself gradually

This Melbourne inner-city garden is brimming with layered planting and thoughtful design, bringing together the family’s life between Australia and the UK, the heritage of the site and the needs of everyday living.

Gardens

A garden built for downtime, beneath a living roof

From the heritage front garden to a leafy courtyard and green roof, this South Yarra garden by Saint Remy wraps the home in planting at every level.

Art, People

From garden to canvas | The More Things Change by painter Julie Battisti

For her new exhibition The More Things Change, painter Julie Battisti worked closely with Dunedin florist and flower grower Jolene of Estelle Flowers, building compositions from seasonal blooms, garden-grown stems and unexpected foliage before a brush ever touched the linen.

Sculptural outdoor fireplace surrounded by native planting in a Phillip Withers designed garden in Geelong

Gardens

A Geelong garden shaped by family, friends and coastal living

Landscape designer Phillip Withers has created his own garden to be low-maintenance, accommodates daily family life while also maintaining a deep connection to its coastal surroundings.

Stone pathway through colourful borders in RHS CFS The Tate Britain Garden.

Gardens

Art among plants | RHS Chelsea Flower Show

The Tate Britain Garden was designed by nine-time RHS Chelsea gold medal winner Tom Stuart-Smith Studio.

Mixed planting against turquoise steps in RHS CFS: Flourish in the City.

Events, Gardens

A pearl in the city: Small Garden of the Year winner at Chelsea

Flourish in the City is inspired by London’s pocket-sized gardens and green spaces, the garden draws on the city’s history and urban landscape to create a layered retreat filled with resilient planting.

Guides, How-to, Plants

The cosy season | Keeping the garden moving through winter

Events, Gardens

Across Australia by rail | RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Journey Beyond the Tracks: From Adelaide to Perth Garden was awarded a Silver-Gilt Medal at the 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Garden pavilion surrounded by planting in RHS CFS The Eden Project

Events, Gardens

A garden for what comes next | RHS Chelsea Flower Show

The Eden Project: Bring Me Sunshine Garden, was awarded a Silver-Gilt medal and the Environmental Innovation Award at Chelsea. Inspired by Morecambe Bay and shaped alongside young adults from the local community, the space explores how gardens can nurture people and place.

Gardens

A South Yarra garden shaped by architecture and seasonality

This Melbourne garden began after a major renovation and extension to the home, which included a new garage and first-floor terrace. The original garden was removed entirely, giving an opportunity to rethink the landscape.

1 Flowing path framed by trees, shrubs and meadow planting in Sarah Eberle’s RHS CFS garden.

Gardens

Finding beauty at the edge | RHS Chelsea Garden of the Year

This year's RHS Chelsea Garden of the Year turns its attention to a landscape most of us pass without a second thought. The Campaign to Protect Rural England Garden: 'On the Edge' was designed by Sarah Eberle.

Gardens

A native garden designed to connect a Surf Coast home

Set on a steep site in Anglesea on Victoria’s Surf Coast, this garden by Simon Taylor Landscape Design is thoughtfully connected to its wider coastal surroundings, creating a sheltered retreat for family life, visiting grandchildren and summer stays by the coast.

Curved beds and soft planting at Satis Garden by Noble Fox

Gardens

Restoring a cottage garden on the edge of a Marlborough vineyard

A revived 1920's Blenheim garden, reworked into a productive space for growing flowers and vegetables and enjoying life in the outdoors.

Gardens

Caisson Gardens | Where canal lines shape a landscape

Located in Bath, United Kingdom, Caisson Gardens has been lovingly restored and nurtured by Phil and Amanda Honey, whose vision has created a sustainable landscape rich in beauty and thriving wildlife.

Events, Gardens

A New Zealand coastline, reimagined in Shenzhen

The award-winning garden Ocean's Edge was proudly featured among a small collection of internationally designed gardens at the 2026 Shenzhen Greater Bay Area Flower Show in China.

Jala’s lush boundary planting creating privacy and depth.

Gardens

A Carlton worker’s cottage reconnected through landscape

Landscape designer Josh Arkey of Jala has transformed the garden of Melbourne architects Stephanie Burton and Joseph Lovell’s inner-city worker’s cottage, dissolving the boundary between house and garden.

Vertical timber installation within Rowdy Meadows landscape, Ohio, by Reed Hilderbrand

Gardens

Rowdy Meadow | A conversation between art & ecology

Rowdy Meadow in Ohio is a meeting of art and ecology. Landscape architect studio, Reed Hilderbrand has restored 150 acres of former orchards and steep woodlands and created the setting for an extraordinary, contemporary sculpture collection.

Emma Doman Design 2026 MIFGS Show Garden

Events

Barefoot luxury & the restorative magic of nature

Emma Doman looked to her home state of Queensland for inspiration when creating a resort-style subtropical retreat at the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show.

Mat York, In Ratio SHOW GARDEN at MIFGS 2025

Events

A biodiverse, coastal-inspired haven in the city

‘We the Wild’ by Ratio’s Matt York at the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show (MIFGS) is a resilient garden filled with native Australian planting, designed to bring environmental benefits to its surroundings, and serve to reconnect and restore those who visit.

Events

Ordered beauty | A mod take on a classic European garden

With ‘Urban Luxe’, garden designer Andrew Stark’s 2026 Show Garden at the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show offers a contemporary take on formal European gardens, with clipped structure, symmetry and lush planting.

Events

Climate, culture & migration | A Silk Road-inspired Show Garden

The Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show garden, ‘Echoes of the Ancient Silk Road’ by US-based designer, Iftikhar Ahmed, uses layered planting, modular structures and reflective water to invite visitors to slow down and consider the enduring relationship between land, culture and time.

Timber shed framed by natural planting and gravel garden path – Neville Design Studio.

Gardens

Maximising sunshine & space | The pocket garden in Point Chevalier

This Auckland garden embraces the home’s sunniest corner. Compact yet considered, it is a place to pause and unwind but also meets the homeowner's practical needs.

Joel Barnett InStyle Gardens MIFGS 2026 design

Events

Cricket & cement | A Show Garden that remembers a childhood

In a nostalgic twist, this Show Garden at the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show is inspired by Joel Barnett’s childhood spent around the Geelong Cement Cricket Club.

Events

A real-life love story at the Show

This year, the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show will host a spectacular wedding ceremony set within an enchanting garden.

Gardens

A garden shaped by heritage at a Toorak home

A Toorak garden designed to complement the home’s heritage architecture while supporting contemporary family living and entertaining.

Hands-on flower cultivation in the working garden at Paradise Botanica.

Gardens, People

Paradise Botanica | A garden that rebuilt a life

Victoria Chammanee’s 'Paradise Botanica' garden is now open to the public through Secret Gardens. Once a site dominated by kikuyu and concrete, it’s now a biodiverse sanctuary. Victoria tells us about her approach to gardening, the work required to reshape her site, and how it quite literally helped to rebuild her life.

Modern garden with square planters and sunlight filtering in

Gardens

Exploring the psychology of colour | Peace of Mind garden at Chelsea

The 'MS Amlin Peace of Mind Garden' delves into the psychology of colour and how it shapes our perception of the world around us.

Layered perennials and structured beds in Prahran, Melbourne by Saint Remy.

Gardens

A Prahran garden softened by light & layers

The traditional garden at this Victorian-era home in Prahran was redesigned, replacing formal hedging and dominant trees with softer, more naturalistic planting. New paving and features have transformed the front entry and rear courtyard into practical, everyday living spaces.

Poolside view with ocean horizon and vibrant flowers

Gardens

A resilient coastal garden on a West Sussex pebble beach

Located on the edge of a UK pebble beach, this coastal garden transforms a newly built home into a place of calm and connection with its natural surroundings.

Soft pink and peach-toned flowers growing in a lush cottage garden.

Gardens, People

A colourful life | Violet Faigan and her Ōtepoti Dunedin garden

Dunedin-based gardener Violet Faigan tells us about her wonderful, colour-packed garden.

Sarah Nicholson

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Sage: A journal for the garden curious

Sage is an annual print publication that celebrates the art of gardening. 190+ page collection of thoughtful storytelling, photography and garden inspiration, exploring the intersection of people, plants and place.

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