With an eye on nearby gardens, Jane Duddy has created a haven on her family’s farm on the NSW Liverpool Plains.

Story Kirsty McKenzie  Photos Ken Brass

Check out your neighbours’ gardens. That’s the practical advice of Willow Tree gardener Jane Duddy to anyone who’s trying to work out what best to do in their own backyard. “See what does well for them,” she says. “That’s the key to finding the trees and plants that are successful in your area and climate conditions. Everything else has been tested at some time, so what remains is what you know will thrive.”

Since they moved there as newlyweds 31 years ago, Jane and her husband Scott have lived on Millers Creek Plains, at the beginning of the NSW Liverpool Plains, on cropping land that has been in Scott’s family for the past century.

This story excerpt is from Issue #158

Outback Magazine: December/January 2025