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“Have a good long think about your garden,” Shaw said. “Sit on a chair where you can get a good perspective and just visualise it.<\/p>\n
“By squinting your eyes you’re just seeing the core details.”<\/p>\n
For Shaw, that slower, more considered approach to landscaping has been shaped over a lifetime in horitculture \u2013 and by a much earlier starting point.<\/p>\n
When his parents handed him a small patch of lawn to landscape as a teenager, it sparked a lasting connection to plants and design that would eventually become his career.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When it came time to choose an apprenticeship, horticulture felt like a natural fit.<\/p>\n “I had a really strong connection with horticulture, plants and gardening,” Shaw said.<\/p>\n That early interest led him to take on landscaping jobs on<\/p>\n the side, before growing the work into Ocean Road Landscaping, which he runs with his wife Simone.<\/p>\n Shaw still credits his parents with instilling that original sense of curiosity, but says staying inspired requires stepping away from the day-to-day to explore other gardens across Australia and beyond.<\/p>\n “As you get older and you’ve done something for a long time, you don’t have the same energy,” Shaw said. “You need to turn the brain off so that it can do its work in the background\u2026and all of a sudden you work out a solution.”<\/p>\n He also draws energy from the young landscapers coming through his business.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I love their work and that’s helped me step back from the day-to-day to see the big picture and pick up their creativity and energy,” Shaw said.<\/p>\n His design philosophy draws heavily from the natural world, especially the coastal environment that surrounds his home in Anglesea.<\/p>\n “We need to reflect what’s around us,” Shaw said. “Even the coastline itself is never in a straight line, so we can work with natural shapes and curves.”<\/p>\n He believes nature itself offers the clearest direction.<\/p>\n “Nature is trying to tell you what it can do,” he said. “Following that is a clue.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n That thinking carries through to plant selection, where he works extensively with native and indigenous species for their ability to adapt to seasonal shifts.<\/p>\n “These plants flourish in our climate,” Shaw said. “They also invite native animals and insects back into gardens.”<\/p>\n At his Anglesea property, Sunnymeade, the seasonal shift means turning attention to pruning and renewal.<\/p>\n Now, he said, is a practical time to cut back, add mulch and prepare for warmer months.<\/p>\n “Sometimes with some of the woodier plants, it can be time to move them along and make space for new growth,” Shaw said.<\/p>\n The garden is deeply personal and is layered with family history and meaning.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/IMG_0960_19268.jpeg\")
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