Tim Pilgrim’s wild and whimsical gardens
Teleisha Thomas
August 2026In-demand naturalistic gardener Tim Pilgrim creates outdoor spaces that feel like they have always belonged. Working across Central Victoria and Melbourne, Tim builds wild and emotive landscapes that are picture perfect from the first season and settle into the vistas around them. We spoke to Tim about his inspiration, the New Perennial movement, and an inner-city garden that is open to visitors this November
How would you describe your work as part of the New Perennial movement? Can you talk us through it, and the benefits of a perennial garden?
I wouldn't call myself a purist. My gardens are perennial-led, but there's always a strong structure of evergreens, Mediterranean shrubs and small trees underneath. Within the New Perennial movement there's a real spectrum. This style of planting was brought to the world stage by Dutch designer Piet Oudolf. On one end of the scale is direct mimicry, taking cues from the scene just beyond your fence and composing with the same species, almost making the fence invisible. At the other is that Oudolf approach, building prairies, a pumped-up version of something you might dream about seeing in the wild.
I love the ever-changing nature of perennials, the way they cycle through in a single season and cover ground quickly, which is great for protecting the soil. The style embraces winter too, celebrating the shift into seed heads and straw as the plants start to decay. That becomes habitat and shelter for reptiles, and material for the birds. The garden ends up being as much for the insects and wildlife as it is for us, so the benefits are ecological as much as they are visual.
What is it about the highlands that shapes your designs? Is there a particular vista or seasonal shift that inspires you?
I’m inspired by the southern states in general. Gardens that can celebrate all four seasons are special. Being up in the highlands of Daylesford and Trentham is great because you have a lot more rainfall, sometimes snow and frost – it’s more extreme visually.
Initially I used a lot of the plants I was seeing in similar climates, in parts of Europe and North America. Now that I’m working with more dry climate gardens, I’m using a different palette, and using plants with space to express themselves.
What's one thing homeowners can do now to set their garden up for spring into summer?
In September you get a few of those warmer days and things start to bounce into spring. Some things won't have come back, so identify those gaps and act fast on the fillers, because there's a really small window before it gets too warm. Look for the holes, work out what's missing from the existing composition, and fill them while you can.
I create wild and emotive gardens. Although, it's more about a feeling over a design style. It's a connection with the wider landscape along with our client's brief and what feels right for a specific site that informs my design.
Tim Pilgrim
Merri Creek meditation
Can you give us an example of a small-space garden you've worked on in the city?
Yes. Our Bent Street garden is close to Merri Creek, on a narrow 372m2 block in Northcote. The owners had just renovated their Edwardian home with architecture and interiors by Brave New Eco – a practice concentrating on passive house principles.
They wanted the house to feel connected to its surroundings, and for the inner-city block to feel bigger than it is. The front yard was all about framing the classic heritage façade, while the backyard became a space for immersion. From the kitchen and living room window you look out onto a composed, but wild scene that speaks to the aspect and context of the Merri Creek area. It draws you outside to a small seating area where you become immersed in a very seasonal, beautiful garden.
I wanted the owners to feel immersed in a wild sanctuary, somewhere they could escape the suburbs without leaving home. For me the simplest way to do that is to bring in as much green as possible, and let the planting do the work.
Can you talk us through the plant palette?
We kept the front deliberately restrained, a central brick path with a bed either side, a Eucalyptus Pulverulenta (silver-leaved mountain gum) for height, and Poa labillardierei (common tussock-grass) softening the line of the facade.
The back is where we let it loosen into something more seasonal and naturalistic. I layered the planting so there's always one thing coming through as another fades, over an evergreen backbone of Arthropodium Cerratum, clipped Westringia Fruticosa (coastal rosemary) and other hardy shrubs that hold the garden together all year. Then the whimsy comes from the flowering perennials threaded through: Pycnosorus Globosus (Billy buttons), Agastache (Sweet Lili) and Salvia (African Skies), the plants that give it colour and movement through the warmer months.
You can visit Tim Pilgrim's Bent Street garden in December through Open Gardens Victoria.
