February 2008

Balancing Diet

From dancing to saving the earth alongside the Dalai Lama, Al Gore and Oprah Winfrey, Jamie Durie’s career has grown as prolifically as the gardens he’s famous for designing. So how does he juggle it all?

Photography: Scott Needham @ Flipp; Grooming: Katrina Rafferty; Location: Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, Botanic Gardens Trust

WORDS DAN ROOKWOOD

Photo: Jason Busch
You wouldn’t think it to look at his fresh, tanned face, but Jamie Durie has just stepped off the red-eye from Singapore. Last week he was in Canary Islands and next week he’s off to Dubai. Or is it Abu Dhabi? He can’t quite remember. And then he’s off to the US for the “G’day New York” festival to promote Australia. Is he exhausted? “A bit,” he admits, “but I got used to travelling from my early days in the entertainment industry and I actually get most of my inspiration from travelling; it re-energises me.”

Those early days were back in the 1990s when he managed and fronted a male Aussie striptease group called Manpower. Now he’s a hugely successful TV presenter and landscape gardener with his green gers in all sorts of pots. For starters, there’s his hotly anticipated, new Channel Seven show coming out this year. “It’s all top secret at this stage,” he whispers. “All I can say is that it’s in production, it’s my own creation and it’s completely original, unlike anything that’s been done before.” In May, when Durie is presenting a lavish AU$1 million garden of Australian native plants at the world-famous Chelsea Flower Show in London, he is also releasing an updated version of The Source Book “which is like the Yellow Pages for landscaping and design in each state of Australia, hand-picked by me.”

He’s a super-charged Durie-sell machine. He presents umpteen TV shows both in Australia and in the US (including The Victory Garden seen on more than 300 stations across America), he’s currently designing large-scale resorts and gardens in nine different countries, he’s the author of five best-selling books and he has his own garden furniture range that he sells through Big W. Everything that brand Durie touches turns from green to gold.

So how did he go from stripping to making money grow on trees? “After eight years of managing Manpower with a stage crew of 37 people, I got tired of dancing for a living. I wanted something more meaningful to do,” says the Manly-born 37-year-old. His head for set design and lighting led him into landscape gardening and horticulture, while his chiselled good looks and showmanship made him a natural front man for gardening shows such as Backyard Blitz and Australia’s Best Backyards. “Landscaping and presenting is still designing and working with sets, just in a different medium,” he says.

Although he’s undoubtedly doing very well for himself, by no means is it all about Jamie, me, me. He’s also a philanthropist and a gardening angel. “I’m just so much happier working with the earth and learning about the environment. The truth is, our planet needs looking after.”

The truth is important to Durie, even if it’s an inconvenient one. Last year he was accepted by former US vice-president Al Gore’s Climate Crisis organisers to become a climate change ambassador, presenting Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth slide show around Australia. “Al Gore deserves more than the Nobel Peace Prize: he’s changed the world,” says Durie. “He certainly helped change the Australian government.”

Durie’s work with the environment has even seen him work with the Dalai Lama. “I recently had the great honour to host His Holiness’ events in Perth and Sydney when he spoke on sustainability and spirituality,” he says. “It is surreal to be in such exalted company and I feel blessed, but I do try to keep my feet on the ground.”
Durie sees his earthly responsibility very much as a planet ambassador, which is why, when Oprah Winfrey’s company called him from the US to do a regular “outdoor slot” on her hugely influential show with a worldwide audience of 200 million, he jumped at the chance. “It doesn’t scare me; it fires me up,” he says. “It’s an amazing opportunity to connect people with plants and make them fall in love with their own backyards, to enjoy the fresh air and the sunshine.”

Jamie Durie’s picks for the world’s best gardens

I’ve clocked up countless flights over the past decade. Wherever you’re flying to, you should be able to find a magical garden to inspire you

Singapore
You must go to the Botanic Gardens and eat at Halia restaurant in the Ginger Garden. Then go for a walk through the Orchid Garden – it’s the best in the world.

Japan
I’ve been to Japan more than 10 times; I can’t get enough of it. The best place for gardens is Kyoto, not far from Osaka. It has 2,240 shrines, temples and gardens. My favourite is Shisen-do. Go March to April for the cherry blossoms.

Thailand
Excuse me for recommending one that I created, but following the tsunami, we designed the garden at Kamala temple on Phuket.

Australia
I’d actually suggest the location for the photos for this issue’s cover. It’s the Succulents Garden at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney, which I designed to promote a message of sustainability and recycling. All the plants need little water and the sculpture in the middle is made from 5,500 old baked bean cans.

Jamie’s top 5 water-wise gardening tips

1. Think about what you want to use the space for. Create an “outdoor room” around a barbecue, dining table, day bed, etc. Garden centres are great for inspiration in terms of furniture and lighting. Fit the plants in afterwards.

2. Don’t just pick plants that look pretty. Look at what’s growing well in your neighbours’ backyards for ideas.

3. Ask the experts at the nursery for their advice on how to look after plants: how much light and shade they need, how much water, what kind of plant food. Every plant is different.

4. Keep your garden well-mulched with about 100mm of mulch all year round to stop it drying out. Don’t use spray irrigation – it’s a waste of water. If water restrictions allow, use a drip into the mulch.

5. Go for native Australian plants, which have adapted well to our environment. Cacti and succulents are superb drought-resistant plants.