National planning, transport and landscape consultancy, Ratio Consultants is set to unveil a future-ready urban garden at this year’s Melbourne Flower & Garden Show, showcasing how compact spaces can deliver measurable environmental gains in dense cities.
The 310 sqm installation, titled We the Wild, has been designed as an ecological micro-system, featuring a series of innovative indoor-outdoor spaces, including 100% Australian native planting, natural decking, eco cabins, a wet ledge, fire pit and perennial meadow. Inspired by Victoria’s iconic southern coastline, the design pairs eucalyptus canopies with granite boulders, evoking coastal landscapes shaped by salt, sand and deep geological time.
Despite its modest size, the garden has been conceived to demonstrate how small green spaces can work harder, fostering biodiversity, cooling surrounding areas and creating essential habitat. Ratio will calculate the percentage of urban canopy, pollination and urban heat reduction to ensure the show garden delivers measurable sustainability benefits.
With 30 years shaping Australia’s urban environments, Ratio is continuing to strengthen its landscape architecture capability as part of its integrated service offering, bringing together expertise across planning, urban design, transport, waste management and civil engineering to deliver a diverse range of liveable and sustainable projects.
Matt York
The garden was designed by award-winning landscape architect Matt York, who brings 25 years’ experience across Australia, South-East Asia and Africa. Matt says the Melbourne Flower & Garden Show provides an opportunity to rethink how landscape architecture responds to rapidly changing urban living:
“This space draws from the spectacular backdrops of the Victorian coastline, and applies that thinking to small garden design, bringing the richness of Gadubanud Country into the heart of the city. Though compact, it’s designed to feel expansive yet intimate, like the coastlines many Victorians know deeply, proving that ecological richness and a sense of wildness can be achieved at any scale.
“In a growing city like Melbourne, where open space is under pressure, every piece of green space needs to perform. But good design can also restore our emotional connection to the natural world, showing how even a modest garden can support biodiversity, cooling and community wellbeing.”
While the design draws on wild coastal landscapes, it ultimately translates these qualities into a format suited to contemporary homes. We the Wild demonstrates how residential gardens can become active contributors to healthier urban ecosystems, strengthening habitat links and supporting greener neighbourhoods.
For Ratio, presenting We the Wild is an opportunity to acknowledge Country and celebrate Melbourne’s local economy. Every element of the garden, from plants and stonework to furniture, has been developed with local partners and suppliers, rooting the installation in local people and place.
The Melbourne Flower & Garden Show attracts more than 100,000 visitors across five days and provides a national platform to explore how Australia’s growing cities can evolve to meet environmental and community challenges.
Ratio Consultants
Ratio is a national consultancy for planning, transport, urban design, waste, landscape and civil. Our team of 100 experts bring a diverse range of liveable and sustainable projects to life across Australia.
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