Sabrina Hahn: How to travel with Sabrina to visit some of Australia’s best gardens, landscapes and restaurants

More Australians are now considering local holiday options that allow them to safely enjoy the great outdoors. Many are exploring domestic destinations within Australia where they can experience the beauty of untamed nature in a safe and welcoming environment. Western Australia and Tasmania offer many opportunities for tourists to experience more isolated areas, get off the beaten track, enjoy local cuisine, roam around beautiful gardens, and learn more about the magnificent diversity of Australia. This year I will be leading two tours, one in WA and the other in Tasmania. Both will be offering a combination of exploring the natural environment, learning about endemic plants and animals, eating at award-winning restaurants and visiting stunning gardens. It’s right up my alley. Wildflowers, Wineries and Private Gardens of the Southwest of WA September 24 — October 6, 2026 Western Australia is famous for its biodiversity of flora and fauna, ancient forests and national parks that can be enjoyed without masses of tourists. The South West region is home to the most abundant wildflowers in the world because of our nutrient-poor eroded landscapes. This tour produces something different every year I lead it. Nature is constantly transforming; the species in flower are never the same from one year to the next, and I am always excited to witness this remarkable, adaptive and resilient part of WA. Our State is home to around 11,000 named species of flora, with more than 75 per cent found in the South West, which is recognised as one of the world’s top 10 biodiversity hotspots. We explore national parks ranging from the rugged coastline near Albany to the inland ancient forests featuring Tingle and karri trees, experiencing the phenomena of evolutionary processes in their most fundamental form. Tasmania: Art, Spring Gardens, Cradle Mountain, and Freycinet National Park November 15 — 25, 2026 This tour explores gardens and unspoiled natural landscapes during spring, when the roses and peonies are blooming and the landscape is lush and green. Tasmania has such magnificent national parks from coastline to tropical rainforests and rugged mountain ranges. Tasmania is renowned for its cuisine, which emphasises locally-sourced produce grown sustainably under the paddock-to-plate concept. We get to experience the State’s award-winning restaurants and vineyards in beautiful settings. You cannot visit Tasmania without staying at the World Heritage-listed Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park and taking a stroll through breathtaking alpine forests and pristine lakes. We also visit the Devils@Cradle sanctuary and get to meet Tasmanian devils, quolls and wombats. For more information on the full itinerary of these and many other garden tours, phone (03) 9822 6899, email info@asatours.com.au or visit asatours.com.au. Tip of the week Garden tours should always incorporate landscapes because the landscape dictates the process of developing a garden; it imparts a sense of place where the garden becomes part of the culture and environment that existed before. Three jobs to do now 1. Turn off reticulation on the days we get decent rainfall. The weather is cooler, the dew point is higher and both plants and soil love rain. 2. Get ahead of germinating winter weeds. Either hoe them over, spray with pelargonic acid natural weed killer or smother them with coir matting. 3. Prune back long leaves on hellebores now so the flowers can be seen in June and July. Do you have a question for Sabrina? To submit a question to Green With Envy, inside Saturday’s The West Australian, write to Ask Sabrina, GPO Box D162, Perth, 6001 or email home@wanews.com.au. Please include your full name and suburb. Due to the volume of questions, not all of them will be answered.