Franc and Jenny created Plant Tiles to meet the changing needs of Australian homeowners and the backyards they maintain. As urban areas become more densely populated and housing lots become smaller, new bespoke garden ideas are needed. A growing number of time-poor gardeners desire a low-maintenance lawn alternative that will deliver instant results and maximize the use of small outdoor areas.
No-mow Plant Tiles provide a lush system of low-growing ground covers, available in flowering herbs or hardy perennials, to deliver drought-tolerant and edible instant green coverage. Each individual tile covers the same area as 10 100 mm pots of ground cover plants.
Conceived as a green carpet tile in response to the demand for an impactful and time-saving solution, Plant Tiles helps homeowners to achieve instant garden makeover results.
Previously, establishing a lawn substitute or a large area of ground cover was extremely time consuming and labour intensive. Gardeners had to individually plant multitudes of small pots or plugs, then tend them for weeds while waiting months for the plants to slowly grow.
Plant Tiles are propagated and delivered in large custom-designed shallow trays measuring 330 mm x 330 mm and only 22 mm deep.
The trays are filled with media and seeded with a selection of low-growing aromatic herbs or creeping perennials, such as Zoysia Tenuifolia, Dichondra Repens or native violets.
As the ground cover plants grow, the roots bind the media together so that the Plant Tiles can be removed from the tray and then laid on the prepared area. Being air pruned, the roots very quickly take to the prepared garden bed.
Research shows that proximity to nature is closely tied to good health, both mental and physical. While more Australians choose to live in smaller houses and apartments, they still value being surrounded by greenery and nature. Franc and Jenny have acknowledged this truth with their innovative Plant Tiles, the result of over 30 years’ experience in the gardening and turf industry – culminating in them receiving Queensland and Australian Farm Inventors of the Year awards.