Edenlife Byford: The Ancient Grasstree at the Heart of our Community
Standing at the entrance to our new community at the centre of a carefully crafted roundabout, framed by the wide WA sky and the beginnings of our Stage 1 landscaping, is an ancient Grasstree. Its charred black trunk branches into two. Its grassy crown fans outward in every direction. And its tall, slender flower spikes reach upward with a kind of quiet authority that no planted shrub or decorative feature could ever replicate.
It was here long before us. And placing it at the heart of our entry is one of the most deliberate design decisions we’ve made at Edenlife Byford.
The Balga: A Living Piece of WA History
The Grasstree, known as Balga in the Noongar language of the Whadjuk Noongar people – is one of Western Australia’s most ancient and extraordinary plants. They are slow growers in the truest sense: just one centimetre of trunk growth per year. The specimen at our entry, with its substantial trunk and twin stems, has been growing in the WA bush for what may be several hundred years.
They are remarkably resilient plants. Their blackened trunks are not a sign of damage, they are a sign of survival. Grasstrees not only withstand bushfire, they often respond to it by flowering prolifically, their tall yellow-tipped spikes rising from the ash as a declaration that they are still here. That they endure.
Why it matters to Edenlife
The Grasstree at the Edenlife Byford entry is not landscaping in the conventional sense. It is not there to fill a gap or provide decorative coverage. It is there because we believe that building a new community in the Darling Scarp foothills carries a responsibility to acknowledge, celebrate, and preserve the natural character of the land.
Edenlife Byford sits within a landscape of genuine ecological significance. The Darling Scarp and its surrounding bushland are home to the Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo, one of WA’s most beloved and most threatened birds. Wandoo woodland frames the ridgeline. Native grasses, banksias, and wildflowers define the seasons. This is not a generic outer-suburban setting, it is a specific, irreplaceable piece of WA natural heritage.
From the earliest planning stages, our commitment has been to build Edenlife Byford in a way that honours that heritage rather than erasing it. That means retaining and relocating significant native specimens where we can. It means designing our landscaping around local species that belong here naturally, rather than imported ornamentals that require constant water and maintenance. And it means making the native landscape visible, not fencing it out or planting over it, but making it the defining character of the community.
What Stage 1 Landscaping Looks Like
The Grasstree takes centre stage, accompanied by native grasses, ground covers, shrubs and trees designed to weather beautifully over time with minimal intervention.
As Stage 1 progresses across the broader community, you will see that same palette carried through: native plantings that soften the streetscape without overwhelming it and quiet design choices throughout that say “this community belongs here”.
It is a slower kind of beauty. It will not be fully itself on opening day. Like the Grasstree, it will take time to settle, to spread, to become what it is meant to be.
We think that’s exactly right.
Come and See It for Yourself
Edenlife Byford is now selling Stage 1, with homes available from March 2026.
And when you visit the community, we’d invite you to stop at the entry roundabout for a moment before you drive through. Look at the Grasstree. Count the flower spikes. Think about the years it has taken to get there.
Then imagine the next chapter of your life beginning in a place like this.
🌿 Register your interest: Visit edenlife.com.au/byford or call our friendly team to learn more.
📍 Location: 11 Briggs Road, Byford — in the Darling Scarp foothills, south-east of Perth.
🏗️ Now selling: Stage 1 with homes available from March 2026.
