earlier garden designers. A signature feature was stone walling using local rock that may have been split or broken to shape but not noticeably cut with straight edges. He made use of the surrounding outlooks and natural vegetation and he did use large native trees—such as the Illawarra flame trees and coastal cypress pine at "Gleniffer Brae"—when and where it suited his design. In the garden of "Mahratta", he mixed native trees with exotics. At "Everglades", he created a small waterfall and "grotto pool" of natural appearance—clearly influenced by the natural watercourses of the Blue Mountains—and the garden has a lookout overlooking Gordon Falls and the Jamison Valley Similarly, at "Leuralla", the garden overlooks the Jamison Valley. At "Gleniffer Brae", the garden framed views of nearby Mount Kiera and at Mt Kiera Scout Camp, he made advantage of distant views to the ocean. However, Sorensen planned his gardens so that plantings screened views and other features, which were gradually revealed only by moving through the garden space. Although he planned a garden with its final landscape form in mind, Sorensen anticipated the development of the garden over a long period of time, during which its nature would vary as it matured; the aim was to allow the garden to achieve its own ecological equilibrium, after which only relatively little maintenance would be needed. This notion of planning for continuing change and development, over many years, was a novel and unusual approach, when Sorensen began his work. Heritage listings Gardens by Sorensen are significant in the listing of these places in the New South Wales State Heritage Inventory: "Everglades", 37-49 Everglades Avenue, Leura "Fernhill", 1041-1117 Mulgoa Road, Mulgoa "Gleniffer Brae", Murphys Avenue, Keiraville "Greenhills" and "Hillside", 170-190 Princes Highway, Figtree Hoskins Memorial Presbyterian Church, Bridge Street, Lithgow "La Vista", 65 Blaxland Road, Wentworth Falls "Leuralla", 43-49 Balmoral Road, Leura "Mahratta", 1526 Pacific Highway, Wahroonga "Mereworth House", 80 Mereworth Road, Berrima "Parklands", formerly "Karaweera", 132-174 Govetts Leap Road, Blackheath Sorensen's Nursery Site, 8-10 Herbert Street, Leura "Sunray", 2 Churchill Street, Leura "The Braes", 62-68 Grose Street, Leura Biographies and literature Sorensen is the subject of Australia’s Master Gardener: Paul Sorensen and his gardens, by Richard Ratcliffe (1990). He has an entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography. Sorensen left no written works of his own. His life and work are mentioned in various articles—particularly in Australian Garden History, the journal of the