FINAL GARDENS COMPACT DESIGNS THAT INVITE AND DELIGHT 13 PROJECTS SHOWING THE POTENTIAL OF SMALL-SCALE SPACES PRODUCED BY Elizabeth Wilson This weatherboard cottage looks pretty as a picture, thanks to the richly textured and layered garden by Cos Design. Framed by a Japanese maple and tall spikes of purple salvia (Salvia divinorum), it’s a luscious mix of deep-green and silver-grey foliage with Photograph by Martina Gemmola. splashes of floral colour. Turn the page for more… H G GARDEN Special 2 NOVEL APPROACH WITH THREE TEENAGERS in the household, includes Gingko biloba ‘Fastigiata’ (a neat the owners of this Melbourne property were and narrow upright tree perfect for confined keen to create a little haven for themselves. spaces) and a hedge of Acmena ‘Sublime’. They approached landscape designer Along with these Ben planted espaliered Ben Scott with a brief to turn their 10m citrus and a mix of shrubs and evergreen x 5m north-facing side garden into a calm, perennials, including Eupatorium contemplative space where they could read, megalophyllum, Helleborus, Arthropodium meditate and relax, cocooned by plants. and Hydrangea quercifolia. Around the Ben came up with a novel concept: deck he placed stepping stones: 650mm x a 3.9m-diameter circular deck. Made 650mm bluestone pavers interspersed with from merbau, the deck is designed in native violet (Viola hederacaea). A water four segments, with planks arranged feature made from concrete and black steel in the direction of the perimeter to form adds soothing sounds in the space. a herringbone pattern mirrored down “Outdoor spaces are more inviting when the centre line. “As the space faces north they’re lush and green,” says Ben. His tips we introduced some deciduous trees to for success? “Make the space feel as provide summer shade while allowing light enticing as possible by creating curtains of through in the winter months,” says Ben. greenery,” he says. “Add canopy trees that Deciduous magnolias (Magnolia ‘Elizabeth’) overhang the space, or a climber that will On balance provide the canopy layer over the deck, and grow on a light pergola-type structure.” > + “This garden is all about a mid-storey of woodland-style planting benscott.com.au balance,” says designer Steve Taylor. The asymmetrical design echoes the home’s 1 facade, which has a verandah on one side and a bedroom window on the TEXTURED AND TERRIFIC other. The open lawn sits in front of the verandah while THE PLANT PALETTE IS TEN YEARS AGO, Melbourne homeowner plant palette is eclectic, with a joyous mix the free-form plantings ECLECTIC, WITH A JOYOUS Jan Mawson built a lovely weatherboard of shapes and textures. A row of dwarf bay provide a textured outlook home for herself and her young son, trees (Laurus nobilis ‘Baby Bay’) lines the for the bedroom. MIX OF SHAPES AND + The path is made from TEXTURES. ‘I FIND SO modelling it on a traditional cottage. A front fence, forming a lovely colour contrast porphyry cobblestones MUCH TRANQUILLITY IN MY decade later, she was finally in a position to a layer of silver-hued lamb’s ear. Crisply interspersed with strips of GARDEN,’ SAYS OWNER JAN. to install a front garden to complete clipped spheres of coastal rosemary dwarf mondo grass. The the picture. “I was after a beautiful, inviting, (Westringia), English box and Teucrium cobbles are laid in a jagged formation, their ‘fingers’ seasonal entry garden,” she says. are contrasted with loose sprinklings stretching into the grass and Stylistically, she wanted the 10m x 5.5m of salvia, Lomandra species (‘Seascape’ blurring the lines between garden to be a mix of organic and formal, and ‘Tanika’) and blue chalksticks (Senecio hard and soft surfaces. and was keen to incorporate pops of colour. serpens). A Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) + The side fences are lined with Laurus nobilis ‘Miles Steve Taylor of Cos Design took his provides seasonal change while colour Choice’, the front fence with design cues from the interiors of Jan’s home, comes through in the purple salvias, the ‘Baby Bay’ trees and the which he describes as classic yet modern. burgundy foliage of the Ajuga reptans and bluestone verandah fringed Rather than a traditional symmetrical the blue-flowering Agapanthus ‘Tinkerbell’. with Gardenia augusta cottage garden, Steve opted for an A row of gardenias fringes the verandah. ‘Florida’. “These green-on- green elements form a frame asymmetrical design: a manicured lawn “We focused on shades of green and for the garden,” says Steve. edged with neat perimeter plantings silver-greys with white, blue and purple They’re also the perfect foil sits on one side of the garden path and floral highlights,” says Steve. for lots of silver-grey tones. a “free-form zone” on the other. The cosdesign.com.au by Martina GemmolaPhotography (Cos Design) & Ben Scott. 128 | AUSTRALIAN HOUSE & GARDEN GARDEN Special H G 3 INNER-CITY GREEN AS YOUNG INNER-CITY parents, the owners selected to suit the north-facing location, of this Sydney home were keen to transform which is exposed to full sun in summer their open-air courtyard into a nature-filled and semi shade in winter. living zone. They knew the 8m x 5m space “Each of the plants was chosen for its – sitting between the house and garage, a softness, movement and wild, natural 4 few steps from the open-plan kitchen/living beauty,” says Richard. At one end of the Side order area – had the potential to play a central planter is a coastal banksia (Banksia Having side access to role in the life of their household. integrifolia) underplanted with foxtail your home is a wonderful Their brief to designer Richard Unsworth fern (Asparagus densiflorus ‘Meyersii’), thing. Not only does it of Garden Life was to create an combined with strappy plants such as provide a second, usually walking iris (Neomarica caerulea) and ground-level entry point entertaining space that would give them to the property, it adds to a “sense of nature in the city” while lush dwarf cardamom (Alpinia nutans). the street appeal of your providing a safe play area for their young Artificial turf was the natural choice here, home. So it makes sense daughter. The centrepiece of Richard’s says Richard. “It requires minimal care and to turn it into a pretty, 5 design is a 4m all-in-one day bed and is hands and knees.” The wall is painted rather than a purely pragmatic, space. Mid-century planter, custom- made from aluminium and Porter’s Paints River Stone and covered in Garden designer Fiona marvel clad in pine. The plant palette is a mix of Boston ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata). Ericsson of Sticks & natives and exotics, all hardy and lush and gardenlife.com.au Stones Landscape Design After an award-winning was asked to revamp this renovation by Coy Yiontis, side garden (right) as this mid-century Melbourne ‘BE BOLD WITH THE SIZES OF THE ELEMENTS IN THE SPACE: DON’T part of a new design in home (above) needed THINK SMALL JUST BECAUSE YOUR SPACE IS.’ Richard Unsworth Sydney’s north. The brief? a garden upgrade, too. “Low maintenance, Carolyn and Joby Blackman relaxed planting while from Vivid Design have maintaining a clear reinvigorated pockets of the pathway.” In response, garden around the home, she has created a gentle, including this 7m x 2.8m strip meandering path with along the fence near the entry. informal garden beds Working with two existing of attractive, easy-care trees, a Cercis canadensis plantings. The path is ‘Forest Pansy’ and a cabbage mapped out using prefab tree (Cordyline australis), concrete steppers, each Carolyn created a jewel-like 400mm in diameter, parcel of hardy, textural which lead through a lush, plants suited to the shady soft carpet of kidney weed location. “The aim was to (Dichondra repens). diffuse the views to the street, Flanking the path are not block them,” says long-leafed Echium Carolyn. “A heavy hedge candicans, silver-leafed would have dwarfed Helichrysum petiolare and the space, so we kept it rosemary. Boston ivy ethereal and made the (Parthenocissus architecture the hero.” tricuspidata) creates a Planted around the living wall of green and bluestone steppers is a colours to red in autumn. mix of Chinese star jasmine, “In small spaces, the Nandina ‘Gulf Stream’, Liriope design rule is less is more,” ‘Elmarco’ and Arthropodium says Fiona. “You don’t ‘Te Puna’ (New Zealand want to make a small renga Lily). Caroline says the space feel cluttered. Limit crazy-paving driveway was the materials, colours and shaped into curves to “draw plant textures to avoid it the eye into the garden”. > looking overly busy.” vividdesign.com.au sticksandstonesld.com.au Plitt (Vivid). Life), Brigid Arnott (Sticks & Stones) Tatjana (Garden by Nicholas Watt Photography AUSTRALIAN HOUSE & GARDEN | 131 GARDEN Special H G 7 CITY ESCAPE HAVING MOVED FROM a rural property to a lilly pilly (Syzygium australe ‘Resilience’), the city to be closer to family, the owners of perfect for a quick-growing privacy screen. this inner-Sydney property were keen to Standing sentinel in the space is a maximise their connection to the outdoors. Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Senkaki’), They asked the landscapers at Growing chosen for its seasonal change, delicate Rooms to design a range of plant-filled foliage and red bark. At the base of the tree spaces indoors and out, including this are mass-planted Philodendron ‘Xanadu’ 3.7m x 6.9m front garden (below). and Pelargonium sp. They’re growing in a “The aim was to create spaces where they planter made from galvanised steel, painted can pause for reflection and escape the with Porter’s Paints Instant Rust.