every one of our gardens has a story
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Pool fence compliance is a tricky and often confusing necessity of owning a backyard pool.
Faced with nothing but lawn, owners Victoria and Col wanted a useable back yard - a place to entertain and enjoy.
It is not often that you get to design a garden for three generations of the one family. Jenny and Andrew decided to subdivide for Jennys parents to build their dream home.
A first time gardener Judi dreamt of a contemporary garden to compliment her renovated Victorian workers cottage, but worried if her skills were up to the task. Judi longed for flowers to cut, a lush vegetable garden and a place to entertain in the cool shade of deciduous trees - a lot to ask of a very small garden.
There are many things to consider when designing the garden of a Victorian era home. Do you work with the layers of history or start from scratch? Do you reconstruct a period garden or create a garden with a modern aesthetic?
Faced with a crumbling 1950s concrete path, a "Victorian style" aluminium fence and unruly vegetation - the layers of history were not kind to this family home in Elsternwick.
The design approach with a new block is very different then when updating an existing garden. Projects that start with a blank canvas lack context and visual cues.
Vicki’s garden is one of my favourites; the garden is divided into three courtyards, each with their own feel and personality. Many of the plants have come from her mother’s garden and have a special meaning.
Semi-rural lifestyle in the heart of Geelong
Built in the late 1840s, Chesterfield is one of Geelong's oldest surviving Georgian homes. The current owners, Marry-Jane and Chris, saved the home from the developer’s bulldozer and, over the past few years, have been peeling back some of the less endearing layers of history to reveal an elegant old girl and survivor of a bygone era.
Courtyard style
When I first met the owners of this two bedroom flat in a leafy bayside suburb, they were in the middle of major renovations. Most of the floor was missing and many of the walls were in various stages of migration.
Small courtyard gardens are often the most difficult to design, but when you get it right the rewards are always outstanding.
When I first stepped on to this site in Hawthorn, I saw a beautiful Victorian home. It had been recently renovated, sympathetic to the period, and the property boundary was sporting a shiny new fence. But something was missing - the garden!
Salt Bush mounds capturing the morning sun