ABOUT THE PROJECT

AWARD WINNING

Australian Institute of Landscape Designers and Managers
2013 –  National Gold Award & Best in Category Residential Design under $50,000

This Inner West courtyard is owned by a very busy professional with no time for gardening, let alone any maintenance. It was overgrown, damp and had a cluster of old palm trees that only gave value to the visiting bats. All  in all, it wasn’t an inviting space. Our clients brief was simple, she wanted a garden to draw her attention and act as an extension of her newly rejuvenated home. It needed personality, be clean and crisp and ensure that it still had plenty of room for off street parking. Let’s face it, low maintenance should never mean boring and with a well-considered landscape design in place, we cleared the garden.

Large format Lichen paving was selected from Eco Outdoor, this opened up the space, gave a low maintenance area for  entertaining, whilst still creating a sense of interest and complimenting the internal timber floor finish of the home. Smooth render walls created raised planters for our feature Pyrus trees (Ornamental pears) with a mass groundcover of native Myoporum parvifolium (Yareena) and a simple edge planting of Liriope muscari (Lily turf) this area feels clean, crisp and green. Corten laser cut panels on the back wall create a sense of evening drama, whilst being softened by the timeless fragrance of Wisteria floribunda (Japanese wisteria) on wire.

The supporting courtyard garden was no less important. The feature back wall was transformed with scented Stephanotis floribunda (Madagascar jasmine), Lichen paving was installed and cut to form a crisp circle, creating a paved island surrounded by crawling Hedera canariensis (Canary island Ivy)  to soften the space. This little area offers a very different and intimate experience and with the feature up-light water urn creates a stunning focal point from the lounge.