One of my passions is garden design. I love that a garden is constantly changing and growing, dying and renewing. All of these things present new and unique challenges to a designer who has always been used to stable and consistent visual ends. Having completed some garden design subjects through RMIT it has been a natural progression to turn this learning into some real life projects. Plants and flowers are a thing of beauty, both to nurture and to provide inspiration.
After
Before
South Caulfield project - the client wanted to remove most of the vegetation as well as the existing veggie patch from her garden. The desired outcome was to create an enclosed veggie patch that maximised planting space, as well as use of natural stone with an overall rustic and low maintenance flavour. The existing shed needed a lick of brighter paint to complement the new colours. A native plant enthusiast, the client is looking forward to pottering in her new space and planting lots of new species that will both be water saving and bird and insect attracting.
After
Before
What you see above is a residential back yard. This is an ongoing project where so much has still to be done. The initial challenge though was to work with a hill that sloped to the rear of the house. Terracing and symmetry were the main focus and how to tie them in, with the current levels of the surrounding fences and two sheds which had slabs at different levels. All of course within a very tight budget - no scope for dingos or expensive hard landscaping materials. The need for consistency as well as a place to be able to tinker, 'pot' around and grow a few veggies.
After
Before
With major works going on in the back, the front garden has been left to its own devices for quite a while. The main issue with this space is that there was not a dedicated path to the front door. When two cars are parked in the driveway it is very hard for anyone to squeeze through. Hence the main focus on creating a useable space for this garden was to create a commanding entrance where you will walk towards a mural or backlit decorative panel. Cottage style planting will continue the theme that has been built up over the last 5 years and some additions of fruit trees including apricot, mulberry, plum and lime will add to the productive and ornamental nature of this garden.
Home grown parsley had bolted to seed and using a great backlit nook in the house I was able to take advantage of this plant's great shapes and silhouettes. Here is a Adobe Spark Video created for my Instagram page.
Photos I've taken of my succulent arrangements
Photographs I've take of things that grow in my garden and house
