Of informal style, the plant-filled spaces that embrace this Melbourne home create a feeling of tranquillity
With curves in all the right places and awash with pretty pastel blooms, the rear garden of this inner-Melbourne home is a place of serenity. The lush, layered planting wraps the garden in its leafy embrace while the sinuous outline of the garden beds combine with the earthy tones and textures of the feature rocks and stone paving to create a garden that is warm and welcoming.
Working to a design by Horti Couture Landscape Architecture, Gary Wright and the Envisage Landscapes team were able to bring the homeowners’ vision to life. “What they envisaged for both the rear and front gardens were spaces that would be inviting and peaceful. They needed to be visually interesting and lushly planted but not high maintenance,” says Gary.
For the owners, the rear garden didn’t need to be a place for entertaining. Rather, they sought a quiet space where they could relax and enjoy the abundant planting. “They wanted a private space in the city and the best possible use made of what was a reasonably small area,” adds Gary.
“The verdant rear garden can be viewed from the covered patio or the cosy, circular paved area tucked into a back corner of the yard. The Eco Outdoor Endicott natural split stone crazy paving gives this space a relaxed look that works beautifully with the flowing outlines of the garden beds and the organic form of the adjacent feature rocks.”
A comfy chair to relax in, an ottoman for weary feet and a side table to rest a cool drink upon — all nestled beneath the protective canopy of a market umbrella — complete this soothing space.
The carefully curated planting palette is the star of the show and many of the same plants appear in both front and back gardens. A stroll through the gardens will reveal Japanese maples as feature planting, Arbutus unedo (strawberry tree), Acanthus mollis (which, in summer, produces lovely white/mauve flowers on a long spike), Arthropodium (noted for its billowy white flower stems that develop spring to summer) and Ficus pumila (creeping fig) to clothe the perimeter walls in green.
“Along the driveway, we planted Pyrus calleryana ‘Capital’, a popular ornamental pear. This is a very straight and narrow ornamental pear that is ideal for restricted spaces. The dark green foliage turns reddish-purple in summer and white flowers appear in spring, adding seasonal interest. To ‘anchor’ the ornamental pears and soften the edge of the driveway, they are underplanted with Liriope muscari that produce lavender flower spikes in summer,” says Gary.
Enabling the homeowners to enjoy their reinvented outdoor spaces after the sun sets, the Envisage Landscapes team installed lighting to the main focal points and to ensure safe passage through the gardens, there is subtle pathway lighting.
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