This contemporary water-wise Adelaide garden is functional and funky
Story: Staff writer
Photos: Sarah Long

The busy young professional owner of this trendy new contemporary cottage in Adelaide’s Mawson Lakes required a functional low-maintenance outdoor solution to complement the style and architecture of his home.

“As inner suburban blocks shrink and low water demand becomes almost mandatory, garden designers face challenges,” says Trevor Lock, whose company Top Cat Landscaping constructed this project to a design by Outdoor Style’s Chad Hooper.

“Designs must fully utilise the limited outdoor areas but low water requirements limit planting, especially lawn areas, and limited space often means traditional screen plantings are not appropriate. Harsh and uninteresting hard landscaping can result. In this design, Chad Hooper has substituted interesting and functional screen structures for perimeter planting and a very small lawn of drought-tolerant Sir Walter Buffalo breaks the substantial paved areas.

“Ballast rock in garden areas placed over geotextile serves as weed control and retaining much-needed natural ground water. Plants that love Adelaide’s long hot summers were selected and flourish in these dry conditions.”

The backyard has screens in various textures. Some are painted in TexCoat; others are of hardwood or gabion (rock-filled mesh) construction. This extends the usable area right out to the boundaries while providing visual stimulation and privacy. A practical built-in corner seat in gabion and hardwood has feature lighting and is complemented with corner planters of Draconia Multistem.

Paving is a random combination of different textured 400mm x 400mm pavers but retains continuity by using the same base colour of urban grey. At the extremities, pavers are opened to allow the infusion of white marble 50mm ballast creating an interesting transition to garden areas and gabion structures.

“A small lawn area of Sir Walter Buffalo, which only needs an occasional splash of water, softens the hard landscaping and accommodates the odd four-legged visitor while subtle water movement from the central urn adds a calming ambience during evening barbecues and long poker nights,” adds Trevor.

Planting is sparse, but large and architectural, namely bird of paradise (Strelitza reginae), dragon’s blood tree (Dracaena draco) and golden barrel cactus (Echinocactus grusonil).

The “distorted” pavilion of galvanised steel complements the style of the garden and provides much-needed shade and shelter. It also drastically improves the thermal comfort of the home’s internal living areas.