Immerse yourself in a curated collection of 25 Australian gardens. These havens-at-home are diverse, ranging from grand country estates, harbourside sanctuaries and coastal retreats to tropical resort-style hideaways and inner-city courtyards.
GARDENS BY DESIGN The most engaging gardens possess a sense of place, looking as if they were “meant to be” rather than a hasty after-thought. They will forge connections. To the land they occupy, the house they embrace, and the people who use them. A well-designed garden — one that draws you in and makes you want to linger — will have “good bones”, meaning the trees, pool, paths, deck, and the like, will have been correctly placed. It will make the most of its assets and minimise its faults. While style is a personal thing, there are fundamental principles that can be applied to any garden design, such as the principle of simplicity. This suggests that a garden should never be over-designed or too busy. The eye should be…
Now that the children were older and no longer in need of an active play area, it was time for the grown-ups to make their move. At long last they could claim the waterfront garden as their own and turn it into a luxurious haven, dedicated to relaxation and entertaining, worthy of the incredible location. The property is in Woolwich on Sydney’s Lower North Shore. It sits right on the water and has its own mooring. “This peninsula suburb is all about luxury living at its best with a great mix of heritage and contemporary homes sitting side by side,” says Adam Robinson, the landscape designer, horticulturist and stylist the owners entrusted with the transformation. “The owners wanted a grown-up garden where they could entertain friends, enjoy cooking, dining and…
There is nothing conventional about this impressive Toorak property. Not the architecture of the house, the configuration of the land, or the design of the garden spaces. The brutalist-inspired, Cera Stribley-designed, three-level home sits on a block with an irregular shape and a 6m drop. In response, Phillip Withers designed densely planted garden pockets that feel a little wild, soften the strong architectural lines, and connect with the borrowed landscape of established trees to give the property a genuine sense of place. The design-savvy couple who owned the home had been impressed by Phillip’s medal-winning I See Wild garden at the 2017 Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show. It was a display of wild beauty and exquisite plant diversity, and they wanted that for their own garden. “That planting design…
“To ensure the new pool wouldn't overwhelm the space, it was raised and cantilevered on two sides Wherever your eye lands in this garden, it comes to rest on an expanse of green, which is a remarkable feat when you consider that a swimming pool claims the lion’s share of the space. Integrating a pool into a smaller backyard can be tricky, the danger being total domination, but here, that particular peril was avoided. “One of the owners is a keen swimmer, so the pool had to be long enough for her to do laps. And it had to be wide and deep enough for the kids — all three of them, and their friends — to jump into it. An integrated spa was also a must,” says Oliver Sizeland,…
“A stunning resort-style poolscape was an essential component of this Palm Springs-inspired redesign Styles come and go but the Palm Springs mid-century modernist aesthetic continues to hold us in its thrall. It’s a bit retro, a bit glam and conjures images of exotic cocktails and poolside parties. This homage to Palm Springs style was originally created for TV presenter, Shelley Craft, and her family. The family had purchased the modernist Byron Bay home, renovated it, and then built a garden studio designed in Palm Springs style. Rejuvenating the pool and surrounding outdoor spaces was next on the home improvement agenda. When planning this part of the property’s reinvention, ensuring the garden studio and house would seamlessly integrate with the large lawn, garden beds, entertaining area and outdoor shower was a…
“The tropical-style plants soften the hard edges of the architecture and act as a leafy green privacy screen The owners of this amazing architect-designed home in New Farm, a lively riverside suburb on Brisbane’s fringe, faced an urban dilemma. Living so close to the city was great, but the block they’d built on was compact and bordered by two busy streets, which meant outdoor space and privacy were both in short supply. The lower-storey of the house is replete with glass stacking doors and was designed to open out into the garden and bring the garden into the internal living areas — it just needed green spaces worthy of being invited inside. Spaces screened from the curious glances of passers-by. Landscape architect Jeremy Ferrier conceived a contemporary design with a…
