Japanese Garden

Although many Australians dream of living near the beach, gardening by the seaside can be quite a challenge. Not only are beach sites usually very windy, but the plants also have to cope with sandy soil and salt spray.

Don visited a Japanese-style garden in the Sydney beach-side suburb of Newport, and spoke to landscape designer Ken Lamb about some of the problems he faced developing what is now a stunning garden. When Ken first looked at the house, its main feature was a drainage channel about a metre deep for all the houses along the beachfront. Access from the road to the house - across a sand dune infested with weeds and kikuyu - was poor.

Design solution

Compost was brought in to improve the soil, and the problem of the drainage dish was solved by building a bridge in granite, with cantilevered slabs and cobblestones. A dry riverbed symbolises the natural theme of a gorge, and is the dramatic centrepiece of the design. Everything in the garden is ordered. The plants are trimmed and shaped, and the gravel is raked into patterns. Ken says this helps to create a magical space, as if you were walking in the mountains or on the coast of Japan. For each garden Ken designs he also, in the Japanese way, makes a rake for the garden owner, who then rakes the gravel into patterns that relate to the individual garden. In this garden the broad curves are symbolic of flowing water eddying around rocks in a stream. The garden provides good access to the house. Its intimacy, order and tranquillity contrasts with the exposed beach and ocean on the eastern side of the house. Plants such as Japanese black pine (Pinus thunbergii), Japanese box (Buxus microphylla) and azaleas have been used to give a traditional Japanese feel to the garden. They grow along with other plants that tolerate the wind and the salt spray. A Japanese flowering cherry would not survive in this situation, so instead, a crepe myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) provides summer blossom. The garden is protected from the salt laden winds by the house. Without the house, these plants would need to be sheltered by a dense hedge.

Further information

Landscape design by:
Ken Lamb
Imperial Gardens Landscape Pty Ltd
18 Myoora Road
Terrey Hills, NSW, 2084
Phone: (02) 9450 2455
Fax: (02) 9450 2714
Website: www.imperialgardens.com.au
Ken Lamb offers garden workshops for those interested in Japanese gardens.

Copyright CTC Productions