House Of Red Branches

In Don's opinion Australia is leading the world in exciting garden design, particularly for smaller gardens around ordinary domestic homes. He looked at an innovative city garden in Melbourne which makes the most of restricted space and reflects the contemporary design of the house. Even though Danny Milsom, the owner of the garden, wanted an adventurous design, Landscape Architect Martin Davis had to twist his arm a little when it came to the painted dead trees. However, once the job was completed everyone was delighted with the result.      

Design features

The garden is divided into simple garden rooms, incorporating strong architectural elements and a few well chosen plants. Brightly painted tree skeletons have immense visual impact and add a theatrical effect to the design. An exterior house paint (Dulux Gloss Wildfire Red), which should last up to 10 years, was used to add life to the dead trees. The trees 'grow' in PVC sleeves set into the concrete pond. Between the trees a 'floating' granite rock makes a unique garden seat. Sawn bluestone and Castlemaine slate paving are used in this area in a random pattern. The courtyard has a grid-like pattern which continues the colour scheme and design of the house. The grid has been skewed off square to create tension and add interest. A natsumi (Japanese water basin) 'floats' in a reflective metallic-edged pond. Squares of black river pebbles provide a textured surface and add to the Oriental flavour of the garden. Split granite blocks weighing more than 100kg each give vertical interest to the design. Other squares in the grid are planted with tight, grassy clumps of mondo grass (Ophiopogon japonicus).

Further information

Martin Davis
Landscape Architect
Landarche Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Victoria
Phone: (03) 9826 2049

Martin is a member of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects. For the name of members in your area, call the national office on 1800 020 063.

The garden shown in our segment has recently won the Design Award of the Landscape Industries Association Victoria.

Further reading

The award winning garden design shown in our segment is featured in the August 2000 edition of the Burke's Backyard magazine.

Copyright CTC Productions 2000