Maria and Kosta’s Garden Plan
Kosta and Maria Elfes were married on October 5, 2002. The bridesmaids were Maria’s twin sister Dimi, her older sister Elizabeth and her cousins Louisa and Christine. The newlyweds went to Bali for their honeymoon, and the bridesmaids joined them there a few days later. On the evening of October 12, Maria had a severe headache so she and Kosta decided not to go to the Sari Club with the others. Tragically, the girls were all killed in the bombing.
The loss of her identical twin sister has been particularly hard for Maria, but both she and Kosta know that the girls would want them to have courage, be strong and build a happy life together. As well as trying to rebuild their lives, they are also starting from scratch with their backyard.
New backyard
In the week’s ahead, Don and the Burke’s Backyard team will work with Kosta and Maria, helping them to plan, design and construct their new garden. On this week’s program they made a start on the design using the Burke’s Backyard landscaping kit. This kit (available in the July edition of the Burke’s Backyard Magazine) makes it really easy to create the perfect backyard and have a little bit of fun at the same time.
Making a start
Kosta and Don grabbed a tape measure, writing pad and pencil and went outside to measure the backyard and the back of the house. They did a rough sketch of the outline of the back of the house and the fences, marking in all the gates, doors, windows, alcoves, etc. They measured the length and width of the yard, width of doors, windows and all wall spaces along the section of the house adjoining the yard. Meanwhile Maria cut out all the shapes in the kit – the barbecue, shed, fences, etc.
Next, Don and Kosta sat down at a table and drew a precise map of the house and yard on graph paper, working from the rough sketch. Having done all that, Kosta and Maria were ready to start arranging the features that they wanted in the yard.
Exciting new design
The finished plan includes a new deck and pergola, a paved entertaining area with built-in seating and a fabulous outdoor pizza oven, a herb garden beside the steps and potted olive trees as a feature next to the garage. Don thinks the new garden will be modern, fresh, exciting and very comfortable and livable.
Further information
The Burke’s Backyard landscaping kit is in the July 2003 edition of the Burke’s Backyard Magazine.