Don and the Burke’s Backyard team visited James Letherbarrow and his French Bulldog, Hugo. James, who is an accountant and a passionate gardener, moved into the ground floor apartment three years ago. He began renovating the courtyard with the aim of creating a garden that was not only beautiful to look at, but also suitable for his dog. James says he has no formal training in gardening or landscape design and took his inspiration from books and garden stories.
One of the main problems James had to contend with was a drop of 1 metre from the garden to the terrace. Adding more soil was hard as the only access to the backyard is through the house. In order to level the area, he spent nearly two days bringing in 8 cubic metres of soil in an Otto bin. James built a retaining wall around the perimeter, improved the drainage and installed a watering system. He then planted a hedge of conifers (XCupressocyparis leylandii ‘Leighton Green’) around the boundary for privacy from the neighbours. This hedge will be maintained at several metres with constant clipping.
The garden is very formal and includes many clipped and shaped plants and also plants in troughs and urns. Troughs of murrayas (Murraya paniculata) hide the drainage, and clipped hedges of Japanese box (Buxus microphylla var. japonica), a topiarised lilly pilly in a pot and four standard figs provide focal points. Mondo grass (Ophiopogon japonicus) gives definition to the area and adds to the overall formality of the planting.
Since we filmed our segment, we received a letter from James saying that his beloved dog, Hugo, has been diagnosed with a grade three marcel tumour in his rear leg. Surgery to remove the tumour was not 100% successful, so Hugo is now undergoing a course of chemotherapy. Let’s hope that the chemotherapy will work and Hugo will live for many more years yet.