This vibrant garden gives a contemporary image to an inner-suburban Victorian style home. There is a traditional structure to the garden reminiscent of Versailles but it is composed of brightly coloured materials, pebbles and columns. The simple plantings and hard surfaces make it a low maintenance garden which would suit anyone with a busy city lifestyle.
Design elements
The client requested a garden that was not a typical Victorian period garden but would still tie in with the house. The starting point for the design was the house which will remain a grey colour in contrast with the bright vibrant primary colours of red, yellow and blue. The house will remain neutral and the neutral grey is also carried through with the bluestone paving in the front yard. The pebbles were coloured blue and yellow with an oil-based external house paint in a normal cement mixer. The pebbles were then laid in the grid areas to create a colourful maintenance free garden. The red columns are purely a design feature and continue the idea of columns from the back of the house.
Plants
The plantings are reminiscent of corporate plantings with repetition of themes and the grid structure which ties in the structure of the back of the house.
In the front garden the new plantings include Hebe ‘Emerald Green’ on either side of the front path made of bluestone tiles. Dwarf Nandina and Pencil Pines give a formal shape and line to the front garden.
Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum) – The red/burgundy maples are planted in line with the red columns in the geometric garden design. The red of the maple ties the red from the columns in with the rest of garden creating a bright and colourful garden.
Jasmine (Jasminum polyanthum) – The unpainted timber paling fence will be covered with a jasmine climber which will soften the area, hide the ugly fence and create a green barrier to the garden.
Other plants in the backyard include; Erigeron used as a groundcover, black bamboo to screen the back fence and a lemon and orange tree in the service area.
Further information
Contact the landscape architect Martin Davis from Landarche Pty Ltd, Melbourne Landscape Architects, 7 Almeida Crescent, South Yarra, VIC, 3141. Phone: (03) 9826 2049 or fax: (03) 9826 8999.
