Ian Barker Gardens was asked to design and construct a garden and entertaining area surrounding an impressive property. This included an entrance garden, side lawn garden, woodland garden, rear garden, pool area and side courtyard garden.

The landscape designers felt it was important that the garden not only complement the style of the home but also enhance the architecture.

For this reason, an array of perennial plants were placed throughout the garden to soften the lines of the house while adding an interesting texture and striking colour. Stacked bluestone benches were also added throughout the random placement of bluestone paving to create architectural interest and seating functionality. Hardscape bluestone features were used to pull the design together, with a steel doorway structure being the finishing touch.

“Given the size of the project we were able to have fun creating distinct pockets in the garden that were entirely different from each other. The challenge however was to make sure all elements came together to form a cohesive landscape,” says Ian Barker, director of Ian Barker Gardens.

“Our clients were brilliant – they put their complete trust in us and allowed us to really immerse ourselves in the design.”

KEY CHALLENGES

• Level issues with the pool and lawn area
• The grass tennis court wasn’t attractive and needed to be disguised somehow
• The rear garden wrapped around the existing tennis court, and the existing lawn sloped to the tennis court

SOLUTIONS

In an effort to merge the old with the new, the landscape designers used bluestone paving to marry the existing elements found in the hardscape, adding in textured mottled granite for a modern element. A combination of traditional materials with contemporary design styles was also used, for example sharp edges on hard surfaces.

Steps were introduced to help with the grass/pool/court levels, and the entertainment area was set on the same level as the tennis court. The team also structured the lawn and built and red brick retaining wall to match the red bricks of the heritage home.

PRODUCTS/SUPPLIERS

• Random Bluestone crazy paving
• 1200 x 600mm Torino Granite Pavers
• Corten steel doorway (feature)
• Polished concrete (outdoor living area)
• Pizza oven
• Outdoor kitchen
• Timber sleeper retaining wall
• Red brick retaining wall
• Buffed concrete benches (in pool area)
• Negative edge titled pool wall
• Planting palette included:
• Helenium ‘Mahogany’
• Agastache ‘Sweet Lili’
• Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’
• Cercis Canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’
• Echinops ‘Taplow Blue’
• Mackaya Bella
• Prunus Lusitanica Hedge
• Dichondra lawn with bulbs
• Ficus Pumila attached to tennis court fence with black mesh