Formal attire

Creating a design for a large garden can sometimes be a daunting prospect. However, dividing the area into a series of smaller spaces makes the project manageable, and the finished garden is likely to be more inviting.

Scott Brown was asked to design the landscape of this 0.8 hectare block of land. When he began working on the project, before the house was complete, the owners knew they wanted a strongly structured garden to complement the planned formality of their home.

The design considerations included a triangular-shaped site sloping down to the back of the property and a coastal environment exposed to prevailing, salt-laden wind.

Perimeter planting of Limelight Pitto-sporum, conifers and Juniper Spartans species that tolerate wind and coastal conditions provide a windbreak and disguise the property's irregular shape.

"To establish a more intimate scale by the house, we surrounded it with structured outdoor rooms," says Brown.

A series of small terraces, courtyards and pergolas, walled off from the lower part of the garden, were built close to the house. Level changes between these areas serve to unobtrusively correct the slope of the land.

A limited range of plants and colours enhances the formality of the gardens. Buxus, several varieties of lavender, azaleas, carpet roses and standard Iceberg roses create a subtle white-and-mauve colour scheme.

"A rich variety of colours and shapes would have clashed with the understated architecture of the house," says Brown.

The use of small outdoor rooms also helps to create a relationship between the interior of the house and the garden.

"From the house, you look over intimate and inviting gardens, rather than across two acres of windswept lawn," says the landscape designer.

"Then, beyond the garden wall, as in any formal English garden, you look out to flowing lawns and boundary planting on the rest of the block."

Story by: Trendsideas