Softly, softly

Architectural plants, hard surfaces and a rigid formality are predictable landscaping solutions for new contemporary-style houses. But they're not essential.

For owners of modern houses who want a more traditional, free-flowing garden, it is possible to merge the two disciplines, as this project illustrates.

Landscape architect Scott Brown says the owner of the house wanted to retain the look and feel of her former garden a traditional English landscape. The original garden was very feminine,with lots of colour and flowers, and a large fish pond, he says.

"The relatively minimalist style of the new house and its white rendered exterior presented some challenges in transferring such a style to the new landscape," he says. "The opposing themes had the potential to clash the garden would have been visually noisy, while the house was quiet."

Brown says the solution was to merge the garden and hard landscaping, ensuring there were no designated lines where one area stopped and another started.

Most of the rooms in the house open to a courtyard, which was an obvious place to position the outdoor living area. Sawn bluestone pavers provide hard landscaping, which gradually breaks up as large pavers are interspersed with white and grey pebbles.

The area between the house and a newly erected screen near the boundary fence was designated for the main water feature a large, 7.5m-long pond. The land beyond the pond was given over to the more traditional garden, and features a lawn bordered by perennial flowers.

"This has created another distinct zone," says Brown. "The pond is a natural, tranquil setting, with a minimalist Asian influence that suits the contemporary architecture of the house."

Colours here are limited to the green of the plants, and shades of white, grey and cream. Large rocks and granite boulders enhance the natural look. Planting around the pond includes Japanese bamboo, prostrate conifers and shore juniper. The latter is a blue-toned, tufted turf plant that echoes shades inside the house, and the colour of the boundary screen. Within the pond, water lilies, arum lilies and water iris are home to tadpoles, frogs and goldfish.

A large granite cube provides an additional water feature. Water splays down the face of the cube into the pond.

"This creates an oyster-shell pattern of curved ripples. With submerged lighting at night, the ripples create shadow lines on the screen behind," says Brown.

Sprawling ground cover planting helps merge the pool setting with the lawn beyond. In the transition area, the sculptural look of agave plants gradually gives way to softer plant forms, including grey lambs' ears and impatiens.

"Several of these plants have a similar leaf shape and are a similar colour to the agaves, which helps maintain a visual link between the two areas," says Brown.

The lawn provides an interactive garden for the owner. Here, a traditional bench seat sits among colourful rhododendrons and calendulas.

Story by: Trendsideas