Stickybeak of the Week: A Beaut Little Aussie Backyard
Using new and recycled materials, a characterless garden in the Illawarra is reborn as a fun space for a family
After renovating their house in NSW’s Illawarra region, a couple with two young children was ready to tackle their exterior space. They asked Grant Boyle of Fig Landscapes to create a low-maintenance garden that included an outdoor entertaining space at the back of their house. As well as a place to hang out with friends, they wanted plenty of room for their children and the family’s three energetic dogs to play.
As any landscape designer will tell you, gardens and dogs are not always happy playmates, but Boyle was not fazed by the challenge. His creative-yet-practical design fulfilled his client’s requirements so well that they are all now friends and socialise regularly. “It’s a great feeling to know that our gardens have had such a positive effect on the way our clients interact with their space, and each other,” he says.
As any landscape designer will tell you, gardens and dogs are not always happy playmates, but Boyle was not fazed by the challenge. His creative-yet-practical design fulfilled his client’s requirements so well that they are all now friends and socialise regularly. “It’s a great feeling to know that our gardens have had such a positive effect on the way our clients interact with their space, and each other,” he says.
The site was predominantly grass when Boyle was asked to come up with a landscape plan. It had no defined garden beds and no usable entertaining space. “The client had a few railway sleepers, which we recycled to construct the retaining walls around the central courtyard,” Boyle says. “The walls are great because they don’t require any maintenance once installed, as opposed to a painted or rendered wall that would require painting and cleaning from time to time.”
“The brief was to turn a grass area into a low-maintenance entertaining space as well as a large play space for the kids and dogs,” Boyle says. “They wanted a space that was rustic and character-filled. Given their location in NSW with no decent pubs within walking distance, we decided to convert an old shed into a fully functioning bar complete with recycled windows and built-in storage.”
The windows of the new outdoor bar open out onto a circular courtyard lined with brown decomposed granite. A Corten steel fire pit sits in the middle of the courtyard, and reflects the circular shape of the main spaces.
The circular theme continues in this elegant storage unit for firewood, positioned handily alongside the repurposed shed for easy access to the fire pit. The open-ended Corten steel unit was crafted by local company IronBark Metal Designs.
Large bluestone rounds from Eco Outdoor create an informal pathway through the circular courtyard, linking the house and outdoor bar. Their organic shape emphasises the relaxed informality of the garden.
IronBark Metal Designs also made the Corten steel letterbox on the street side of the house. The large sword-shaped plants in the background are the NSW native spear lily (Doryanthes excelsa), which produces dramatic red flowers on tall, 2- to 4-metre-high stems.
A simple planting palette of mainly low-maintenance Australian natives was used for the garden. Here the graceful fronds of Lomandra ‘Tanika’ soften the edges of a garden
bed.
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There are several ferns in the garden including the Australian native fishbone water fern (Blechnum nudum), which eventually reaches one metre in height and spread. The ferns are planted inside the fence, which provides shade during the heat of the day.
The shiny leaves of birds nest fern (Asplenium australiasicum) make a stunning display in the raised beds in front of the outdoor bar.
An Australian tree fern (Cyathea cooperi) thrives alongside ground ferns, taro and other lush-leaved subtropical plants in a shaded area of the garden.
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Tell us
If you enjoyed this garden, like it, bookmark it, save the photos and share your thoughts below. Join the conversation.
More
Take a stickybeak into more beautiful homes
Garden at a Glance
Who lives here: A young family, with two children aged 3 and 5, and three active dogs
Location: Heathcote, NSW
Project completion: March 2015
Design and installation: Fig Landscapes