This site presented a wonderful opportunity to completely rejuvenate the existing landscape character. The rear garden is quite large and completely visible from the kitchen, living and dining rooms, making it an ideal canvas for an innovative landscape statement. The front garden is smaller and includes a carport, an enormous eucalyptus tree and several callistemon, all of which remained in the finished landscape.
The front garden is where first impressions are made, and is where the design introduces the theme for the entire property. Downpipes from the carport and the house were redirected into a small dry creek bed that was planted out with species that will survive periods of inundation and dryness.
A compacted Dromana Dust path was used to allow easy access in and out of a parked car, as well as the movement of visitors to the property. The eucalyptus and the callistemons were retained in one large garden bed that was slightly raised and completely planted out with native species that are most suited to the site’s conditions.
The existing concrete verandah was paved with Castlemaine slate to enhance the aesthetic contribution it makes to the other materials used throughout the front garden area. Similarly, the garbage bins were hidden behind the side gates in a widened area of compacted Dromana Dust that establishes a meandering path through to the rear garden.
In the rear garden a deteriorating Melaleuca was removed in order to remove the risk of damaged limbs falling, and to expose the rear garden space to additional sunlight. Four raised galvanised steel vegetable tanks were positioned along the west fence in order to maximise their exposure to the sun. Large reclaimed timber posts adjacent to the tanks were placed for espaliered fruit trees to be grown to soften the otherwise plain paling timber fence.
The clients were already successful composters and exceptionally pro-active in their gardening practices. As a result a three-bay composting area was positioned adjacent to the existing shed where it is easily accessible but disguised behind a garden bed built up using material excavated from the billabong.
A compacted Dromana Dust path system was laid to accommodate the movement of bikes between the shed and the back gate, wheelbarrows between the compost bays and vegetable gardens, and pedestrians between the house and the clothesline etc. Small garden beds between the paths soften the path surface, while a new hills hoist was mounted in a large feature rock.
A large entertainment deck was built off the back of the house and accommodates an outdoor setting for ten people. The deck is linked to an informal seating area, on the north side of the billabong, via a path paved using random Castlemaine slate. The deck cantilevers over the small billabong whose waterfall is positioned so as to be viewed from within the house, and further highlighted by soft night lighting.
The billabong makes a functional, aesthetic and environmental contribution to the garden. It will flourish when inundated with water, yet it will still survive, as an ecosystem, during periods of dryness. In either scenario the billabong will provide a spectacular backdrop to residents of the property as they move throughout the garden.
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