Australian_House_&_Garden_2017_01

H G gardens

124 | AUSTRALIAN HOUSE & GARDEN

< side to help transition to a lower level.

In front of the wall we planted a deep bed

with balls of lavender, box and westringia.

The large lawn and deep bed match the

scale of the vast surrounding landscape.

We placed the balance of the garden to

the side of the main lawn so it wouldn’t

interfere with the view of the river,

constructing a tennis court, swimming

pool, orchard and vegetable garden. We

also created a herbaceous border and a

walk lined with white crepe myrtle

(Lagerstroemia indica) that became the

spine of this formal part of the garden; a

straight gravel path runs down the centre

and the beds flow in a serpentine form

down each side. Each curve in the bed is

planted with a group of box spheres and

a mixture of ornamental grasses,

Agastache, verbena and salvia.

We located the pool on the far side of

the path, in view of the house, in a large

lawn bordered with a pomegranate hedge.

At the far end of the pool we built an open-

lattice pool pavilion, linked to the path on

one side and the tennis court on the other

by a rough timber pole pergola. We planted

climbing roses and clematis on the

pavilion and pergola, and four ash trees

around the pool to provide some shade.

The second pre-existing oak tree was

close to the rear corner of the house; we

took advantage of this tree and its shade

to create a courtyard planted with

hydrangeas and other shade-loving plants.

We also placed a small vegetable garden

and orchard near the back door. Somehow,

orchards and vegetable gardens make a

country garden complete. I almost never

design a country property without at least

a small vegetable garden.

Creating this garden was such a

rewarding process for me because it was

one of those rare occasions when client,

site, architecture and passion all united

to create the perfect conditions for

great design. The plantings will all be

reassessed as trees grow and shade is

formed or as plants fail or die; and that’s

all part of gardening. #

ABOVE Climbing roses ramble over the

trellis walls of the swimming pool pavilion.

OPPOSITE Erigeron and hebe fill the bed in front

of the verandah while a white wisteria vine grows

up the posts. This is the main outdoor living area;

in winter the view is to a lake in the distance, in

summer the lake dries out and is planted with

a haze of yellow canola.

‘ Forecourts, courtyards,

paths, terraces and lawns

all fell into place easily – it

was almost as if the house

did the designing for us.’

Paul Bangay