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St. Peters garden
The owners of this villa had recently employed an architect to renovate the rear of their house, which overlooked a very shady, north-facing garden, in order to incorporate a new kitchen, living room and outside covered entertaining space. The result was a modern design, in keeping with the character of the old house, that relied on simple, clean lines and which sought to maximise the available natural light. My brief from the owners was to start with a clean brush in their north-facing back garden, whilst keeping three very large,...
read moreMedindie garden
This design was intended to complement a large, old sandstone house with a long-established garden. The owners wanted to make better use of the north-facing side of their back garden, which had become overgrown and too shady. As this was the part of the garden in which they entertained, they wanted to transform the space into a setting that they could enjoy, either as a family or with friends. The paved courtyard was partly enclosed by the construction of a 2.4 metre wall, rendered with Porters Paints. Three niches were indented into the...
read moreGilberton garden
This was an interesting design brief as the modern house was sited at the rear of an L-shaped block. The wide stretch of garden, in need of a complete redesign, was intersected by a long driveway. The owners wanted to create an eye-catching outside space that incorporated carefully selected plants, water and lighting. They also wanted a space that they could use to relax in – an outside space that was cool, green, inviting and private. The garden area was divided into three ‘rooms’, the two on each end containing long rectangular...
read moreMulch
What are the benefits of mulch? it significantly reduces evaporation of water from the soil it keeps the soil, and therefore the roots of the plants, cooler it reduces the amount of water needed for watering organic-based mulch can improve the soil structure, in the long term What kind of mulch: I prefer organic-based mulches over pebbles or gravel, as they improve the soil as they break down. Pea straw and lucerne are good, as are mulches based on bark. The latter are available commercially and also, quite cheaply, from the Adelaide City...
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