Garden design

This garden, situated in the leafy suburb of Mosman on Sydney's Lower North Shore, is a wonderful illustration of how thoughtful garden design and planting selection can create an outdoor haven for all seasons.

The design challenge

The garden design is a formal response to the architecture of the newly renovated house, positioned on a prominent corner block, overlooking Sydney Harbour. The challenge was to create a sense of maturity and permanence and to divide the outer areas of the garden into spaces that interconnected and generated textural and colourful interplay between the parts.

Plants for all seasons

The planting in the garden design is a mixture of evergreen and deciduous trees, shrubs and ground cover, all carefully selected to create a garden for all seasons. Syzigiums and Acmena were used to create privacy and architectural forms to the perimeter garden areas of the property. Spartans were planted to create an avenue effect down the travertine pathway. Japanese Box was the predominant low hedging plant alongside the paths and lawn areas. Colour was added with standard Azaleas, Weeping Cherries, Pear trees, Malus, Dipladenia and Camellia sasanqua and japonica. Gardenia and Lavender were added for fragrance. Tri-coloured Jasmine was introduced to spill over the walls and add to the textural and colourful planting scheme that gives this Sydney garden design its streetscape appeal.

The planting palette looks particularly stunning in autumn when the rich red leafed Pear trees and bronze leafed Little Gems are offset by the lovely grey/green foliage of the Lavender.