Table of contents for Issue#15.6 2018 in Backyard and Outdoor Living

What began as a small veggie patch is, today, the ultimate food-garden sanctuary. Located in Armadale, Victoria, the garden is not only pleasing to look at, with its array of colours and textures, but is edible too. Sophia Konstantyniuk wanted to create an abundant veggie garden, so she called on garden designer Chris Williams to transform her blank canvas of Kikuyu lawn, a few trees, a Hills Hoist and a crumbling incinerator into an oasis of colour and flavour. Calling a designer is sometimes a good idea to get you started on a gardening odyssey because they can offer new ideas for plants and design. Chris decided to create an edible landscape using organic methods and to make the garden both productive and beautiful. And he had the perfect opportunity…

Ever wondered why you feel so good after a stroll around the park? Countless studies have shown that a connection to nature, especially in urban environments, has a hugely positive impact on health and wellbeing. If the rise in green roofs, communal veggie patches and urban vertical gardens is anything to go by, communities are finally catching on to the benefits of wellbeing spaces and age-old establishments are making room for them too. If there is one institution that should be taking advantage of nature’s healing effects it’s hospitals. This was just the thinking of the team at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, who sought to transform the hospital’s concrete jungle surrounds into a series of evocative green spaces that would revitalise, inspire and soothe all those who visited.…

“Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don’t need to escape from.” — Seth Godin, best-selling author. Rarely in life does a quote resonate so strongly as to inspire major change. As the driving force behind the overhaul of a Perth family’s rundown garden, Godin’s musings did just that. Taking inspiration from their trips abroad, the homeowners wanted a resort-style garden with a pool house and open-plan living area that the whole family could enjoy. Incorporating tropical plants, the garden design was to be low-maintenance luxury, with enough space to cater to the existing pool. Dominating the lower space of the garden, the concrete pool was the first challenge for Outside In, the landscape design firm engaged by the family to…

The aesthetic appeal of a lush, green lawn is undeniable. So too is its value as a play space for children and pets. If you choose the right type of turf for your climate and water availability, prepare the soil properly, lay or plant grass where it has the best chance of thriving and then set aside some time for regular maintenance, you can have a lovely expanse of lawn without much hassle. LAWN SELECTION There is a wide variety of grasses, each one suited to different conditions, so exercise care when selecting turf. The first step is to choose a grass or a blend that suits your climate and the amount of water that is available. Other things to take into account are whether the grass is to be…

Choosing the right lawn for your climate can be tough. You don’t want to install a beautiful turf only to find that it has died off or is looking patchy just six months later. Despite your best maintenance efforts, this could happen simply because the grass you chose doesn’t suit your climate or your needs. Installing turf is a big job and something you only want to do once. If you’re looking for the best type of lawn for your local climate, engage with the experts at Turf Finder. Turf Finder assists homeowners and industry professionals to select a turf variety that meets their specific needs. Your preference may be for lower maintenance, shade or wear tolerance. Turf Finder spells out the differences between every turf variety sold across Australia.…

Backyard entertaining is a fundamental way of life in Australia. We love having friends over for a barbie, playing in the pool, backyard cricket or just lazing on a Sunday afternoon with a cold beer or a chilled glass of wine. What has also become a fundamental part of our lives is the struggle to get our backyards looking good and staying good, especially for those big occasions when friends and family come over. Earthlife, a company based in Toowoomba, Queensland, understands these struggles and has developed some simple solutions to help Aussies grow fantastic-looking, healthy gardens and lawns. Best of all, Earthlife can help turn lazy gardeners into the envy of their guests. Earthlife rock mineral products create conditions that allow plants to grow as they are meant to.…

In Historia Naturalia, Pliny describes one of the first recorded proto-greenhouses in which carts of vegetables would be wheeled into the sun by day and then stored in warm structures made of transparent stone by night. This gardening technique was developed for the Roman emperor Tiberius, who was particularly partial to cucumbers and insisted on eating them every day of the year. These days, greenhouse gardening is an easy and accessible hobby to all backyard enthusiasts. With your own protected horticultural environment, there’ll be no reason why you can’t eat your favourite vegetable every day of the year too. Greenhouses come in every conceivable size and price range. What they all have in common is the ability to trap and retain the sun’s heat within a confined space. There are…

Black spot is a fungal disease specific to roses and all varieties are vulnerable. The disease starts off as dark spots or irregular brown or black blotches on the surface of leaves. Unlike mildew, it gets right inside the leaves. You’ll easily see the black-fringed spots, each surrounded by a yellow halo where the fungus spreads its tiny root-like hyphae through the cell walls into the sap stream below so it can grow. Gradually, the leaves turn yellow and drop, weakening the plant. In severe cases the rose plant can die. Black spot fungus produces spores that are released and spread by rain splash during wet conditions. It’s mostly a disease of moist climates as the spores need warmth and moisture to germinate. Therefore, where rose plants are wet for…

HERBS FOR LIFE The Vertical Garden 4 offers the perfect solution for apartment living. Growing vegetables on your balcony (or deck) has never been easier with this handy storage unit that is both incredibly stylish and functional. Handmade with love, this piece is truly one of a kind. dawanda.com LAZY DAYS Made for easy living and relaxation, a hammock could be the only chair you need this autumn. Beds are overrated — so overrated, in fact, that we plan to forego the whole bed thing and sleep in this luxurious Brazilian hammock instead. swingz.com.au LOUNGE IN STYLE Lujo has mastered the art of indoor-outdoor flow with a wide range of stylish weatherproof bean bag chairs, loungers, poufs, footstools and ottomans — each designed for both indoor and outdoor use. They're…

SEA THIS ART? Sculpture by the Sea at Bondi is one of Sydney’s most popular events, with up to 500,000 visitors each year. Staged on the spectacular Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk, this free-to-the-public exhibition captures the imagination of Sydney and its visitors for three weeks each spring. Axolotl Art Projects was a Supporting Partner at last year’s event, providing significant contribution in the form of materials and artisan support to four artists including Marcel Cousins, who was responsible for the work pictured. Entitled Flower Pot, it was made to be a three-dimensional experience. Like a Japanese garden, the work aims to represent an experience of nature, but one that has been manipulated and highly stylised. Be sure to check out this year’s instalment in spring — you won’t be…

Although not far from Sydney’s centre as the crow flies, Glenorie is home to abundant native fauna and flora, including black cockatoos, king parrots, powerful owls and gang gang cockatoos, as well as black-faced swamp wallabies, goannas, red-belly black snakes and green tree snakes. The beauty of this alluring bushland haven prompted a group of conservation-minded locals to come together two decades ago to protect what they had. GOING WILD Jocelyn Anderson, her husband Merlin and their family, had been living on their bush property north-west of Sydney for about 10 years when one of their neighbours suggested forming a wildlife refuge together, and they were keen to get involved. Several landowners put in a submission to the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to manage their properties for conservation,…

You wouldn’t expect this beautiful perennial garden to be found on the other side of the world. Yet this riverside property, which echoes suburban Melbourne, is located north of the equator in Connecticut, USA. The homeowners wanted their sprawling 1500sqm landscape to capture the feeling of their Australian home through sweeping lawns and stunning perennials, while also providing a space to entertain guests by the water. To bring this idea to life, they engaged Australia’s Ian Barker Gardens to design and oversee construction. “Our client wanted their garden to have the feel of a Melbourne garden rather than the traditional American one,” says Ian. “Sweeping lawns and landscape were important.” Ian and his team designed and constructed for the owners a naturalistic rear garden, in contrast with the home’s lush…

As the population of Sydney increases and more apartments are built, properties with expansive outdoor spaces are becoming few and far between. High-density housing also presents a number of other challenges, such as maintaining privacy and combatting noise. So how do you get everything you need out of an outdoor space while still maximising greenery? Perhaps The Only Way is Up, that catchy 1980s dance track, was really about the future of Sydney property. It’s little wonder there has been such an overwhelming trend towards green walls in recent years. Not only do they maximise every last inch of space but they also provide a stunning living feature for your outdoor room — one that will make you feel closer to nature and leave a lasting impression on guests. This…

Autumn is a great time of year to do an audit of your backyard and get stuck into all those chores you’ve been putting off — things like recoating the deck or cleaning paths, painting the fence or giving well-worn metal outdoor furniture a fresh new look. And it’s the perfect time to tidy garden beds, trim hedges, replenish mulch and check the health of your soil and plants. IN THE GARDEN If you have plants in your garden, be they trees, shrubs, flowering species or edible varieties, they need year-round attention, which includes checking for pests and disease, fertilising, watering, mulching and composting. Then there’s weeding and dead-heading, pruning and trimming. Some of these tasks, such as pruning and trimming, are best done when the plants aren’t flowering or…

When it comes to trees, a decision made in haste can lead to a lifetime of regret. Many trees grow more beautiful generation after generation. Others have the potential to create decades of trouble, dropping messy fruit or bothersome sticks. So take your time and select the tree that offers the best combination of qualities. Thankfully, there is Fleming's Nurseries — Australia’s leading wholesale grower of deciduous, fruit and ornamental trees and shrubs — offering bare rooted, containerised and advanced trees. Begin your selection process by asking: Why do I want a tree? For shade? Privacy? Aesthetic appeal? Most importantly, assess the location in your garden where you want the tree to go. A bit of basic research will tell you what will suit your climate and conditions. Fleming’s offers…

Timber provides a way to enhance any home or garden; also any commercial or retail property. Hardwood timber can be used to create comfortable, attractive and flexible features ranging from internal flooring to outside decking and beams. When renovating a home, you eventually come to that pivotal point in the design process when you have to choose your flooring and decking. Enter Abbey Timber. Trading since 1976, Abbey Timber is a family-owned Australian business with more than 40 years’ industry experience. The company specialises in the supply of timber products and building materials, including timbers for decking and flooring. With the largest range of decking timber available on the east coast, Abbey Timer offers more than 25 different types of timber in several sizes and grades, so you’re certainly spoilt…

Gardeners extol the virtues of fowls for scratching out creepy crawlies or they may be one-eyed about Runner ducks and their voracious appetite for slugs and snails. There is another worker to add to the list of gardeners’ friends: the Muscovy. The Muscovy has a penchant for insects on the wing; no other poultry can equal its fly-catching ability. Muscovys are indefatigable in their pursuit of grasshoppers and, like geese, they can eat and digest grass, so we can add weed control to their array of super powers. FOOLED BY APPEARANCES There is general prejudice against Muscovys because they look different from the popular breeds of domestic duck. They are different, but this needn’t make them less attractive. Their faces are adorned with bare, red, knobby skin, this being exaggerated…

A garden shed is much more than a backyard storage cupboard. It has the potential to be an eco-friendly piece of architecture, delivering an inspiring venue for work, leisure and pleasure. So if you’re hiding a gloomy, cluttered shack down the back, read on as we shed light on some innovative transformations. SHIPPING CONTAINERS Shipping containers are gaining recognition for their trendy industrial design, modular shape and durability. Constructed from steel, their inherent strength makes them practical outdoor sheds or creative spaces, such as personal galleries, studios, workspaces or guesthouses. Plus, they’re vermin-proof. Used shipping containers are inexpensive and can be sourced second-hand from freight companies or online resellers. Since they already conform to standard shipping sizes, transportation is easily managed, which means you can also take your container with…

FOR THE URBAN FARMER Self-watering planters are a great way to grow herbs and veggies, especially in urban courtyards and on decks, patios or balconies — in fact, anywhere it’s not possible to have a conventional garden bed. The GlowPear Urban Garden planter is a perfect example. The planter can be used on its own or easily linked with other planters in a modular fashion. It’s also self-watering, using capillary action to minimise evaporation and automatically deliver water to the plants when its needed. This is a real boon for the time-poor — and the forgetful. The design is another major benefit. It is modern and sleek so fits in perfectly with just about any outdoor (or indoor) design, and it is made from recyclable materials, which is a big…

A FRENCH TWIST If anybody knows how to create picturesque gardens, it’s the French, and David Price Design has brought an authentic touch of Provence to this inviting outdoor space. This beauty in the south of France sits on a 12-hectare plot that houses a south-facing pool surrounded by Perigord stone, a veggie garden, manicured lines of well-tended olive trees and an alfresco dining area boasting a whimsical wisteria canopy. Locally procured materials — like the monolithic stone pillars sourced from a nearby quarry — feature prominently throughout the gorgeous grounds, as do charming water features that bring a sense of calm and serenity to the quaint setting. davidpricedesign.com COSY COASTAL CRIB What do you get when you combine an outdated 1920s California bungalow with the talented architects from Sydney…

With population growth and apartment living on the rise, you would expect relaxing green landscapes to be a thing of the past. However, this inner-city balcony proves you can still have a lush garden no matter where you live. The homeowners’ brief for Steve Warner and Katrine Mardini of OUTHOUSE Design was to convert their unused, exposed space into a place of shelter where they could dine and entertain. “With inner-city living on the increase, there is pressure to maximise every square inch,” say Steve and Katrine. “This amazing balcony is so unique, not taking advantage of it would be the crime of the century.” To bring this drab space to life, Steve, Katrine and the team designed a courtyard that was both modern, clean and crisp and provided a…

Spending time in the backyard as a child is a rite of passage that transitions to alfresco dining and backyard barbecues as an adult. With three children and one on the way, a young family called on the expertise of horticulturalist Lyndall Keating from Garden Society to give new life to their garden in Sydney’s Kensington. The brief was simple: to create a “fun, functional and formal garden for four children”, says Lyndall. The inspiration behind the design called on French influences combined with functionality. Work commenced in 2011 and the outdoor project included the swimming pool, garden, lawn and front-garden renovation. European elegance is apparent at a glance when you enter the front garden, where cone-shaped hedges establish a high-end, luxurious atmosphere. A luscious green lawn is bordered by…

When it comes to garden edging, you need a product that is strong, versatile and weather resistant — and you can’t get anything that fits the bill better than long-lasting steel. Greenlines Gardenware’s FormBoss range of flexible, no-maintenance steel garden edging, which is made right here in Australia, lets you be the boss of your own garden design. Greenlines Gardenware offers a large array of easy-to-install domestic- and commercial-grade steel edging solutions ranging from flush edges to 450mm-high retaining walls. You also have a choice of galvanised steel, ZAM® (exclusive looking and ultra durable) or Australian REDCOR® steel (with the popular weathered Corten finish), as well as various gauges to ensure the edging is the appropriate strength for your project. FormBoss edging systems allow you to create curves and angles…

Greenhouses are designed to provide a controlled horticultural environment where you can adjust the temperature and humidity. This allows you to grow plants, fresh fruits and vegetables, and flowers and herbs with ease. The beauty of greenhouses is that whatever you grow is protected from the harsh summer sun, drenching rains, cool frosts and high winds. Within the structured environment, seedlings sprout faster and you can grow a more diverse range of plants than you might otherwise be able to in your climate zone. Sproutwell Greenhouses is a family business that has enjoyed helping gardening enthusiasts and commercial growers alike to achieve their vision of an efficient and flourishing garden. Based in Victoria, it has two display locations in Geelong and Officer, although interstate customers can view its range of…

Backyard firepits are becoming increasingly popular as we look to utilise outdoor spaces in winter with functional landscaping features. Essentially, a firepit is the new water feature; it’s a great addition to the backyard, transforming the outdoor area into a cosy and inviting space — perfect for chilly winter evenings. The ambience a firepit brings is worth the investment alone, providing an enjoyable feature for the garden and a natural gathering spot for alfresco socialising and entertaining. It’s a great focal point; I like to describe it as nature’s TV and people are naturally drawn to the campfire-like atmosphere. Jason Hodges is a celebrity landscaper, most notably seen on Better Homes & Gardens. He is a four-time Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show gold medallist and he is also a…

Lemons need good amounts of fertiliser for healthy growth and a good crop, so begin feeding them with an organic fertiliser at the first sign of spring. They tend to be shallow-rooted plants so, to keep them looking their best, apply a good layer of organic mulch and give them a consistent supply of water, particularly when they are young or setting fruit. There is something very appealing about growing your own lemons. Perhaps it’s the Mediterranean flair they bring to the garden, their exotic fragrance or the bountiful supply of fruit they provide for little effort. Or maybe it’s just the thought of homemade cordial or lemon meringue pie using fruit fresh from the garden. CUPCAKES 120g butter 1 cup sugar 4 eggs Finely grated zest of 2 lemons…