Table of contents for Issue #17.3 2019 in Backyard and Outdoor Living

Zenko and Janine Vukelic were the first people in Australia to experiment with growing their own home from mulberry trees. Biotecture isn’t a new concept — it’s common practice in north-east India, where living bridges grown from aerial roots of rubber trees have been supporting river crossings for hundreds of years, becoming stronger and larger with time. Some tree species grow by the natural process of inosculation. This is when the branches and roots grow into each other, becoming one (biologically similar to grafting). Another example is a strangler fig naturally forming a net-like weave by growing into itself. This behaviour can be encouraged by a process called pleaching: manually interlacing the branches of inosculating tree species. A friend of Zenko and Janine, Chris Piper, co-founder of Queensland-based Carbon Capture…

The Nedlands residence in Perth’s Osborne Park revels in the natural light and views that its magnificent large-scale windows make possible... and therein lay the design challenge: create a contemporary green space that requires minimal maintenance, considers the views and functionality of the interior living spaces, and still provides shade from the harsh summer sun without affecting the natural light and views. The result? Clean, uncluttered lines and compelling textures that invite bodies to rest in a minimalist setting, while the senses enjoy the metaphorical view. “My key philosophy is to create exterior spaces that are equal parts beautiful, functional and sympathetic to the architecture, interiors and location,” explains Paul Smith, senior landscape designer at Tim Davies Landscaping. On approach to the house, the eye is drawn by mounded mass…

If a certain Alice found her way to the suburb of Collaroy in Sydney, chances are she’d feel right at home at Through the Portal. This residence contains plenty for the curious to explore, starting with the signature namesake sculpture. Designed as a wow factor in the garden, the “Portal” sculpture creates a point of difference. While the style of the small, southern-facing front garden and entrance is industrial, “the sculpture is playful and provides a place to retreat to”, explains Liz Horton, landscape architect and director of Podology. “It combines form and function with a seat wall that extends through the portal and connects the sculpture to the garden.” Installing this unique feature caused a bit of head-scratching in the neighbourhood, laughs Liz. “The street was lined with neighbours…

With cooler weather comes less gardening. That’s the age-old adage and it’s true to a certain degree, as a lot of our plants slow down, die back and drop leaves. The soil begins to go cold, too, and this affects the growth of the plants and the surface conditions. Of course, there’s also the constant raking of the leaves. In nature, deciduous leaves are broken down by soil organisms and the enzymes they produce create a layer of mulch that keeps the soil surface warm. This ensures the soil stays open around the roots. Without these vital organisms the leaves don’t break down and they tend to become hydrophobic, resulting in the soil becoming compacted and not accepting rain. Despite being located in Queensland, Earthlife understands these issues. The company…

Gourds are squash-like vegetables but they’re not grown to be eaten. Although you can eat them when they’re small, as they grow and mature they become bitter. Rather than being grown as an edible vegetable, this long, hard fruit is grown to be used. Gourds are fashioned into utensils such as bowls, decorated or carved as ornaments, and even turned into musical instruments such as drums, maracas and rattles. Gourds are native to Asia and Africa and have been used as objects for more than 10,000 years. The gourd also spread to America where it has been grown and used for millennia. PROPAGATION AND GROWING Gourds are started from seed planted during spring and grown through summer and autumn. The vine grows quickly and uses its green tendrils to climb…

Although lawns have been a source of pride and joy for homeowners for generations, they can also cause grief when they aren’t performing well. After a cold winter, lawns can look shaggy and patchy, particularly if care hasn’t been taken with some simple, routine maintenance. Sometimes a little TLC just isn’t enough, and that’s when you need to consider laying a new lawn. Don’t panic! It’s quite a simple process. MAINTENANCE As the lawn settles, it will start to knit together along the joins of the rolls. Allow the lawn to put on around 2cm-3cm in height before mowing very lightly. The first couple of times you mow should be a light trim; after this you can take it to a regular height. • Don’t mow too low: Cutting your…

If you’ve fallen in love with French cooking and adore the small, almost pearl-like onions that often star in slow-cooked recipes, then you’re a convert to eschalots (also confusingly known as shallots, French shallots or golden shallots). Like large onions, these small eschalot onions have a papery skin but the bulbs are sweeter in flavour. Whatever you call them, these plants are an easy-to-grow alternative to traditional onions to plant in the veggie patch or a container. They grow in clusters and individual bulbs are around 3cm long. These small brown- to red-skinned onions are grown from bulbs much like traditional onions. As well as being used in French recipes, or fried, they can also be pickled or even eaten raw in a salad. In Southeast Asian cuisines, they are…

QUEENSLAND AWARD WINNERS June saw the winners of the 2019 Queensland Landscape Architecture Awards announced by the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA). Recognising 20 winners across 12 categories, including five Awards of Excellence and four Regional Achievement Awards, the awards highlighted projects that celebrated environmental and historic landmark preservation, the restoration of neglected urban nodes and spaces that bring communities together. AILA Queensland president David Uhlmann said: “This year we received 62 award submissions from an impressive range of cities and towns, which goes to show the number of high-calibre landscape architecture projects on our doorstep.” Winner of the Landscape Architecture Award in the Gardens category was Lat27’s Riverlight, Hamilton Reach (pictured left). “Riverlight responded uniquely to the landscape surrounding a private residential tower, creating a subtle transition between…

Steve Warner from Outhouse Design created this practical garden that offers year-round interest and an escape from inner-city living in a little slice of paradise. With the help of Greg Soster from Outside Space, a dream was brought to life in a small Newtown property. The owner wanted a garden that was visually stunning, offered up fruit and herbs, and required little maintenance. This garden has strong, structural plantings that offer lots of activity options for the avid gardener, yet can still thrive with very little effort. The planted production beds allow for crop rotation if you’re feeling like being hands-on. By using the large, organic step stone as the paving solution, the bluestone offers an informal pathway connection that meanders around the garden, while offering practicality and intrigue by…

Design is one of the simplest ways to showcase our likes and interests, to tell our stories. Time and again we’ve seen Australians utilising garden design as a tool to connect with and reflect on their European sensibilities. Grand Grecian residences (complete with mighty columns, elaborate water features and statues of naked angels) that sit proudly among stark country fields are probably at the more extreme end of the European-inspired gardens cropping up down under. Creating gardens that quietly nod to the properties one might find in London or Paris or Athens, but aren’t alienated from their Australian context, is far trickier. “The project successfully walked the tightrope between European and Australian. The result is a garden that’s fit for modern needs at the same time as it caters to…

Having a lush green lawn is basically the Australian dream. With weekend barbecues and kids’ parties on the go, and that feeling of walking around barefoot on the grass, the benefits of having a beautiful green lawn might seem endless — and that’s because they are. If you're thinking about planting a new lawn but don’t know where to start, that's because not all lawns are the same. As with other plants, you need to consider important factors like climate, soil type, water and maintenance. After all the effort it takes to plan a great outdoor space, it’s important to purchase a top-of-the-line turf to complete the lawn. Thanks to My Home Turf, this is now possible. My Home Turf aims to deliver good looks, hard-wearing turf and a great…

Have you ever gone fruit picking? The joy of picking ripe, straight-off-the-tree fruit to enjoy over the coming weeks is a delightful experience. Next time, don’t just take home the fruit — take home a tree! PlantNet offers an exclusive range of fruit trees and ornamentals grown for the home gardening sector that are available online or through its partner nurseries. Selling more than 120 dwarf fruit tree products, PlantNet offers varieties ideal for anything from small garden spaces to larger hobby plots. One of Australia’s favourite fruits, blueberries have been nicknamed the brain-berry or youth-berry because of their high antioxidant qualities — and they taste delicious! PlantNet has two new blueberry varieties available to home gardeners: the Blueberry Burst and Blueberry Kisses. They’re dwarf, compact, evergreen, self-pollinating, prolific fruiting…

VEGETABLES After a long, cold winter in cooler, temperate climates, it’s reassuring to see new shoots appearing. The first asparagus shoots in the vegetable garden is an exciting moment. Harvest them daily, as the spears quickly become tall and woody. Not so welcome are weed seedlings, which are also appearing now. Keep weeds under control around existing and new plantings by regularly hoeing the soil; also spread mulch to deter weed growth. Sow summer crops including chilli, capsicum, tomato, eggplant, cucumber, pumpkin, squash, zucchini and beans. Also plant lettuce and herbs, including basil, parsley and coriander. Potatoes, beetroot and carrot can be planted now in all areas. When planting potatoes, use certified disease-free seed potatoes (tubers). In areas that are still cold and where frosts are likely, hold off planting…

With the warmer weather on the horizon, we often find our backyards looking a bit weathered after the cooler months. We tend to neglect them during colder periods, sometimes even using them as storage spaces or a bit of a dumping ground. So how can we get our gardens looking good again as the warm weather approaches? Here are our top tips on how to get your backyard back in shape during the unloved “mid-season”. OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE NEW Collect all broken pots and dead pot plants and gather them in one place. Toss the broken ones and rejuvenate or cut back any plants that might bloom again. Display the pots with the best foliage or those that are still flowering as a group. The…

HANG IN THERE The Dedon Swingrest is in a class of its own. Featuring a rotating table top and sophisticated hanging system, this hanging sofa offers comfort and style for your backyard. Suspend over your backyard or verandah and let the soft swinging motion rock you to sleep. coshliving.com.au RUG UP The Waikiki outdoor rug glows in the colour papyrus and will add underfoot comfort, texture and style to your alfresco space. Produced using 50 per cent recycled and 50 per cent virgin Sunbrella yarns, these designer outdoor rugs offer unparalleled performance and are fade-, mildew- and stain-resistant. Decorate your outdoor space with a gorgeous rug and a group of beanbags or chairs for a welcoming backyard your friends won’t want to leave. lujo.com.au GO THE LIGHT WAY Brighten up…

NATURE’S BOUNTY There’s no better place to see where garden design is heading, or to garner some quirky, fun and out-of-the-box ideas for your own backyard, than a garden show. The doyenne of the show garden circuit is the Chelsea Flower Show, held each May in London. Like the fashion you see on the runways of Milan or Paris, some designs are there to simply showcase the creativity of the designers, but most provide ideas — for planting, decor, outdoor entertaining spaces, the use of reclaimed materials and more — that you can easily adapt to the home garden. This year, the emphasis was on naturalistic planting and reconnecting with nature, and this was especially evident in the Back to Nature Garden (shown here). Co-designed by The Duchess of Cambridge…

NATURAL BEAUTY Who doesn’t love a stylishly decorated personal sanctuary surrounded by nature’s beauty? The outdoor furnishings in this backyard blow us away, and the scenery doesn’t disappoint either! The design is both romantic and charming. The neutral colour setting, greenery arrangements and wood additions certainly capture this and have us craving an intimate summer gathering. If you’re a fan of this style, you can recreate the alfresco space by shopping these standouts and adding a chic luxurious pool into the equation. coshliving.com.au BACKYARD DELIGHT This backyard decor is perfectly polished, with charismatic accents provided by an attractive open bar and strategically placed pots of greenery, as well as cosy elements like a grand firepit. Add some outdoor sofas into the mix and you’ll be relaxing in a similar setting…

For all the benefits of inner-city living, there are still some drawbacks. If you’re one of the few not priced out of the market completely, concerns usually revolve around space — namely, not enough of it. Aside from smaller rooms, perhaps the biggest downside for city dwellers relates to the outdoors. For the good majority of urbanites, having the space to cultivate a garden and connect with nature from the comfort of one’s own home just isn’t possible. As nice as windowsill veggie patches are, they don’t quite replace a good garden space. Addressing these spatial limitations made up the bones of the brief provided for the transformation of a townhouse garden in Melbourne’s Fitzroy North. Combining the outdoor overhaul with interior renovations, the owners, a young professional couple, wanted…

Sometimes it takes a team of people to build a dream garden, but that’s no reason to shy away from the task. Just ask Sally, owner of this beautiful garden in Mount Victoria. Sally’s garden seamlessly blends two garden areas together and creates the essence of a park rather than a backyard. Matthew Thummler and Jocasta Milligan, the directors at Green Revolution Gardens, were initially given the task of regaining control over the property’s two gardens and to develop the underutilised yard of the second house on the property. With such a big task and some big ideas, they worked closely with Sally and a former long-term tenant of the second house to design the garden, pond and waterfall. They undertook all of the soft landscaping and irrigation works, and…

Outdoor entertaining spaces don’t have to have all the bells and whistles. Nor do they have to be large or lavish. What is essential, however, is that yours suits the way you like to entertain and makes the best possible use of the available space. What it comes down to is good design and proper planning. “We spend so much of our leisure time outside it’s important to have a space that allows us to relax and entertain exactly how we want to,” says Phil Antcliff, director of Fifth Season Landscapes. “Having a well-designed entertaining area is about considering all the factors, such as space, budget and how you want to use your garden, deck or patio. By thinking all of this through before making any decisions, you can create…

Whether you’re a city dweller or you live in the suburbs, it will come as no surprise to learn that our backyards are getting smaller. Today, houses are bigger, blocks smaller, so the amount of outdoor space is decreasing. Townhouse or duplex living, where courtyards or pocket-size gardens are the norm, is on the rise, as is apartment living, where balconies provide us with our only opportunity to enjoy the outdoors or get a little green into our lives. While lack of space is no barrier to creating a lush outlook, establishing an edible garden or achieving a pleasant outdoor lifestyle, there is an art to making the most of small outdoor spaces as well as a few tried-and-tested design tricks you can employ. Fundamentally, a small garden can offer…

There’s nothing sweeter than a garden filled with blooms. Flowering trees come in all shapes and sizes and offer a wide range of flowers, from the large, showy panicles of the crepe myrtle to the delicate pea-like pink blooms of the cercis family. So how do you choose the right flowering tree for your garden? First and foremost, it’s important to have an idea of size. Do you require a small tree for a small garden or something that will make a statement? The cercis of the Enchanted Forest collection is a size-friendly option, particularly the often hard-to-find Cercis chinensis ‘Avondale’. This very small-growing tree offers a heady show of bright-pink pea-like flowers clustered along the branches that will give way to the most beautiful (and sizeable) heart-shaped leaves. Timing…

The time has come to get your own garden toolkit together or maybe add a couple of extras to the shed. You hit your local hardware barn and in a flash your well-laid plans descend into confusion as you’re faced with aisle after aisle packed with a multitude of garden gadgets and goodies, all screaming “pick me”! So, how do you decide where to start? How can you make sure you buy the gear that gets used rather than gathers dust? I’ve put together a list of my top five garden must-haves based on decades of garden trials (as well as plenty of errors…). 1. Secateurs or pruners Without a doubt these should be the foundation tool in every gardener’s kit. Whether you’re tip pruning to encourage growth, tidying up…

When it comes to beautiful, versatile Aussie plants, callistemons are up there with the best of them. Commonly called bottlebrushes because of their uniquely shaped flowers, they’re a popular plant in many gardens and very attractive to birds, so it’s not uncommon to see honeyeaters hanging off the branches, feeding on the nectar-rich blooms. The showy flowers are followed by clusters of small woody fruit, which can hang around for ages, but plants are best pruned after flowering to maintain good shape. The young growth on some varieties is also attractive, with flushes of pink, red or bronze new leaves. These versatile plants come in all different shapes and sizes, from low-growing varieties such as Callistemon ‘Little John’, which grows to just 1m tall and forms a beautiful low border…