Table of contents for Issue #64 2023 in Backyard and Outdoor Living

Winter is just around the corner, but that doesn’t mean you need to abandon your outdoor area. To make sure it’s still appealing in the cooler weather, our feature this issue tackles the latest heating and lighting so you can enjoy a warm and well-lit backyard this winter. Once you have those two things sorted, there’s no reason why you can’t continue cooking alfresco — our feature will turn you into an outdoor culinary god or goddess in not time. We also pay tribute to this gorgeous country of ours as we delve into the wonderful world of native plants. Potted plants are still all the rage, so in Snapshot we aim to inspire with our round-up of the best potted plants for decorating your outdoor space. Of course, the…

PONTI TAKEN Innovative pots are wowing designers for a host of reasons. The best designer is mother nature, and with a vast array of plants that offer sculptural beauty, fragrance or coloured blooms, showcasing them in a designer pot can make a dramatic difference in your outdoor entertaining space. Anthony Spon-Smith from Coco Republic says plants are natural, subconsciously soothing and perfectly imperfect. As such, any way we can frame them as heroes, inside or out, is very important. The right planter, pot or urn can do just that. Anthony’s advice is to pick a planter that juxtaposes with the plant. Prickly or complicated shapes for plants are often complemented by simple pots and vice versa. He likes texture and simple shapes when it comes to pots and planters, and…

HEATING OPTIONS When choosing an outdoor heat source to keep you and your guests snug, there are some practical ways to narrow down your selection. The size and shape of the space and how it’s protected all factor into your decision. Then there’s the fuel source. Gas or electric? Wood, charcoal or bioethanol? Each has different benefits. Another consideration of course is budget — if yours is on the generous side, there are virtually unlimited options available to you. FIREPITS AND FIRE TABLES Outdoor entertaining spaces come in all shapes and sizes. If yours is small, a firepit is a great solution. They are relatively new to the marketplace and are one of the most popular contemporary heating sources. As an added bonus, a firepit is portable — move it…

THIS WEEKEND A fully retractable shade system that is fast becoming one of Australia’s biggest success stories, Shaderunner® is a very impressive and innovative product. Developed from over 50 years of sailing experience and the precision needed for yacht sails, Shaderunner® combines the highest-quality yachting fittings with a robust yet lightweight sail canopy. Offering effortless style and ease of operation, the shading system suits a wide variety of applications to help you maximise your outdoors. Adding to its appeal, it’s made by a local family-owned business from South Australia. One of Shaderunner® Australia's recent projects was at a residence located in Lower Esplanade, Aldinga Beach in South Australia. The owners of this lovely home enjoy the superb coastal location, which draws swimmers and surfers to its long stretch of sandy…

The most frequently asked question about garlic is when is the beat time to plant it — closely followed by when to harvest it. The rule of thumb is you plant on the shortest day of the year and harvest on the longest: respectively that would be mid-June and just before Christmas. The planting window is actually much broader. Garlic is a spring-flowering bulb (much like a daffodil) so it can be planted from late autumn through to the shortest day and harvested about six months after planting. With that sorted, it’s worth keeping an eye out for cloves to plant. A lot of garlic sold in Australia for eating comes from overseas — mainly from China but also from Africa, Taiwan, New Zealand and the US. As the imported…

Lighting is something we sometimes forget about in our outdoor spaces, unless the lights sit under the roofline of the house and are already integrated with the wiring system. Sometimes covered structures have lighting included, but the rest of the garden usually gets overlooked, which means homeowners miss out on the benefits of illumination at the night. Now, more and more people are finding that architectural and landscape lighting allows them to extend the enjoyment of their garden into the evening hours. Since I started my landscape lighting business more than 20 years ago, appreciation for what outdoor lighting can do has continued to expand. Outdoor lighting can be applied to any type of home and garden, with trerpendous results. Plus, a carefully planned system can add value to your…

MODERN MINIMALISM FOR YOUR EXTERIOR James Hardie’s latest innovation, Hardie™ Oblique™’ Cladding, is a fibrecement shiplap board solution which adds clean lines and geometric precision to a home’s exterior. The new product complements the growth of modern home design which, in Australia, accounts for 48 per cent of all new builds and is a trend set to continue. Bringing modern design to life with its wide grooves and bespoke design flexibility, Hardie™ Oblique™ Cladding is perfect for re-cladding existing homes or using from the ground up for a new build or renovation. A feature of the new cladding is the oblique (slanting) groove edge which creates a highlight next to a square groove shadow, resulting in sophisticated lines that give walls depth. The robust shiplap boards, with 175mmand 275mm-groove spacing…

01. FIRE AS ART Designed by acclaimed Barcelona-based designer, Hiroshi Tsunoda, the multi-award-winning EcoSmart Stix is a visually striking firepit combining contemporary styling with exceptional practicality and safety. The dramatic and sculptural ethanol fire is crafted from weather-resistant stainless-steel tubes of varying lengths. It creates a modern twist on the traditional campfire. The firepits are portable and freestanding, which means they can be easily positioned almost anywhere to create a stunning centrepiece or to define a zone within an alfresco or indoor space. Stix firepits are fitted with compact, clean-burning ethanol burners, they offer easy, safe operation, don’t require connection to electricity or gas, and create a captivating golden flame for hours. They are available in two sizes — the larger original Stix, which holds an AB8 burner producing a larger-scale…

OUTDOOR LIVING A firepit to gather around with friends, a pool for a cooling dip on a sultry summer’s day and places to sit and survey the lush garden — the family who call this Sunshine Coast property home have all of this, and more. "The clients, a young growing family, wanted to better utilise their backyard. They wanted a swimming pool, a casual seating area around a firepit, and an open tiled space for lounges and an outdoor kitchen,” explains Leigh Barrett, director of Living Style Landscapes. "The design needed to complement the classic Queenslander-style home but with a modern upgrade.” At first the brief seemed simple enough, but once Leigh visited the site, he found the block to be very steep, with some spots that seemed almost unusable.…

THIS WEEKEND We’re often told that with cooler weather comes less gardening. But is it true? While it’s correct that most plants slow down, die back and drop leaves, and the soil gets colder which affects surface conditions and plant growth, does it mean there’s less for us to do in the garden? Do we need to slow down, too? The answer to these questions is an absolute no. While we might prefer to curl up on a couch indoors with the heating turned up to our favourite comfort setting, the work we do in our gardens now will not only set them up to flourish in spring, it will also maximise their ability to withstand the cold. Slowing down is simply not an option if you want to help…

Two types of savory are used in cooking: summer savory (Satureja hortensis) and winter savory (S. montana). In some dishes they are virtually interchangeable, but their botanical differences may determine which you choose to grow. Summer savory, the better known of the two, is an annual, while winter savory, sometimes called mountain savory, is a bushy perennial that some people find more convenient for the herb garden. While the two savories — members of the Lamiaceae family and so related to thyme and rosemary — can beused in muchthesame ways and have very similar leaves and flowers, hortensis is generally considered to have a sweeter, more delicate flavour than montana, which is slightly stronger and more bitter. Neither is commonly used in Australia. I only discovered them from trying out…

Let’s face it, an Aussie backyard wouldn’t be an Aussie backyard without a barbecue. There was a time when that would have been little more than some stacked bricks and a hotplate. Then the small, portable kettle-style barbecue made its debut, followed by larger trolley-style wheeled barbecues. Soon, barbecues were being designed not just to offer more burners, optional extras and storage — the barbecue also evolved to become functional, versatile and good-looking. One of the biggest leaps forward came when technology delivered a new concept in larger barbecues — the sleek, stylish, stainless-steel barbecue with a roasting hood. With the hood and indirect heat, delicate flavours were sealed in and enhanced. Since then, barbecue design has taken off in myriad directions, from massive eight-burner barbecues to slimline options that…

Designed for a big family that loves to entertain, it was imperative the outdoor spaces that embraced the new home be spacious enough to cater for large groups of people. It was equally important that the look and scale of the exterior spaces matched those of the house. Jason Dibble, founder of Fluid Design and its principal designer, created a resort-style vibe with a rich colour palette that features the earth tones of stone and the warm hues of timber. He also ensured the family would have ample space to entertain, and do so in complete comfort and with every convenience at hand. "At the rear, the home has a capacious outdoor entertaining area with a built-in outdoor kitchen and adjacent dining space. There are also lounge areas overlooking the…

Natural stone pavers can enhance a garden design and outdoor living experience in several ways, not least because they’re beautiful. Natural stone has a unique charm that adds character and depth to a garden design, while the variations in colour, texture and pattern create an organic look that can’t be replicated with man-made products. Forged in the earth, each paver carries a story with a unique tone and detail, the way Mother Nature intended. A versatile and durable material that can withstand the harsh weather conditions, natural stone is a great choice for outdoor spaces like patios, walkways and pool decks. It’s also a perfect fit for commercial projects like restaurants, hotels and retail stores because of its superior durability and its ability to add a touch of elegance and…

Rainbow chard, Swiss chard or rainbow silverbeet are all common names for the popular leafy veg with multihued stems that keep their colours even when cooked. It's a great way to get kids to eat their "greens” because everything’s more fun when it’s rainbow coloured! References to this vibrant veg go back a few centuries and it’s actually native to Sicily, not Switzerland. Beautiful both in the patch and on the plate, chard is now considered an essential heirloom vegetable around the world. The small young leaves can be eaten raw in salads or lightly wilted while the older leaves can be cooked up and used as spinach or kale substitutes in many dishes. I love using the stems in recipes where you can see the colour — in quiches,…

Backyard cabins and sheds are a rapidly growing trend across both suburban and rural Australia. Whether it’s for art studios, home offices or spare accommodation, that little bit of dedicated space, nearby but separated from the house itself, can dramatically benefit the way we live. To get you started on the right foot, here’s my checklist of five key points to consider when thinking about building a flat pack shed in your own backyard. 1. WHO'S GOING TO BUILD IT? Because it’s a pre-engineered flatpack design, you don't have to hire a qualified builder to assemble it for you, which is a great moneysaver. You can hire a handyman to take care of it if desired, but if you have a DIY-handy friend or relative capable of building a deck…

Australia has an enviable climate, one that makes experiencing outdoor spaces a delight. But while many of us enjoy spending time outside, the last few years have changed what we look for in our spaces, how we use them, and the pieces we choose to fill them with. It's time to start planning these areas. From timeless investments to modular pieces and sustainability, here is what we’ll be saying hello and goodbye to this year. GOODBYE FLASHY STATEMENT PIECES, HELLO TIMELESS SIMPLICITY With factors like inflation and economic contraction predicted to remain for the next few years, more and more consumers will take the "long view” when choosing furniture, prioritising function and timeless investments beyond fleeting trends. Instead of bold statement pieces that can quickly look outdated after just one…