THE OTHER SIDE

“We wanted to create a garden for a modern family,” says Brent Reid of Candeo Design who teamed up with his friend and fellow designer Jason Hodges on this gold medal-winning garden. “A lot of families love textured, beautiful gardens, and they love to entertain and socialise in them. This garden shows what’s possible.”

The pair created a series of connected zones including two expanses of lawn, a raised plunge pool, a central deck with pergola for entertaining, and multi-level landings. “It’s designed as a versatile family space whether it’s just Mum, Dad and kids at home, or they have 20 guests,” says Brent.

A dense hedge of Waterhousea floribunda framed the garden, which contained a rich tapestry of textured plants including Buxus microphylla ‘Japonica’, Gardenia ‘Florida’, Nandina ‘Nana’, Rhaphiolepis ‘Spring Pearl’ and Euphorbia wulfenii. Designed with a mainly white and green colour palette in mind, there were splashes of yellow ( Helenium ‘Zimblestern’) and purples ( Agastache ‘Blue Boa’ and Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’) in the sunnier lawn areas. Drifts of Liriope ‘Big Blue’ and ‘Evergreen Giant’, and sprinkles of feathery Miscanthus sinensis ‘Adagio’ added softness and a sense of movement. The lawn was a new low-mow, traffichardy variety, Sir Grange, and bronze sculptures of playful labradors by Willie Wildlife Sculptures completed the picture in this family garden. candeodesign.com