Enjoy The Journey
Faced with a steeply sloping coastal site, landscaper Grant Boyle designed a family-friendly garden around meandering paths and a series of destination points.
A garden designed with both exploration areas and destination points was the winning formula for this seachanging family in NSW.
Coledale is a sweet village that tucks into the narrow strip of land between an idyllic stretch of coastline and the Illawarra escarpment, just 70 kilometres south of Sydney and 18 kilometres north of Wollongong.
Professional couple Ann and Chris, along with their two young boys, relocated to the covetable location from Sydney’s inner west in 2015, attracted by the beachside lifestyle. The historic coal-mining village boasts sandy beaches, small areas of rainforest and a laidback vibe that makes properties here tightly held.
The home Chris and Ann bought enjoys expansive views to the coast, but that elevated position necessarily came with steeply sloping ground. “It was just a big grass hill,” says landscaper Grant Boyle, whose company Fig Landscapes undertook both design and construction for the transformation. “It was a blank canvas,” says the Byron Bay-based designer. “Because Ann and
Chris didn’t know what could be achieved, they trusted us to come up with a concept plan, taking into account their busy work lives and young children.” Importantly, the new garden had to be low-maintenance and able to withstand the extremes of Australian coastal conditions.
A large deck on the top level of the two-storey house already accommodated generous outdoor living and entertaining facilities, so Grant’s design concentrated on the garden and play spaces. “I wanted to make the access down through the garden a journey, so the spaces don’t reveal themselves until you get there,” he says.
He carved out a series of level, useable areas using a small excavator to “cut and fill”, minimising the amount of material needed to be taken out or brought in. Old railway sleepers form the steps and retaining walls, chosen for their rugged good looks, durability and simplicity of construction. “You can build walls quite quickly with them and they don’t need to be painted or rendered,” says Grant. “They don’t need any ongoing maintenance, either – they just weather beautifully.” On the downside, they weigh 80 kilograms each, and the team had to carry 220 of them down the site by hand.
The steps from the house through the back garden meander rather than go straight, enriching the experience of moving through the various spaces. They link firstly to an open court of crushed granite with a fire pit at its centre. Groundcovers such as Dichondra ‘Silver Falls’ and native pigface ( Carpobrotus) now spread effortlessly across the gravelly surface, softening the edges. To one side, Pride of Madeira ( Echium candicans) forms a huge silvery ball, which is covered in dramatic spires of mauve-purple flowers in spring.
From here, more tiered beds, formed from sleepers set upright at subtly varying heights, flank the path as it steps down towards a lush lawn level, edged in Corten steel. In the bottom corner, Grant decided to position the trampoline in the afternoon shade of an existing paperbark tree, a surefire lure for the children and in sight of adults on the deck.
Gently falling over the edges of the retaining walls are French lavender ( Lavandula dentata) and licorice plant ( Helichrysum petiolare), both with light-reflecting silvery foliage. Other tough, water-wise plants selected for the garden beds include yuccas ( Yucca elephantipes), coastal rosemary ( Westringia fruticosa),
New Zealand flax ( Phormium tenax ‘Purpurea’), frangipani and textural grasses such as Lomandra ‘Tanika’ and purple foxtail grass ( Pennisetum ‘Rubrum’). The mix of natives and exotics survives happily without any supplementary irrigation, although of course they were watered during the establishment period.
New native trees such as tuckeroo ( Cupaniopsis anacardioides), coastal banksia ( Banksia integrifolia) and weeping lillypilly ( Waterhousea floribunda) will supply welcome shade and attract the attention of birds as they grow.
This clever integration of location, plants and materials gives the garden a sure sense of place. “In selecting the simple palette of materials, I took inspiration from the coastal location – I wanted that raw, natural feeling as much as possible,” says Grant. “Weathered timber is just right here, and using it throughout, in different ways, helps to integrate the different levels.”
Despite the difficulties posed by the steep site, Grant’s team completed the project in just six weeks – and the transformation exceeded expectations. “We were surprised at how much space we actually had once the job was complete,” says Ann. “The materials and plants Grant selected created such a relaxed and carefree garden – we absolutely love it!”