Rocking the rental
A gorgeous old home in Sydney’s inner suburbs is given a fitting makeover by two young artists not afraid to put down roots and transform their rental garden
Many show-worthy gardens are created slowly and passionately by property owners, often over many years. That’s why it’s a surprise to come across a garden like that of artists Doug Schofield and Cal Agnew. They’re passionate about gardening, too, but the difference here is that they created their dream garden in just over a year, and they don’t even own it! Fortunately, the owners of the property in Ashfield, in Sydney’s Inner West, were supportive of their vision and encouraged them to plant away.
“We spoke with the landlords when we moved in and told them about our gardening experience and how keen we were,” says Doug. “They were happy to have someone who would care so much about it – now they love our garden.”
From the street, the tomato-red, Victorian Italianate house stands out – it’s one of the reasons the couple loved the house on sight – but behind the photinia hedge that surrounds the corner block is a real treat. The front and back gardens, which are about 60m² and 220m² respectively, had a few established plants when the pair arrived, but now they’re bursting at the seams with plants both in the ground and in pots.
“The house’s colour and character were a bonus, but I was looking for earth to dig in,” says Doug. "Before moving here, I had a small concrete courtyard and a front patio, so I could only grow in pots, and Cal’s rented similar places. Now, we’ve got more than 1000 plants in this garden!
“I’ve definitely never gardened to this extent before, although my parents owned a nursery for many years, and I’ve been helping my mum in her huge garden for most of my life. Mum would recite the names of plants whether I wanted to hear them or not! I realise now that the knowledge sunk in because I can remember most of the names.”
Cal is a bit of a gun with plant names himself, and says his family also inspired him to garden from a young age. His nanna was always on the lookout for plant cuttings, encouraging him to do the same – a lesson that’s come in handy here. But before they planted anything, they had to get to work on the soil.
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The front garden is a movable feast of flowers, coloured foliage and food plants; Fuchsia triphylla, Begonia lucerna and a potted variegated ficus near the front door; potted Senecio barbertonicus geranium, rosemary and Aeonium arboreum ‘Zwartkop’ at the back door; rex begonias and orchids recuperate in the ‘plant hospital’; Cal and Doug in the studio; flowering cosmos; a potted geranium.
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The front garden is thickly planted with specimens that Doug and Cal have propagated or rescued; plants looking their best earn a spot on the high-traffic deck that connects the house and studio.
preparing the canvas
After moving in, Doug and Cal dug over the compacted clay soil and added plenty of organic matter. When they were happy with the soil, they used discarded bits of sandstone and bricks they’d collected around the garden to make paths and garden beds.
They designed the garden as they went along, placing paths, rocks and bricks wherever they fancied, then filling in the gaps with plants, using texture, shape and colour. The plantings are creative, rather than traditional, with ornamentals next to edibles, for example, and plenty of colour – a dab of pink here, a splash of green and purple there… just like their artwork.
The effect is visually appealing and always changing.
“It’s important to be flexible and try not to get stuck with one idea,” says Doug. “If it’s not working or the plants aren’t happy we keep moving them until they are.”
The front garden has two distinct areas. First, there’s an area that gets full sun, which is bursting with everything from black coleus to red-flowering fuchsias, silver-foliaged toughies and the pretty blue of a Chinese forget-me-not. Then there’s a shady woodland-style garden under a Japanese maple – a perfect spot for flowering cyclamens.
Shade-loving and tender plants live on the front verandah, and a potted variegated rubber tree (Ficus elastica ‘Ruby’), with its dark green leaves flushed with pink and cream, makes a bold statement at the front door. Nearby is a sheltered area they call their ‘plant hospital’ for specimens that need special care and attention. Some are plants they’ve found abandoned on the street and have nursed back to health.
On the sunny verandah at the back of the house are more pots. The tougher succulents thrive in the full sun, while in a protected spot there’s a show-stopping plant stand of flowering orchids, succulents and begonias. “That’s where the pretty things in flower go, while they are looking good,” says Doug.
Nearby is a small, polyethylene-covered hothouse that they use to propagate plants, both for their garden and to sell. Doug prefers to propagate from cuttings, which he gets from
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A cute arrangement on the back deck, including a large terracotta pot of Viola tricolor and a smaller terracotta pot of mangave (Agave macroacantha); the pink flower spike of Veltheimia sp. stands proud of Cotyledon orbiculata ‘Silver Waves’, potted red Kalanchoe blossfeldiana and Agave attenuata ‘Ray of Light’; a bird feeder hangs from an established frangipani; Fuchsia triphylla ‘Firecracker’ and Coleus ‘Black Prince’ stand out in this mixture of foliage; despite a few nibbles, potted cyclamens grow well in the shade of a Japanese maple; yellow Sedum mexicanum, purple calibrachoa and silver Jacobaea maritima; a spot to sit and relax.