FINE ROMANCE

Interesting, textural low- and mid-level plantings bring layers of softness to this Sydney garden, which pays homage to a bygone era.

An opportunity to be part of history is a rare thing. So, when landscape designer Anthony Wyer was engaged to update the garden surrounding one of Sydney’s heritage harbourside homes, he felt privileged to be contributing a chapter in the property’s 115-year-old story. “It’s a unique opportunity and really exciting to work with a garden that has such heritage and scale,” Anthony says. “It’s nice to be part of its history.”

Perched high on the north shore of the harbour, the 2000-square-metre property enjoys panoramic views. At its epicentre is a gracious, heritage-listed Queen Anne-style residence built in 1905. The garden, a series of outdoor rooms, extends over an area of 1412 square metres.

When the current owners bought the property a few years ago, they felt the landscaping needed a lift. They enlisted

Anthony to revitalise it, seeking increased privacy and the creation of inviting outdoor entertaining spaces. “The garden had seen numerous design iterations. Several designers, including Peter Fudge, had shaped it over the years,” says Anthony. “It had retained adequate structure overall but some areas were mismatched and had been let go over the years.”

Taking his cues from the architecture of the home, Anthony immediately envisaged a design focused on the under storey. Retaining the overall structure, he wanted to create a lush, botanical garden, reprising a style that flourished in the early1900s.“Itw as important to develop a scheme appropriate for the age of the home – a botanical garden with a mixed, layered plant palette,” he says. “I wanted to pay tribute to the romance of that era with a mix of natives and exotics.”

| PHOTOGRAPHY Nicholas Watt

The home is cocooned by lush layers of greenery creating a sense of sanctuary from the outside world. As a counterpoint to the formal rectangular hedging, landscape designer Anthony Wyer introduced rounded forms of Japanese box and Rhaphiolepis ‘Oriental Pearl’ with undulating swathes of salvia at the base of a Japanese maple. ‘“We didn’t want the clipped plants to be perfect spheres, we wanted more organic, cloud-like shapes,” says Anthony. “This thread of layering and softness is woven throughout the garden.” On the opposite side of the driveway, a Chinese elm stands proud in a sea of azaleas.