The shape of things
This coastal garden in Sydney’s eastern suburbs contains cute and quirky ideas for a small space, as well as a rather unusual landscaping feature
A small Sydney coastal block with quirky features, including a swale
Apot containing gold-painted toy dinosaurs at the front door says it all: here lives a young family, and one that isn’t afraid to do things their way. Owned by Patrick Franklyn and his wife Dawn Piebenga, this relatively small garden in Sydney’s eastern suburbs has everything the family needs: chickens, a fairy garden, herbs and vegetables, a trampoline and even a balance beam. The children, Finn, 10, and Maaike, 7, have plenty of space to play on the robust, durable lawn.
But this isn’t your run-of-the-mill flat lawn. This lawn has a swale – a shallow channel with gently sloping sides – that runs in a graceful sweeping curve across the width of the backyard. Dug out by hand, with the help of builders, shovels and wheelbarrows, it is now maintained by Patrick, who uses a cordless whipper snipper to keep it in shape.
A qualified landscape architect, Patrick says the inspiration for the swale came from the work of American minimalist sculptor Richard Serra. “I’ve always admired the way he can push a curve of steel into a space,” he says. “Doing it with earth was comparatively easy. Basically, there is a ‘curve’ and an ‘egg’ – both 3D forms that ‘make’ the entire space. They transform the small space into something that can appear to stretch outwards both to its boundary and to the sky. I also find it a massive over-spend and sort of extravagant to build retaining walls when earth – formed, shaped, and sculpted – often does the job.”
Perhaps another factor here is that Patrick won a World Masters in sand sculpting in 2002 and, as he says, one thing you learn from carving sand is… how to carve earth!
To emphasise the curve and add height, Patrick has topped the swale with a box hedge, which is also used elsewhere in the garden. The swale separates the garden into two distinct areas – the upper area with a chicken coop, trampoline and garden bed, and the lower lawn area.
OTHER IDEAS
A series of mirrors collected from council clean-ups are strategically mounted on the timber paling fence. Positioned in such a way as to bring light into the garden and to trick the eye into thinking the garden is bigger than it actually is, they’re a cheap and elegant solution for a small backyard.
On the northern side of the property is a no-fuss garden, screened at the fence line by Viburnum odoratissimum, and planted out with rue (Ruta graveolens), cherry pie (Heliotropium arborescens), crinum lily, curry plant (Helichrysum italicum), and a lemon tree.
A side garden creates a seamless flow from the interior of the house to the exterior. The minimalist space is paved with a concrete slab, and has a couple of key features – a timber log displaying shells collected from the nearby beach, and grey and black cylindrical pots planted with no-nonsense succulents, placed in groups so as not to clutter the space.
But the real wow factor comes from a huge jade plant (Crassula ovata) in a retro cast cement pot, bought online for the princely sum of $25. The pot was dragged through the house on a piece of carpet before being carefully positioned and painted black to match the other pots. A pair of vintage Australian-designed black wire chairs complete the space.
All of the pots are round, which is deliberate. Patrick explains, “The round pots work with the triangular courtyard, the curved buxus hedge and triangular garden wedge at the back to minimise the sharp edges and give maximum ‘tolerance’ of different space shapes.”
This attention to the way the elements work together creates a garden that is, in Patrick’s words, a mixture of calm, simple, messy and something of a respite from the hustle and bustle of the busy beachside area nearby. For the kids, it’s all about the chickens and trampoline; for the grown-ups, it’s a place to rest, relax and create.