Love your outdoors Glorious gardens, poolside retreats & a vegie-patch paradise to inspire your own backyard transformation
A NATIVE GARDEN INSPIRED BY ITS OWNERS’ PASSION FOR ART IS A SOURCE OF UNFOLDING WONDER FOR A TASMANIAN COUPLE AND THEIR YOUNG FAMILY
Nestled in a hamlet south of Hobart, near the shores of the D’Entrecasteaux Channel, this casual garden is full of colour and movement, and has evolved into a landscape beyond the owners’ imaginings. “There have been so many things we just didn’t expect,” says Jenna, who lives here with her husband, three children and their six-year-old labradoodle, Abbie.
“Seeing the kids playing in the long grass, the way the afternoon sunlight hits the plants and watching the honeyeaters hovering above the salvias – all these little surprises have been a bonus,” she says.
Conceived by local landscape designer Catherine Shields from The Alchemy Of Gardens, the garden was built around a newly renovated beach shack and incorporated the owners’ desire for a low-maintenance and family-friendly space, with patches of native shrubbery and a bush reserve next door. “Our inspiration came from our love of art – we wanted to achieve a painterly effect,” says Jenna. “Catherine has totally captured that, with washes of colour working together with the light. It really is a living artwork.”
WARM WELCOME
Vibrant ‘Big Red’ and ‘Yellow Gem’ kangaroo paws mixed with yellow flowering cotton lavender flank the front door (opposite) and blend with an existing patch of native bush. “We wanted an aesthetic that made a connection between the garden and the landscape beyond,” says Jenna. Pavers studded with glittering crushed abalone shells (abalone fishing is one of Tasmania’s main industries) guide visitors. >
GATHERING PLACE
Custom bench seating made from concrete poured in situ and lightly polished not only creates a stylish seating area (below) but also acts as a retaining wall. Previously an area filled with “scrappy grass”, landscape designer Catherine cut the bank back to make a larger, more usable open space for the family to gather in. “I love to design elements that are multifunctional,” she explains.
The custom-made concrete and crushed abalone shell pavers are a nod to the coastal location and deliver subtle sparkle in the southern light. Compacted white limestone dust completes the flooring of this space, which also provides a transition between the back door and the vegetable garden that lies beyond. “The garden acts as a route to other places,” says Catherine, whose choice of flowering plants here was inspired by “the reds, pinks and purples – deep, bruising colours” in a painting by Cy Twombly.
BURST OF COLOUR
As part of the renovation, the original shack was clad with spotted gum, a material that Catherine has repeated in screening elements throughout the garden. “Jenna had already planted a few kangaroo paws (a mix of ‘Big Red’ and ‘Yellow Gem’), so I took those reds and yellows for the colour scheme,” says Catherine of the front garden (opposite). “They sit beautifully against the timber.”
“IT’S LOW-MAINTENANCE, WATER-WISE AND REALLY INTERACTIVE FOR YOUNG KIDS. IT GETS THEM OUTSIDE”
~ JENNA, HOMEOWNER
“We worked around the little patch of bush at the front – we left that alone and blended it out with sweet native flowers,” says Catherine.