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BLOOM GARDEN

Although not originally on the scope list I managed to persuade the client to address the house brick with render and paint during the consultation stage.

It was decided early that a deep grey base would be an ideal selection to both modernise the house and give depth to the new colour promoting planting design. This began by considering the treatment for the new walls. A natural stone cladding in these tones was selected to provide a level of authenticity to the modern cottage garden adoption.

To partner these tones Dulux Western Myall was selected for the house walls. The roof, gutters and fencing to be painted Dulux Monument, house window trims painted Dulux Black and the front doors to be painted Dulux Flame Red for a vibrant colour pop to match the new letterbox and street numbers attached to the front fence. The clients were fond of red, and the planting flowering colours were designed to work suitably with this as a punctuating gesture.

A darker exposed aggregate concrete driveway was used for the driveway with the stone blend carefully considered to tie in with the other tones and textures. In the spirit of the darker base. Bluestone organic steppers were utilised for the informal pavement selection that allows for additional off-street parking and caravan housing. Chunky honed bluestone logs were devised to create a cost effective and unimposing access treatment with decomposed granite installed as landings in-between.

A custom hardwood bench seat gives a greater purpose to the top pavement zone orientated as a focal viewpoint in the garden and also a sun catching retreat. A recycled hardwood post was added to replace the existing houses original porch post as a link between the seat and the house. Its rustic nature leans into a more original cottage garden theme.

A significant part of the design finishing is the planting. This was a major focus for the clients. The new house colour palette was focussed on supporting the vibrancy of the new planting scheme. A neighbouring Tibouchina was flagged as a useful resource to adopt as a backdrop consideration to the new garden design. Its deep purple flowering in Autumn a key factor in planning suitable plants for this new garden design.

A careful selection of seasonal interest was utilised though Salvias both Purple and White, Sedums, Euphorbia, Agastache and Miscanthus. Structure was applied though groups of Silver Birch Trees, Pencil Pines and a singular White Dogwood. A visually dominant bun clipped Helichrysum become a centrepiece of the garden frontage and a useful variation in planting form and colour. Soft border plantings of Catmint and Lambs Ear and a foreground cloud style topiary of Elaeagnus provide a balance and softening to the front boundary line stonewall.