A large and rambling garden on a sloping site with several big trees blocking light and sunshine.

The clients wanted to retain privacy and make better connections between house and garden – encouraging the family to spend time together outdoors. They loved picking flowers, meandering through secret garden rooms and growing veggies but the possums had taken over! There were several weedy pittosporums that had grown to almost 15 meters high and were shading the garden from valuable northern light – encouraging the mosquitoes.

First step was to engage one of my trusted arborists to assess tree health and safety, remove weedy or invasive species and give everything a good prune to renew health and vigour. Next I created a design connecting a barbeque area with deck and pergola, as well as space for a spa, native plantings, raised veggie garden and areas of formalised paving. The garden will be built in 2025.