Designed by David Franklin of Franklin Landscape and Design in conjunction with Madi and Jarrod Coppock, contestants on the television show The Block, this is a unique outdoor retreat. “We had to design and build the garden, with the help of Madi and Jarrod, in just five days.” says David. “We also had every tradesman on-site at the same time trying to finish their jobs, which created a very hard work environment. Oh, and it rained every day!”

Madi and Jarrod wanted the garden to have a Palm Springs feel but with a modern twist. David’s design, with gentle sweeps, architectural planting and a contemporary mix of colours and materials, strikes just the right balance between relaxed resort style and contemporary urban.

This is a garden that abounds with eye-catching elements, starting with the curved timber seats at either end of the garden. One faces a firepit set atop an area paved in granite setts, the other takes pride of place on a raised timber deck and wraps around a timber dining table.

“The table, custom-built using recycled timber, is a special feature in its own right,” adds David. “It has three recessed spaces: two are planted with succulents and the third is used to store bottles of beer or soft drink, depending on your pleasure!”

The timber table, seating and decking are the perfect foil for the natural stone that is used throughout the garden. This includes the granite setts used for paving and as capping for the planters, the granite steppers that lead through the lawn and link the two seating areas, and the feature wall comprised of vertical pieces of split stone, which have all been set at a 45° angle.

Along the base of the feature wall, the garden bed is planted with three sorts of succulent, each a different colour and shape to add visual interest. In fact, succulents and cacti have been used throughout the garden, chosen for their low-maintenance requirements and to reference Palm Springs.

“This was a north-facing garden and we didn’t want to block out the sun, so we kept the design as open as possible,” says David. “And as the space was somewhat limited, we introduced lots of curves to create a sense of flow and to take the eye on a journey.”

The result is a modern masterpiece.

WORDS: Karen Booth | PHOTOS: Patrick Redmond

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A well-orchestrated palette of materials and plants strikes just the right chord in this outdoor retreat. Designed by Steve Taylor of COS Design and built by Franklin Landscape & Design, this Melbourne garden is a symphony of warm colours and rich natural textures, punctuated by carefully chosen pieces of modern metallic art.

“A well-orchestrated palette of materials and plants strikes just the right chord”

The contemporary swimming pool is the centrepiece of the new design. The lines are clean, the blue of the fullytiled interior fresh and inviting, and the underwater ledge and wide entry steps enticing places to relax and unwind when you tire of swimming laps.
Integrated into the design of the raised masonry planter that stretches the full width of the pool along the rear boundary is a recessed Silkflow water feature. It sends a sheet of water cascading into the pool and is set in a backdrop of bluestone. This strip of stone marries with the bluestone coping and the poolside paving.

A section of the paving is of meticulously laid random stone pieces, which picks up on the random stone of the inset panel behind the water feature. Along one side of the pool, solid bluestone blocks were used, each weighing more than 250kg, which meant they had to be brought in on small trolleys.

To socialise or sunbathe poolside, there is a deck constructed of merbau timber. The same timber was used to build the slatted privacy screens and the bench seating around one corner of the deck. In the other corner of the deck, a cut-out space was used for a feature dragon tree.

The plants, which were selected for their colour and shape, are all hardy and low maintenance. The planting scheme includes lilly pillies for screening, bird of paradise in the raised planter, succulents, grass trees and mondo grass. Although the plants do not need a large amount of water to flourish, drip irrigation was installed to make the watering process simple and water-wise.
Easy maintenance was factored into the design of the pool. With this in mind, pool builders, Elite Pools, included a state-of-the-art in-floor cleaning system to keep the water fresh and clean, and solar heating so the pool could be used year-round and heated in the most environmentally friendly way possible.

The new pool, gardens and sun deck work in harmony with the existing undercover outdoor dining area and alfresco kitchen at the rear of the house. Frameless glass pool fencing ensures a clear view and sense of connection between each outdoor area.

WORDS: Karen Booth PHOTOS: Patrick Redmond

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Of course, it has to be handled intelligently. It’s not just a matter of ensuring the green is nice and level; it’s important that it blends seamlessly with the overall landscape, looking like a well integrated element.

In its broadest sense, the brief for this project was to open up the backyard and create spaces that would appeal to all ages and provide a variety of ways to enjoy time outside. More specifically, explains David: “We wanted to have different levels with designated areas such as a roofed dining area, a lounge area with a fire pit, a paved patio and a putting green. We had to fit all of this into the available space, ensuring each area linked to the other and there was an easy flow throughout.”

When asked how he would categorise the design, David says: “This one is a hard one to describe as it is modern, but has a bit of an Art Deco feel to it. Basically, we looked at the architecture of the house and created a modernised version of that in the landscape. I see this as a simple landscape, but one that has style and provides everything that’s needed for entertaining summer through winter.”
For many, the putting green, expertly designed and installed using artificial turf, is the first thing they comment upon when invited over on the weekend. For others, it is the lounge area which features a U-shaped configuration of built-in bench seating, at the centre of which is a modern fire pit with a rustic rust finish.

“For me, I like the way the decking wraps around the back of the house and cascades down through garden boxes onto the lower level. This really gives this landscape a sense of flow and makes it easy to get around the backyard. From the deck you can descend directly to the putting green, the patio or the lounge area,” says David.

For tall hedging around the perimeter of the garden, David chose Ficus hilli, a small, fast-growing tree with dense glossy-green foliage. Low box hedging borders the garden beds and the raised planters in the deck. Adding a tropical flourish, David chose Trachycarpus as the feature plant for the deck planters. These palms have fan-like leaves and grow on a “hairy” single trunk. Reinforcing the tropical feel is a series of potted cycads, under-planted with red-flowering plants.

For the paved areas, David opted for Castlemaine stone laid in a random pattern but edged in clean-lined bluestone paving pieces. Bluestone was also used for the capping atop the deck planters and the low walls that form the back of the seating in the lounge area. The same dark tones are reflected in the contemporary outdoor furniture in the covered dining area.

WORDS: Karen Booth | PHOTOS: Patrick Redmond

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