Outdoor Design & Living #36 pg 62-63

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What do you do when you have big ambitions for your garden but not a great amount of space? You seek the guidance of a professional landscape designer, which is precisely what the owners of this luxurious home in Melbourne’s inner suburbs did.

They sought out David Franklin of Franklin Landscape & Design, who says: “The brief from the owners of this house was to give them a garden that looked like it had been there for years. This meant giving the garden an established feel and ensuring it complemented the architectural style of the house. Another important element of the design was the creation of entertaining areas and finding space for a plunge pool.”

David chose a French cottage-style theme for the garden, which combines rustic charm with easy elegance and a dash of formal flair. One of the ways the Franklin Landscape & Design construction team was able to give the garden an established look was by incorporating some salvaged materials.

“There is the bluestone water feature which we built out of blocks saved from the original garden and we also managed to get some wharf timber from an old pier on the Mornington Peninsula. We used this timber as our uprights around the dining area and then attached ArchBar trellis mesh panels, along which Boston ivy and star jasmine now grow to create a leafy screen,” says David.

The plunge pool is another stand-out feature. “Building the plunge pool in such a small space was definitely a challenge,” he says, “especially trying to fit in the pool equipment and all the pipe work.”

Making the most of the space in the dining area was equally important. Here there is a built-in daybed and a built-in seat as well as a large wall-mounted mirror that gives the space the appearance of added depth. Spotted gum was used for the decking in this area while elsewhere, sawn bluestone paving was the flooring of choice.

The paving offsets the rich greens of the planting palette, which includes multiple buxus balls that create a softening “cloud” effect, feature plantings of Japanese maples and succulents in pots. At night, the plants, as well as the key design elements, are illuminated by Aqualux lighting and there is an outdoor sound system to set the desired mood.

In summing up, David says: “This garden was such a pleasure to work on and I am very gratified by what we have been able to achieve in such a small space. It has everything that you want for inner-city living and a lovely natural flow that integrates so well with the house.”

Photography by Patrick Redmond

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FORMAL GARDENS CREATE A SENSE OF ORDER

and balance, which has a calming, soothing effect. Add some layered tropical planting and some flourishing palms and you have the best of both worlds – a serene garden with formal lines and a relaxed tropical feel.
Faced with the prospect of creating a garden from scratch, the owners of the newly built two-storey residence sought the expertise of multi-awardwinning landscaper David Franklin, founder of Franklin Landscape & Design. Backed by his experienced construction team, David was able to give the owners a garden of which they are extremely proud.

“The brief from the owners was for an easy-tomaintain garden, so this meant they didn’t want any lawn. What they did want was a tropical-style garden with formal lines,” says David. “And they wanted the garden to look fully established. This meant an abundance of plant life and the generous use of advanced trees.”

In excess of 100 plant species, all of which were supplied by Dans Plants, were used in this landscape, ranging from cycads, agaves and various succulents to buxus, lilly pillies and China dolls. To create the desired tropical look and add to the layering effect, there is a mix of palms, including Canary Island palms, kentia palms and miniature date palms.

“We had to crane a lot of the trees into position as they were too heavy to move by hand,” says David. “Just manoeuvring the large trees around took a long time, but the effort was worth it. By using these advanced trees, and supporting this by the intense layering of the plants, we have given the garden a look of maturity and abundance.”

While David is pleased with the planting throughout, not least of all because there are so many different species working in complete accord, he is especially fond of the avenue of palm trees in the front yard. Walking beneath these trees, you are guided from the street to a centrally located reflection pond, which adds an elegant formal touch.

When you stroll around the grounds of this prestige property, it’s like walking through an established tropical garden, which is precisely what the owners wanted. It is a welcoming place made all the more inviting at night, when the wellconsidered lighting scheme comes into play.

Photography by Patrick Redmond

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Granite cobbles combine with classic design elements to set off this stately Melbourne home

AN IMPOSING RESIDENCE SUCH AS THIS

deserved a garden of equal grandeur. To match the architecture of the house, the landscape was to be classic formal French style and only the best-quality materials would do.

“The house was built using premium-quality materials so it was important we maintained an extremely high standard of product throughout the landscape and ensured a sympathetic balance between hard and soft surfaces,” explains David Franklin of Franklin Landscape & Design.

Front to back there is a cornucopia of design treats to savour, beginning with the classical fountain and raised circular pond placed in direct alignment with the front door. The planting, which is arranged in formal fashion, is special too. Many mature plants were used to create an established look and soften the extensive areas of paving. Magnolia grandiflora ‘Little Gem’, a compact-growing magnolia with scented creamy-white summer and autumn flowers, was planted in the front yard along

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Photography by Patrick Redmond

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Formal gardens are always in favour. There is something timeless about them; an enduring elegance that transcends changing trends and passing fancies thereby ensuring the design never dates nor looks out of place.

A formal garden is a well balanced garden. It relies on clean lines, strong geometric forms, symmetry and an underlying sense of order to create spaces that are ordered and therefore somehow calming. And there is a simplicity to them that complements homes of contemporary or traditional design.

The principles of formal design can be applied to big or small outdoor spaces, and to any degree you like. If you don’t like gardening, or don’t want to pay for regular maintenance, you don’t have to have a garden that is manicured to within an inch of its life. You can use the basic principles to define spaces, frame views, create garden paths and terraces, or you can just use certain elements – perhaps a classically-styled urn or sculpture placed at the end of a path or in the centre of a pair of intersecting paths.

While some people draw on classical French or Italian gardens for inspiration, others seek to establish a formal structure but give it a relaxed twist by incorporating elements of a cottage garden, a bushland garden or, in the case of this project, elements of a French provincial garden.

Designed and built by Franklin Landscape and Design, the front and rear gardens of this Melbourne home are a confident fusion of formal and French provincial design elements. From the refinement of the well structured front garden, with its clipped topiary, to the opulence of the rear garden with its alfresco entertaining space, the outdoor areas exude elegance.

“The brief for this project was to design and build front and rear gardens that matched the architecture of the house; made optimum use of the available space; and met the homeowners’ lifestyle needs,” explains designer, David Franklin. “In terms of the design, the owners wanted to have formal-style gardens but with the emphasis on more garden and less paving. They also needed a lawn area for the kids to play on.”

To introduce height to balance the gardens with the house, trees were planted in both front and rear gardens. Says David: “In the front garden, Manchurian pears were used as an attractive hedge to complement the house, and topiary lilly pillies were used on either side of the entrance path to create a French provincial feel. To screen out the neighbours and draw the eye upwards, weeping fig was planted along the back fence line and also down the side of the house.”

In the rear garden, the covered patio looks out over an expanse of lush green lawn. Traversing the lawn is a stepping stone path that leads to the focal point of the design, a classical-style water feature comprised of a wallmounted fountain sending water into the semi-circular pond below. The water feature is flanked by planters brimming with geraniums. Another pair of planters can be found at the steps leading to the patio. These are urn-style pots planted with cycads.

“For the paved areas we used Gosford quarry sandstone. Large slabs of the richly coloured sandstone were used throughout this job, from the paved area around the rear water feature to the path leading down the side of the house, and everything was designed to fit a particular template so had to be cut on-site,” says David.

As with the best formal-style gardens, David’s approach to the palette of plants, materials and colours was to keep it limited, and his use of decorative elements and focal points is precise and well considered. Attention to detail, in both the design and construction, is evident, which extends to the lighting which turns the garden spaces into stunning nightscapes.

Words: Karen Booth PHOTOS: Patrick Redmond

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