Design Ideas and Inspiration

The ornamental grass family contains a huge number and range of plants suitable for use in landscape design in Sydney. Native grasses through their versatility, striking and elegant forms and their beautiful flowers, foliage and seed heads, can greatly enhance a landscape design. They can be mass planted or used singly as a feature and be...

Sustainable landscape design principles have been the cornerstone of design practice education in Australian universities for architects, designers and landscape architects for a decade and a half, but sustainable landscape design has only become a mainstream concern in the wider community in more recent years. So what is sustainable landscape...

In Sydney landscaping companies are looking for creative garden design solutions to make the most of the rain that falls to the ground on our properties. Although this year in Sydney we have had record rainfalls, this is not the norm. As we move through the regular rain cycles however, dryer times will return to challenge us. Sydney’s average...

There are broadly two approaches to garden design, the instant, unsuspected ‘wow’ factor of immediate impact and the more gradual, subtle ‘woo’ approach, where the appetite is whetted and the curiosity aroused as we are lured on a journey of discovery. The essence of the ‘wow’ approach to garden design is that the ‘wow’ feature should remain...

Linking house and garden is the primary consideration for contemporary garden designers and a quick look back through garden design history gives us some important precedents to follow. Persia is the commonly accepted birthplace of the concept of the garden as a designed space. Shut away from the harsh outside world, the Persian garden became...

Most of us are looking for ways to find relief from the stresses of our busy everyday lives. We crave time and space for relaxation and our homes and gardens should provide this sanctuary. Our gardens, regardless of their size can play a vital supporting role in providing a refuge from the pressures of the outside world. Sitting in a garden...

Sight is our most immediate physical sense. The kaleidoscope of colour in our environment has an instant effect on how we feel and experience the world around us. Colour influences our thoughts, our actions, our health and even our relationships. Amazingly it has been noted by researchers that many colour energies are so powerful that even the...

In Sydney’s mild, sub tropical climate, the most successful garden and courtyard design by landscape designers use the possibilities of space and borrow from the surrounding geography to create a natural connection between house, garden and the vista beyond. Taking the cue from the home’s existing internal materials and colour schemes,...

Stephen and I spent a delightful late afternoon wandering around the garden with the new owners, marvelling at the play of light on richly coloured autumn leaves, swaying grasses and clipped box hedges. Autumn is when this garden is at its most colourful with bronzes, blazing clarets, yellows and oranges, set against a tapestry of greens. The...