The owners of this suburban property wanted a multi-faceted approach to their landscaping – a pergola, external fence, paved area and of course gardens.

Pergola

Designed specifically for this site, this pergola cleverly balances shade and light.

The cedar timbers form slates spaced to shade the intense sunlight into the interior living space without reducing too much light inside.

Another factor we needed to take into account was the impact on the outdoor living space. We minimised this by cantilevering the steel beams towards the house. This required paying careful attention to technical issues regarding building restrictions and height plans to ensure everything was building code compliant.

Gardens

The clients’ key focus for the garden areas was shade and privacy over the summer when the space is most often used for BBQs and outdoor living. We planted low-growing deciduous feature trees including the Japanese maple, Acer palmatum ‘Bloodgood’ and Magnolia stellata Star Magnolia’. A background hedge of Camellia ‘Sasanqua’ and Michelia figo cover the metal fence while closest to the house are Chatham Island Forget Me Not, mixed Hellebores (winter roses) and Geranium Rozanne for a soft ground cover providing summer-long colour.

Paved areas

Giving the area definition and to match the existing paving that the clients wanted to keep is a mixed media of two different exposed aggregate concretes with a dark trim. The concrete forms a frame around the pergola and outdoor living space set off by the clients’ choice of water feature.

External Fence

On the street frontage horizontal Cedar gives a classy/stylish look from both inside and outside the property. Black structural posts frame the cedar and show it off to its best.

As is so often the case on our landscape projects, client input throughout was crucial. In this instance we worked particularly closely with them as the structure was installed to make sure their specific requirements were met.