EXTERIOR RENOVATIONS – COURTYARD
When landscaping a new garden in Perth, I find that certain elements are so important to address first. Summer shade, outdoor entertaining areas, privacy and screening, and low maintenance, waterwise gardens. With all those elements in mind, this area had to have had the biggest change of all. We spend so much time in our garden that it was so important to us to have a view of our gardens from every room in the house…this also meant that every garden had to look pretty bloody good all year round!
The area started out as a blank canvas in our eyes. As well as the whole area needing to change, the main elements it needed were shade for summer, a paved area for entertaining, raised garden beds for greenery to soften the area, screen the existing fences, big timber stacker doors to connect the house to the garden, garden lighting, wall lighting, more Arches, colour, a pizza oven… I could keep going but you get the idea..Everything had to change!
The first thing to happen was a timber frame pergola to grow a Ornamental Grape over, Dylan then built the raised limestone garden beds and of course, a home made Pizza Oven, made also by Dylan. The important elements! We then clad the entire house walls in natural limestone, which flowed on through our garage from the front entrance. All cream brick areas were covered by Natural limestone Cladding or Greenwalls. We designed and custom built our ‘Daisy Greenwall’. This was basically constructed with treated pine and exterior cement sheeting panels, painted with Porters Paints’ Liquid iron Instant Rust’ Specialty Paint effects to give it the look of a large Corten Steel panel.
The Area was paved with French Pattern travertine paving which gave it a very European feel, visually and under foot. The gardens were mass planted with lush greenery that would provide year round screening, greenery and colour in the courtyard. We furnished the area with only a large weathered timber day bed with Tuscan tiled and wrought iron table made by Dylan’s father. This way the area didn’t feel too cluttered with furnishings.
The most important elements which added to the real European feel you get from the garden was our burnt orange tuscan style boundary wall, and a large stone arch that draws you into another part of the garden. The night lighting brings all of these elements to life at dusk and allows you to enjoy every aspect of the garden even from inside at night.
Im pretty sure the dogs & the frogs like it too
