Romancing the STONE

Heritage sandstone walls were defining elements in a garden that has bloomed into a tranquil, all-embracing retreat for its owners.

- CHRIS PEARSON

When the owner first walked into this back garden in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, she couldn’t believe her eyes. A historic two-meter-high wall and a former stable, both crafted in convict sandstone, enclosed it on two sides. “I felt I was in a Tuscan courtyard. You could never replicate those features – they just did it for me,” she says.

But while the backyard sealed the deal, the garden and the home’s industrial-style addition evoked rather less than bellissima for her and her husband. So they asked landscape architect Hugh Burnett, whom they had hired in the past, and landscapers Outside Signatures to give a makeover the green light. Meanwhile, interior designer Tonka Andjelkovic revamped the house to soften the connection between indoors and out.

First, in 2018, Hugh revamped the front garden with a simple plan of grasses and sandstone paving focused on a water feature and an existing leopard tree (Libidibia ferrea), which provides a vertical element. The scheme includes a pared-back palette of mass-planted Lomandra longifolia ‘Tanika’, native violet (Viola hederacea) and prostrate rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus) enclosed by a fast-growing weeping lilly pilly (Waterhousea floribunda) for screening. Coral pink bougainvillea frames and softens the garage and windows.