Living Room Through Seasons

Be inspired by colour, recycling and edible gardening.

This garden, featured in the annual Garden World Garden Design Show 2017, drew inspiration from the show’s theme of ‘colour my world’, as well as the idea of reinventing an old space into something completely different, while retaining as much of the original as possible.

It’s a small courtyard garden that fulfils the aspirations of an outdoor living room – the ideal place to showcase the theme. I wanted to encourage people to enjoy the outdoor living a patio affords them, and that includes using the herbs and vegetables that grow there. I know that most people would enjoy the idea of sitting amongst the flowers, herbs and vegetables while having a braai and a crisp glass of wine. To bring in more colour and to make the change of seasons more evident, I made very specific plant choices.

When you reinvent something old, the canvas is different every time and your work can never be repeated. I used the ‘old’ as the backbone of the design, transforming the bottom two tiers of an old water feature into planter boxes. This was replicated in the quadrants on either side of the water feature. The quadrants were divided by slasto stairs and columns on either side, leading to the centre stage where old beams were used to create a pergola. A Weber braai was painted and sits on a purpose-built shelf, a pop of colour against the wall. I cut slasto paving up for the stairs, and also used it for crazy paving. The original pavers were cut and used as coping for the columns. Figs were painted on an old door above the braai table, reinforcing the food element and the use of recycled materials.

I loved using old square wooden beams to create the illusion of a ceiling, and the holes in the beams gave the opportunity to bring in some old railway bolts as hooks for accessories.