Hard And Soft

Lush flora softens this industrial-style garden.

- Kylie Baracz

When designing a garden, most clients look for privacy, a variety of plant life and maybe a play space for the kids. What sets this modern marvel apart from the rest was that it also needed to account for something not even on the property — its overlooking neighbour.

Featuring a large extension, the home next door towered over the garden, threatening the privacy of the homeowners and casting a shadow over the backyard. To address this and to make the homeowners’ ideal garden come to fruition, they hired landscape design and construction company Ian Barker Gardens.

“The family needed solutions on how to best disguise the house extension in the adjoining property. Not surprisingly for an active family of four, a swimming pool was also high on the priority list. An entertaining area as well as short-term parking options were also important,” says director Ian Barker of Ian Barker Gardens.

“As icing on the cake, our clients are avid plant lovers, so adding as much greenery as possible was a must.”

This industrial-style garden didn’t come without its design challenges. Each element needed to fit and work practically, with thought given to sufficient movement around the grounds and adherence to pool compliance. Plus, of course, disguising the adjoining neighbours’ extension.

To overcome these hurdles, Ian and his team ensured all components were to scale and no one feature was overdone. From the planting palette to the pergola, each design element needed to wow as well as be incredibly useful.