PERSONAL best

With a handsome freestanding terrace as its starting point, this unique garden was destined to stand out from the pack.

- CHRIS PEARSON

This striking anomaly of a standalone terrace in Sydney's inner west - its neighbours never eventuated or were razed long ago - prompted a beguiling garden just as unique. In this, Adam McDonald, of Impressions Landscape Design, has delivered in spades, creating layered variety and seasonal shifts that surprise at every turn.

When he encountered the property in 2018, it was a building site, with the grand 19th-century dame enjoying a dramatic makeover after decades of neglect. Benson McCormack Architecture was restoring the front to its former glory while adding a cutting-edge extension on the rear. Adam's task was to subtly straddle the two styles by creating a garden that honoured the old while embracing the modern.

"I was asked to talk to the architecture," he says. "With walls of glass at the rear looking out to the garden, inside and out also had to become one." It also needed stand apart from the more conventional gardens in the area. "Owners Jabbour and Rachel wanted something more in the Melbourne style, using tonal greenery mixed with perennials for a layered effect."

"We wanted something that changed with the seasons, robust, organic and even a little wild, informal and not too manicured," says Jabbour. The rear had to function as an entertaining area and a recreational space for five active children so the couple requested lawn. "For that layering, the perimeter beds needed width," says Adam. "It was a constant trade-off between lawn and garden to produce beds deep enough for me to play with the plantings."