And So to Bed

This clever garden achieves the seemingly impossible – luxuriant lawns and flourishing flower beds on a windswept and once-barren site.

- By Chris Pearson

With lush beds filled with flowering perennials in the English tradition, a pool house evoking Californian cool and the langour of the Med, this garden is a potpourri of inspiration far and wide. Add a spectacular vista of coastal Victoria and it’s little wonder the owner often holidays at home.

Thanks to deft hard and soft scaping, this United Nations of influences forms an inviting, harmonious whole. But its tranquillity belies its tricky creation story. In 2020, its designer, Jason King of King’s Gardens & Pools, was confronted with a scrubby slope buffeted by winds off the Southern Ocean and tight-packed clay underfoot, hardly fertile ground for what the owner had in mind.

“Facing northeast, the slope was very exposed, with the soil almost impenetrable – water just ran off it – but the owner wanted an expanse of flat lawn with an infinity edge,” says Jason. The wish list also included “abundant flowers in meandering beds, a large pool with pool house and outdoor fireplace for socialising, and an overall modern feel, with a hint of Mediterranean”.

“We wanted as many sunny pockets as possible, imperative on such an exposed site, together with a retreat-like feel,” adds the owner. “It was important to have a large, fenced pool area as a comfortable hangout spot, but soft landscaping and lawn around the pool to create a green and peaceful sanctuary.”