Perched amongst the rolling hills of Warragul, a newly built architect designed home encompasses views of the Strezlecki Ranges and Mt Baw Baw. The design brief by the plant loving clients was clear from the outset - how to embrace this panorama and become ensconced in a hortus botanicus? Likewise, responding to the architecture and the prevailing conditions was formative in shaping the ideas for a garden in this terrain.
The open-minded and hands-on clients encouraged me to draft a layout that could evolve over year - such generous latitude of time, space and creativity. Moreover, establishing an energetic relationship with the clients was just as important to glean insights into a landscape that was fresh to me. Through regular telephone contact, discussions with the clients and architect constructively assisted concept development. Dialogue about Neutra’s architecture, Yamina’s rare plants, contemporary books, films and politics all enlightened me from afar, some 120 kms away in Melbourne. Above all, the openness of the hilltop vividly resonated in all meanderings.
The awe assumed in any breathtaking view demands ample space and time to absorb. From the very first site visit, it was striking how such an experience wrapped the minute individual into the grand landscape – liberating one from the rigours of day-to-day concerns. Even so, with encroaching housing development, the need for some privacy on this 2.5-acre property became a strong reference point. It is from here that the seed of the design was sown – a planted row of something (?) following the contour and arch across the hill to serve as a filter. Hence, the 360-degree vista, topography, arching roof-line and need to create an intimate garden environment inspired the sweeping curvilinear layers that would wrap the landscape and garden around the house.
From nearby Tynong, varying sizes of granite were selected to create a 30-meter diameter ribbon around the house. The height and width of the rock wall undulated with the contour of the existing landform. These bones of the garden would settle into the landscape with time. Nevertheless, the circle on the crest of the hill would make a striking aerial picture, further elaborated by curves planting patterns. The arching lines were extended into th planting scheme, inspired by the Olive grove that surrounds the northern perimeter of the garden wall. The grey, dense foliage of Olives met the function of filtering out a neighbouring building in prominent view from the main living area. What’s more, the shimmering effect of the round top rows, softens the transition from the internal garden area to the open panorama in the exposed northern aspect.
Within the ‘designated’ garden, there is bountiful scope for the clients to express their broad plant palate. As passionate ‘exotic’ plant collectors, the opportunity arose for comprehensive deliberation of theme gardens, specimen trees and intricate). Rare and interesting Maples, Magnolias, Conifers, Birches, Liquidambers, Beeches and Dogwoods provide a scaffold. Mediterranean, Japanese, Romantic and contemporary planting themes flow from one to the other. The rich horticultural details are in year-round performance mode with autumnal colour, contrasting foliage forms, floral fragrance and fruiting fervour. A substantial half crescent shaped lawn stretches in front of the pool, presenting a neat putting green. Here, the flat green horizontal plane is carved into the hill, profiling the rich red earth as it ascends, wrapping its way around the rear, south part of the house.
In this utility zone of gas containers, clothesline and garage, a 10m diameter concrete lid for an underground water tank lays stark. Regardless of these practicalities, the neighbouring Cypress wind-break and orchard in the expansive southerly vista provides an alternative from the high exposure of the northern garden. Sunken in the hill with free-form terraced garden, a round timber deck was constructed over the concrete lid. The low-set deck was crafted to provide reclining seats to bask in, away from the active areas. So, with this lazing-about purpose, a Mediterranean theme emerged to envelop the dweller in arcs of Lavender and Rosemary. As in all areas of the garden surrounding the house, such sensitivity to the landform and architecture called for restraint in the general hard landscaping. Only the most essentially functional were devised: direct entrance path following the main east-west axis feature of the house; steps accompanied by lights from the garden to the paddock; and, a mounded roundabout at the top of the driveway. The rich, detailed planting scheme, views of the overall landscape from the house and garden were the underpinning objectives of the design.
Thus, the significant matter of creating optimal plant growing conditions in such a site was threshed out. The site’s exposure to roaring winds, intense heat and fluctuating rainfall events demanded a material that was going to consolidate the garden and bleed into the landscape. For this reason, a thick layer of Bairnsdale pebbles coated the garden within the rock wall. Paths were merely defined by a finer grade of the same pebble in order to preserve the informal fluid movement between the house, garden, orchard, paddock, shed and driveway. Ultimately, this selection of garden surfacing succeeded in retaining soil moisture, anchoring young plant stock, prevented rabbit infestation of the entire garden area and became the identity of the garden, ‘Bedrock’.
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