The lush planting and unique design details in this contemporary residential garden offer a fresh, bold aesthetic within a suburban neighbourhood.

When embarking on the design of their new home, the clients knew they wanted the outdoor and indoor spaces to be fully integrated, gardens with lush plantings that framed functional spaces in which to entertain and relax, and a strong, contemporary aesthetic approach to the house and garden design.

A deck off the kitchen in the side garden provides an outdoor dining area, while another deck off the living room in the back garden provides space for less formal entertaining and relaxing. These two large outdoor spaces are always visable from the main floor of the house.

Materials, colours and unique details in the garden were tailored to integrate with the house provide a bold contemporary aesthetic. A metal mesh guardrail surrounding the side deck provides a transparent screen allowing borrowed views from a neighbour's wooded garden beyond. Low weathering steel retaining walls form a strong visual frame around a lawn area. Weathering metal mesh screens with integrated lighting provide syncopated structural elements along the front walkway, contrasted against the soft, lush plantings.

The planting plan incorporates a planting approach that mimics the way plant communities behave in nature. A mix of ground covers and mid-height plants provide a layered base with taller plants occasionally poking through to add interest and punctuation. This approach creates a more resilient, dense and biodiverse plant palette, while providing a range of seasonal interest.

The overall effect of the lush plantings, contrasted with clean lines of wood, concrete and metal elements is a design that is at once bold and innovative, but – as clusters of daisies graze the metal screens - also delicate and at times playful.

Photos by Tom Arban