From drab to high drama
Owners Mariane and Michael Beitz had lived in their two-storey house for 18 years.
Mrs Beitz said she felt it was time to refresh the garden of the 550sqm block. “Our makeover came about because we were desperate to redesign the entire garden in order to make it more modern and functional,” she said.
The couple enlisted the help of landscaping team Gary Burns, of Multiwest Pave, and Janine Mendelow of Ivy League Garden Design to help them with the renovation.
Ms Mendelow said shortly after beginning the work, it became evident the makeover was not going to be as straightforward as they had first thought.
“We discovered that underneath the old limestone pavers was concrete — the 8cm-thick, original limestone pavers had been actually concreted to the ground,” she said. “You just could not lift them, you could not dig them out — they had to be jackhammered out and it took three weeks just to remove them.”
But perseverance and backbreaking work paid off and now after a massive three- month job, the entire garden has been completely transformed.
“We are thrilled with the end result,” Mrs Beitz said. “We wanted a very modern low- maintenance space that would maintain its appeal all year.
“I love that the garden looks spectacular during the day and at night due to the cleverly designed lighting features.”
A sculpture from The Outdoor Decor Company adds a pop of vibrant red, which is picked up in the tiling to the feature wall beyond the pool, in plants and in the throw cushions on the new built-in bench seat, which was created from Trex composite decking pieces.
Dated terracotta tiles on the covered alfresco area were also covered up with Trex decking.
The lion heads on the dated water feature beyond the pool were removed and the freestanding wall retiled to give it a modern look.
Straggly conifers were removed and the entire garden redone with raised beds, painted in varying shades of Wattyl Chino.
Large cottonwood hibiscus were planted as hedges and Ms Mendelow planted clusters of Arthropodium Matapouri Bay beneath the alfresco area. “It’s a plant that is said to last three years at most but I’ve had these in my gardens for about four to five years and they do really well,” Ms Mendelow said.
Other low-maintenance plantings include Alternanthera Little Ruby, kalanchoe, and clumping bamboo planted in commercial-grade pots.
A drab wall was given a makeover with an eye-catching self-watering vertical garden designed by Ms Mendelow and Mr Burns, with water run-off channelled into the garden bed.
LED lights create dramatic feature lighting at night.
Ivy League Garden Design, 0402 837 714.
