As the needs of their growing family changed, Gudrun Fischer’s clients called her back to re-design their terraced garden to incorporate a swimming pool, spa and outdoor dining area with barbeque and fireplace. The tight space is surrounded by high hedges that provide much-needed privacy, so the work had to be achieved without jeopardising their future. Now the family looks out onto a streamlined pool with strikingly beautiful turquoise tiles while the washing lines and utility areas are cleverly hidden behind a trellis fence. A low corokia hedge underscores the imposing waterhousia screen, and a combination of dwarf mondo grass and rain lilies sets the stage for star players Alcantarea imperialis ‘Rubra’ in large planter boxes.