When an old, tired home was demolished to make way for a contemporary new dwelling, a ‘garden for non-gardeners’ was required. The clients also wanted to maximise lawn space and were prepared to make a bold gesture to achieve this. The Second Nature design used a tiered retaining wall solution to raise the finished lawn level by approximately two metres to create the flat swathe of lawn on the previously steeply sloping site. Unattractive but necessary timber pole retaining was cleverly concealed beneath a 300mm wide concrete mowing strip which was painstakingly boxed and poured to create a gracious curved edge to the lawn. This now drops away to an area of massed, bird-attracting planting, reducing maintenance needs. All of the original trees and shrubs from the old garden that could be saved have now found a new home here.

Large format pavers step across the Kentia-studded, tall-fescue lawn to the pool area, which was positioned to be used in conjunction with an existing sleepout, converted into a pool house. The bespoke clothesline with its flamboyant red pipes and the curvaceous lines of the abundant productive garden, show that utility areas don’t have to be boring. Looking at the finished garden now, it's easy to forget the extensive planning, preparation and ground work that was needed to achieve the deceptively simple outcome.