Seen from the street, a gingerbread Victorian cottage near Melbourne, Australia hides its secret: a streamlined rear extension with a sleekly modern silhouette. The challenge for landscape architect Ben Scott of Ben Scott Garden Design was to create a garden to connect the two faces of the facade.
The result is a front garden with irresistible curb appeal: an informal, meandering design of old-fashioned flowering plants punctuated by spiky perennial grasses that add a modern sensibility.
The back garden is another story. During a remodel three years ago, homeowners Lynn and Brett Cheong added spaces for outdoor dining and entertaining. To complement the contemporary design, Scott’s back garden emphasizes the sharp-edged geometry of the architecture.
Let’s take a walk around the garden, from front to back.
Above: Mature liquidamber and Japanese maple trees were starting points for Scott’s garden design. At the edge of the wraparound front porch, a tumble of oakleaf hydrangeas and purple verbena is happy beneath a tree canopy.
Above: Bluestone pavers lead to a handmade garden swing, tucked into a shady corner.
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Above: Similar in habit to the ground cover star creeper (which is an Isotoma), Australia native Pratia blooms with an explosion of starry white flowers.
Above: Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ spills over the edge of a garden bed.
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Above: Painted wedding-cake white, a Victorian weatherboard facade gains texture from layers of perennials, including exuberant euphorbias (to the right of the walkway).
Before
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Above: Before the Cheongs moved in, the house was painted yellow and had a patchy front lawn. Photograph via Real Estate.
After
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Above: Mixed in with old-fashioned flowering plants, spiky grasses including Lomandra and Miscanthus add a modern element.
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Above: In a gravel courtyard on the side of the house, homeowner Lynn Cheong grows herbs in a raised-bed kitchen garden made from recycled apple crates.
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Above: Boston ivy softens the fence, and a row of pleached flowering pears (Pyrus calleryana ‘Chanticleer’) creates another layer of foliage (and privacy).
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Above: In the back garden, the emphasis shifts to clean lines and modern silhouettes: bamboo, grape vines on the pergola that shades the dining terrace, and shrubs (Gardenia florida) planted against the back wall of the house.
The non-invasive Bambusa textilis ‘Gracilis’ (a clumping bamboo) is planted against the fence line to add privacy.
