At Ian Barker Gardens, we love creating plant-focused gardens that are both beautiful and functional. Our Camberwell Meadow clients are plant lovers and allowed us to experiment with bold and lush plants, and we couldn’t be more thrilled with the result.
The original house had a beautiful Victorian charm, so the garden in the front seamlessly integrates old and new. We used bluestone crazy paving and Torquay pebble stones for a contemporary touch to the space. We surrounded the hardscapes with Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’ trees and an array of lush green perennials and traditional English plants, such as a Buxus box hedge and a Climbing Rose, which scaled the side of the home. We opted for plants that showed interest at different seasons for a beautiful all-year garden.
To connect the traditional front and side garden with the more contemporary rear garden, our team installed a steel doorway structure (a similar one used in our Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show 2015 Show Garden – Cross Roads) which led to a beautiful woodland garden canopied by established Pyrus calleryana trees. The rear garden is focused on outdoor entertaining and living. An existing tennis court was incorporated into our design along with a pool, outdoor kitchen, outdoor living area with a fireplace and a lush green lawn. Vibrant colours were introduced to the rear garden through a Jacaranda mimosifolia tree and a stunning Lagerstroemia, which boasts bright pink blooms.
One of our favourite sections of this garden is the sweeping perennial garden bed separating the tennis court and lawn area. This particular garden bed includes plants such as Agastache ‘Sweet Lili’, Verbena bonariensis, Calmagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’, Poa ‘Eskdale’, Echinacea purpurea and Echinops ‘Taplow Blue’.
We’re lucky to see this garden evolve and develop first-hand as we maintain and look after the space. This design and build will go down as one of our all-time favourite gardens.
