With Camberwell being a stone’s throw away from our office in Canterbury, Victoria – we’re lucky to have designed and constructed many beautiful gardens in the area. Our Camberwell Elm Garden remains one of our all-time favourite designs.
When commencing the design process, we start by looking at existing elements we’d like to keep from the original garden and build the design from there. For this garden, our clients wanted to keep the tennis court and pool in place and the stunning elm tree that grew in the garden’s centre. Outdoor entertaining, a pavilion and a kitchen garden were high on the priority list for inclusions.
We removed all existing paving and introduced new granite paving. Two areas of Endicott Filetti feature paving were used to frame the elm tree and to create a canvas for Buxus spheres of varying sizes to poke through.
Our team opened up the tennis court area by removing the existing fence and replacing it with a retractable net that could be drawn during matches. We planted a vibrant and lush perennial garden along the tennis court to soften the edges and surround the adjoining lawn area. The planting palette for this and all other garden beds featured throughout the garden consists of plants in beautiful tones of purples, blues, and yellows. These plants will provide stunning colour and texture throughout the seasons, providing our clients with a beautiful space to relax and enjoy nature.
The newly constructed pool pavilion houses a fully functioning outdoor kitchen, including a teppanyaki grill and BBQ, a dining and lounge space, a fireplace, a sound system and retractable blinds. We included windows in the pavilion to enable the owners and their guests to immerse themselves in the surrounding perennial bed.
The courtyard on the north side of the property was a bare and unshaded space unusable to the owners. A spectacular ‘living pergola’ made of Platanus orientalis was planted to create much-needed shade, which instantly cooled down the space and provided a unique design feature.
A potted herb wall and a garden containing an outdoor kitchen covered by a glass-panelled pergola were also installed. The paving style used in the rear garden was continued with lighting outside the pergola to maximise entertaining hours. Casual seating was explicitly used to give this area a relaxed social feel and complement the more formal dining area leading to the courtyard.
We truly loved every minute of creating our Camberwell Elm project and are confident our clients will love every minute they spend in it.
