Transforming a House and Garden

Don looked at a classic example of a house and garden in urgent need of a makeover. The light, orange-brown colour of the house bricks did not work well with the garden, and the garden had no outdoor living area. Instead, there was just a depressing space with lawn, pots, hanging baskets, an ugly shed and a narrow, pokey side passage. Much of the backyard was sloping, which made lawn mowing even more of a chore.

Miracle makeover

We visited the same backyard eight months after garden designer, Rick Eckersly, had transformed the uninviting, unusable space into a functional, low maintenance garden. Though still a young garden it is already looking wonderful, with a pottager full of produce, a relaxing entertaining area and a stunning water feature.

How it was done

The house bricks were toned down with a coat of Murowash 'Slate', a fashionable, modern colour that shifted the emphasis from the house to the garden. A new entertaining and barbeque area was created off the living room of the house, with a table and chairs for alfresco dining. This area was paved in light-coloured Tasmanian Sandstone ('Almond'). A pergola was constructed over the dining area and planted with climbers. A screen of radial timber slats provides privacy from the neighbours. There is no lawn in the new garden, which cuts down on maintenance. The pokey side passage was transformed with the addition of a beautiful water feature, which adds interest and leads invitingly to the pottager garden at the back. The paving at the back is an exposed aggregate mix featuring floating Eco Pebbles ('Bracken', 'Pilbra' and 'Alor Black'). The pottager garden is arranged in a grid pattern, making it easy to get to the vegies, herbs and annuals for maintenance, fertilising and harvesting. A screen painted in Murowash 'Slate' hides the clothesline and service area. The problem of the ugly shed has been solved with a coat of Murowash 'Vesuvius', to match the fence.

Further information

The garden was designed by:
Rick Eckersley
Eckersley Stafford Design
Level 1,463 Church Street
Richmond, Victoria 3121
Phone: (03) 9421 5537

Construction by:
Phillip Merrett Landscapes
Phone: 0417 570 8911

Product details

Paint

Murobond Paints were used on the house (Murowash 'Slate'), pergola (Murowash 'Treacle'), fence (Murowash 'Vesuvius'), and screens (Murowash 'Terracotta' - patio, Murowash 'Slate' - service area).
Murobond paint is available Australia wide. For your closest outlet contact Murobond Coatings, phone (02) 9906 7299, fax (02) 9439 7593.

Paving

Entertaining area: Tasmanian Sandstone 'Almond'
Pottager area: dark aggregate mix with floating pebbles (Eco Pebbles 'Bracken', 'Pilbra' and 'Alor Black')
For more information contact Eco Concepts, Church Street, Richmond, Victoria. Phone: (03) 9427 8911.

Copyright 2002 CTC Productions