BRINGING YOUR HOLIDAY HOME


Landscape Designer, Matt Leacy gives insight into transforming your backyard into your dream destination. 
Pining for Provence

Perfect for larger spaces, backyards in need of some direction. If you don’t mind a little maintenance and some pottering in the garden then perhaps Provence is for you.

  • The Elements: privacy focused, intimate atmosphere, alfresco dining
  • Materials: natural timbers/ wood, sandstone, rustic/ iron furniture (round tables)
  • Think of incorporating:
    • Veggie patch/garden
    • Planting in large pots -  citrus trees and lavender in terracotta urns
    • Make a grid of paving squares using terracotta pavers – use geometry to divide the space into useful areas
    • Use climbing plants on the house, shed or wall for a romantic, informal look (Boston ivy, climbing roses, honeysuckle) 

The Beauty of Bali

Always been a fan of the tropics? Enjoy spending warm afternoons under the shade of your palms or in the comfort of your outdoor lounges. Create the perfect zen environment.

  • The Elements: flowering plants palm trees, bamboo, open/ airy spaces
  • Materials: natural tones e.g. timber decking, limestone framing, large clay/coated pots, hammocks
  • Think of incorporating:
    • Statues – dark stoned Buddha’s for example
    • Low to ground day beds, plush outdoor furniture, covered garden cabanas/ gazebos 
    • Water features/fish ponds
    • Feature lighting from garden/plants/ trees
    • Stepping stones, garden paths
    • Lanterns 

 A Touch of Tuscany

Think romance, a spot of intimacy and the perfect place to sip on an afternoon vino with loved ones as the sun goes down.

  • The Elements: courtyards, creeping vines
  • Materials: sandstone, limestone, soft colour palette 
  • Think of incorporating:
    • Water features
    • A pergola laden with vines providing shade in summer and sunlight in winter e.g. wisteria
    • A pond of waterlilies
    • Trees of pine, oak, fig and cypress
    • Fountains, water features (under staircases or in the centre of a courtyard)
    • Rectangular shaped lawns and potted lemon trees
    • Urns and vases full of geraniums amid  topiary shrubs
    • Long pathways/driveways flanked by cypress trees
    • Plant Creeping vines/plants on pillars, sides of the house, garden walls/fences 

Harmony in the Hamptons

Keep it clean and classic with this all American inspiration. Suitable for any environment, climates and scale can easily be adapted to suit any backyard. If you love to entertain, this is for you.

  • The Elements: classic/pretty, well-kept/ trimmed hedges
  • Materials: linens, outdoor fabrics (whites, yellows, blues  and stripes), teak furniture or white washed wood
  • Think of incorporating:
    • Patio/alfresco dining with awnings/canopies
    • Ornamental grass, hydrangeas, tailored shrubs and vegetables,
    • traditional grey, blue and white floral palette
    • Plants growing into each other - like a romantic tangle i.e. cottage style
    • Contrasting colours give the crisp edge to keep your garden high-class 

 A weekend in the English countryside

Want to escape the city? Spend your shillings on transforming your garden into a weekend getaway. Nestle up with a good book and a cuppa in your own countryside escape right outside your back door.

  • The Elements: gravel paths, natural stone, and garden walls to look natural and mysterious
  • Materials: brick, benches, thatch, cobblestone, gravel and English pots
  • Think of incorporating:
    • Hedges or walls to develop garden rooms
    • Emulated materials from your home in your outdoor features – repeating the use of materials like stone or brick in garden walls
    • Plants the change throughout the year e.g. Ornamental pears and other deciduous trees, bulbs
    • Scaled down versions of ponds and plant groups of flowers, with a nice fragrance, to best fit what you’re working with 

 Spend it in Spain

Ideal for those with a hot, dry climate, the Spanish garden is all about relaxation, enjoyment, sustainability and attention to detail

  • The Elements: tiered Spanish fountains, Moorish lanterns, carved Cantera forms, urns, Saltillo tiles, Cantera stone, plaster
  • Materials : ceramic or handmade tiles, large terracotta pots, bright blue glazes accent décor, wrought iron against the light coloured or white plaster walls
  • Think of incorporating:
    • Courtyards include seating areas and potted plants,
    • Ceramic mosaics as wall features
    • Fountains; in true Spanish design the garden will consist of multiple small fountains rather than one large fountain
    • Reflecting pools; often made the focal point to major entryways and courtyards, designed amongst geometric shaped, symmetrical planting beds
    • Symmetry; one of the most important elements of the original Spanish garden 

Lazing in LA

Keep it simple and look for modernist inspiration. Suitable for most of Australia, perfect for families and for entertaining.

  • The Elements: structured layout with more contemporary desert style plantings using succulents and palms, interesting levels achieved with large steps
  • Materials: concrete, glass, breeze blocks, stone, square lines, pools and open grass areas and sunbeds.
  • Think of incorporating:
    • A bar, outdoor lounging and sunbeds, flamingos
    • Open grass alongside a pool with sunbeds
    • Boulders meeting garden beds and concrete
    • Blues, yellows, some bright colours, stripes and lots of whites
    • Plants – palms, succulents, cacti
    • Considered simplicity

Images (top to bottom): The Beauty of Bali; Harmony in the Hamptons; Lazing in LA; and Spend it in Spain.