News

We first helped Robert and Annabelle with their contemporary Walsh Bay townhouse about ten years ago. The slick home is built on four levels, with an internal atrium covering the top 2 floors.  The original garden had worked really well but was starting to look tired and needed updating.  They came back to see us and asked us to think with fresh eyes and come up with a new scheme.

I really love working in these small urban spaces, as it’s such a challenge to get them right.  The inner atrium is seen from all three sides of the house.  There is no room for error here – it’s all on show.  Larger gardens are more forgiving, can hide the odd plant that may not be working but small space garden design has to be spot on.

I wanted to add texture in almost everything we put in – there are so many hard surfaces to soften and deflect.

On the dominating two storey walls we installed a series of handmade Iron Jalis to add some texture and depth.  Banksia integrifolia provided the main focus for the planting, we wanted to use something natural and with a wild feel.  We designed a large amoebic planter to house the new tree and placed a smaller planter opposite massed with aspidistra.

Slick pieces of warm sandstone on the floor give direction and definition with Nepean gravel in-between.

Quick Tips for gardening in small urban spaces:

1. The scale has to be right to create impact.  Make bold gestures, and avoid lots of small stuff.

2. Use the vertical spaces, often there are walls to grow climbers on or install screens. 

3. Use lightweight planters to make the installation easy, and they can move with you

4. Keep it simple – less is definitely more

5. Create interesting compositions of plants that contrast with each other

Last Saturday saw a good turnout for the monthly working bee in the James Street Reserve Community garden. The rain held off for a while before the showers came – but we soldiered on!  (ok, so I left a little early if I’m being really honest)

There was loads going on – Our seed queen Mel (she looks after our seed collection) and Nicola held a soft-tip cutting propagation workshop, and we all gave it a good Aussie go.  Education is a large part of the garden, which the head gardener Jon constantly encourages.

Lydia had a great crop of radishes in her bed (she has sooo many).  They are a terrific thing to grow – fast and simple.  Great for kids to sow from seed and then just watch them come up. 

In the big bed there was something a little Easter egg hunt-like about the harvest of sweet potato.  The sweet tubers just sit at the top of the soil and the golden skin pops out of the top.  Easy to grow from cuttings in a full sun position.  Make sure your soil is enriched with well-rotted manure and plant in raised beds or raised mounds to ensure good drainage.

On another bed Tom and Tamara planted some parsley seeds which hopefully will be popping up in the next week or so. I think if I could only plant one thing in a garden it would be flat-leaf Parsley – can’t get enough of it.  It’s not fussy, will last a couple of years and just likes a sunny spot and water now and again.

The garden is located at the back of the shop and well worth a visit next time you are in. Feel free to drop in and walk round, the gates are always open.

On my recent travels I stumbled upon the Sunday growers markets in Place de Bastille in Paris. Talk about getting all Frenched up!

As a child I was lucky enough to be taken to Brittany on our annual Summer holidays and have splendid memories of farmers markets before they were a thing of the upwardly mobile city slickers of today. I marvelled at the exotic looking seafood displays, the verdant veggies just plucked from the ground (in particular globe artichokes always remind me of our hols, dipping the leaf into aioli and scraping the moist flesh with my teeth, YES!). 

I indulged in a traditional crepe with a big fat pork sausage, some local cheese and egg (my young niece Rosie decided on the nutella/coconut combo).

It was freezing, piles of fresh crunchy snow underfoot in the city – so so pretty. At night we went out in Pigalle, threw snowballs at tourist buses and checked out the Christmas courtyard at the George V Hotel which is always so inspiring.  Ahhh how could anyone not like Paris??

We have been busy little beavers here at Garden Life.

As well as the usual pre-Christmas ramp up in the store we have set up a pop up shop opened in collaboration with renowned style bloggers The Cool Hunter.

Bill Tikos from TCH approached us to design and set up the balcony of The Cool House -  now open in Bondi Beach until this Sunday December 16^th.

A celebration of all things bright and beautiful, the glammy temporary store is situated in the Bondi Pacific display penthouse, sitting atop the soon to be demolished Swiss Grand Hotel Bondi.

It’s a perfect opportunity to shop amongst a hand-picked selection of uber cool stuff for Christmas or just be inspired and browse at the contemporary artwork, homewares, accessories and of course a beautiful balcony installation.

It’s a very exposed site and we used a tough, hardy and striking plant palette as well as creating great compositions of our essential lightweight cylinder pots, painted in Murobond Bridge paint for a luxe feel.  When juxtaposed against our collection of unique brass, marble and terracotta pieces from Turkey, India and Sri Lanka the results speak for themselves!

For more info check out  www.thecoolhunter.com.au