Landscape design by Clea Cregan, Miniscape Projects
In Brunswick, Melbourne, this Smith Street garden is home to Liz and Joel, their two children and their whippet, Tink.
Designed by Miniscape Projects, this garden forms a purposeful outdoor extension to a renovation that chooses to celebrate (rather than erase) the character of a 1970s brown-brick home. Instead of demolishing or disguising its original elements, the architecture embraces them, thoughtfully reorienting the house to draw attention to the garden beyond.
The garden design
The homeowners’ brief centred on creating a garden that invited interaction. They envisioned a soft, welcoming space for their children to play, with areas to grow vegetables and herbs, a place to shoot hoops, and sunny spots for relaxing while staying connected to their friendly street.
The garden also needed to flow naturally to a new backyard studio and retain two much-loved existing trees (a fig and a lemon) that were to remain key features in the design.
The garden transformation
The garden design focused on bringing the old and new together in a way that feels soft and a little bit playful.
A mix of robust and reclaimed materials, like corten steel edging and recycled bluestone billets, sets a relaxed tone throughout the space. To support a low-maintenance, easygoing feel, Dichondra repens was used as a no-mow lawn alternative to grass, creating a soft, green carpet underfoot.
Raised beds made of steel provide space for herbs and seasonal edibles, while dwarf and columnar fruit trees were chosen to introduce a wide variety of species into the compact garden, making the most of every corner.
The result
The result is a layered and ‘unfussy’ garden that supports both the pace of family life and those quieter outdoor moments. It’s a space where vegetables and herbs grow alongside playful areas for the children, where sunny corners invite relaxation and the friendly street remains a part of the section.
The existing fig and lemon trees continue to anchor the garden, while the new planting scheme brings softness and ease. It’s a productive space, a play space and a place that feels just as good barefoot as it does bouncing a basketball.
Plant palette
- Eucalyptus cinerea ‘Silver Dollar’
- Lagerstroemia indica x fauriei ‘Sioux’
- Cercis chinensis ‘Avondale’
- Protea cynaroides ‘Pink Crown’
- Magnolia yunnanensis ‘White Caviar’
- Santolina chamaecyparissus
- Salvia nemorosa
- Westringia fruticosa ‘Smokey’
- Miscanthus sinensis
- Feijoa sellowiana
- Myoporum parvifolium ‘Broad Leaf Pink’
- Columnar apples
- Mulberry tree
- Sedum rupestre ‘Blue Feather’
- Dichondra repens (used as a ‘no-mow’ groundcover)
- Lemon tree (pre-existing)
- Fig tree (pre-existing)
Landscape design by Miniscape Projects
Photography by Martina Gemmola
