Tread Lightly

Sustainable Garden Design

As a wonderful example of the living nature of the design process this project was born out of the seed of necessity and organically grew to be a whole lot more than that. What started as a wish to solve a problem area has grown to become a beautiful garden with spaces and places enough for the whole family.

Initially our client wished to claim back a high maintenance weedy area of the garden and build a small deck area to extend their entertainment and relaxation space but during our early conversations we decided on a design approach that would look at the garden from a larger perspective so that we could understand the longer range plans for the property and stage the works accordingly. The primary features of the design were to be a raised decking area to replace some overgrown garden and an open pergola over some existing paving to provide a shady retreat. We then incorporated some supplementary ‘softwork’ features to add interest and unify the spaces. These include rockwork, swaling and earth-mounds that not only create structure and movement in the gardens surrounding the decking, paths and lawn area, but have been designed to capture and direct water flow to the gardens best advantage.

From our very first meeting it was clear that the owners of this garden were equally as passionate about our business ethos as were we. A fully sustainable material palette and construction methods were used, quantity was curbed so that the budget could be allocated towards individual and creative features, while our client worked very closely with us throughout construction (lots of weekend wheelbarrow parties!) to ensure that our allocated time covered the high quality finishes we pride ourselves on.

We called this garden ‘Tread Lightly’ and designed it in response to our clients’ key sustainability criteria. A ‘footprint’ motif was used to shape the decking and further fuse the design theme to the garden. Throughout the construction process though the decking became affectionately known as ‘David’s Jellybean Deck’ and now after completion has grown to be ‘David’s Jellybean Garden’. It goes to show that you can call something whatever you like in the design studio but until it becomes part of your client’s world it hasn’t yet found its place. As landscapers it’s a joyful moment for us when our designs not only become a physical reality but then go further to become a living member of the family. This was a fun project made all the better by being able to work with a great family. Thanks guys.