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Landscape designer Michael Bates trained with master Japanese landscaper Masayoshi Uchiyama in the 80s, who enlightened him to the practice of ‘borrowed scenery’. In layman’s terms, the concept prompts designers to consider the landscape beyond the perimeter as part of the composition of a garden. The views beyond the boundary are part of the vista, and should be incorporated into the final design.
Michael took this concept and ran with it when designing this garden in Sydney’s Lower North Shore, that overlooks a spectacular secluded bay. The clients had recently commissioned Madeleine Blanchfield to design an angular contemporary residence with a monochrome palette, so Michael turned to the rolling headlands and surrounding surf to create a lush, organic counterpart to the modern residence.
‘There were many lush plantings in the neighbouring properties that we were able to weave in to the planting plan to blur the boundaries,’ says Michael. ‘This makes the garden feel like it went on forever.’
A sub-tropical planting palette inspired by Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx was devised to complement this borrowed landscape, and create depth in the foliage textures on the ground level. For contrast, the rooftop garden is abundant with a mix of hardy Mediterranean species, succulents and flowering groundcovers.
Plantings are one thing, but structure was another. Briefed by the new owners to create space for a terrace entertainment area, a rooftop garden and a mini golf green (!) on the steep site, Michael required a central element to unite all these disparate elements together.
‘My big idea was to create a larger, flat lawn space which stitched all of the different landscape features together,’ says Michael. ‘This made the garden feel like one space with many places.’
Large sandstone steppers from Eco Outdoor facilitate connection between the house and the garden, lowering visitors down from the raised lounge terrace down to the lawn, where they can then meander through each pocket towards the boundary.
This complex, multi-functional garden is knitted together by its sweeping views and tropical palette, which allow purpose-driven spaces to dissolve into the wild attitude of the terrain. A feat of cohesive garden design!
See more projects by Bates Landscapes here.
