A natural garden landscape provides a link between this home and its bush surroundings. Here, a sustainable landscaping designer and a developer join forces to create a natural-looking garden for a stylish contemporary dwelling.

Nick Fewster has a background in environmental management, and as a landscape designer he specialises in sustainable landscapes. That means he creates drought-tolerant, low-maintenance gardens specifically designed for Australian landscapes.

Drew is a property developer who builds what he calls "uniquely Australian contemporary houses". Many of these houses are in rural or bushland settings. When Drew met Nick at a young people’s networking course, the two immediately saw the potential in a business relationship in landscaping design.

"The style of sustainable landscaping design that Nick does really suits the homes that we build," says Drew. "Nick’s worked on projects for me for about five years now. There’s a bit of a fusion there that seems to have worked over time, so we continue working together."

After Drew’s company built a house in the Adelaide Hills, Drew asked Nick to look after the landscape. The building process had been more expensive than planned, so Nick was given quite a limited budget. The brief was to create a natural-looking garden landscape at the front and side of the house that reflected the straight lines of the home’s structure."The idea was to create a link between the house and the natural environment, and to create a sense that the house belonged there," says Nick.

He built a series of steps from the house down to the road, using recycled jarrah and gravel aggregate. These materials are used elsewhere in the garden and in the house, to create a sense of continuity and repetition.

Nick placed some large boulders on the slope at the front of the house, which help stabilise the earth and also provide a pleasant natural look to the garden area. Then he planted a series of native Australian plants that bind the soil and bring a sense of structure to the garden. Plants such as Austral grass trees, Albany Woolly Bush and ground-covering Myoporum look natural and gorgeous all at once.

The overall effect is of minimalist beauty; a natural garden that suits its setting perfectly. Once again, Nick’s landscaping design skills have added an extra dimension to a dwelling built by Drew’s construction firm. "What Nick does totally enhances what I do," says Drew. "His knowledge and skills are a great resource to have."

What was the design and construction brief the client gave you on this project?

Nick – The house is a modern, architect-designed dwelling built in the Adelaide Hills, and it’s in a very natural bushland setting. Drew wanted sustainable landscaping with a natural, drought tolerant garden that was low maintenance and incorporated native plants at the front and side of the house.

How did you approach the design process?

Nick – Between us we agreed that the most important thing was to create a landscape that complemented the architecture of the house. So we needed something that looked natural while also containing some structure to match the straight lines of the building. The idea was to create a link between the house and the natural environment, and to create a sense that the house belonged there.

How did you choose the plants?

Nick – We chose the groundcover Myoporum because it was important to provide stability in the slope to protect it from erosion. These plants will spread and help stabilise the whole area. All the plants are native Australian, and give that natural look while also adding a sense of structure to the landscape.

Did you do much hard landscaping in this project?

Nick – We designed and built the steps that lead from the end of the bridge at the house down to the roadway, and we built a low retaining border at the base of the slope. We also installed some large boulders to add stability to the slope.