Completed 2024
Landscape Design: Cathy Apps, Catnik Design Studio
Landscape Construction: Catnik Design Studio
This garden began as a sun-exposed, north-facing backyard with little shade, structure or seasonal interest. With a new custodian came a new vision: to create an immersive, character-rich landscape that could be enjoyed from the home’s kitchen, dining and sitting rooms, as well as from the elevated deck. The result is a garden of inviting pockets, shifting views and thoughtful moments that draw you in from every angle.
A generous herringbone path, crafted from re-used Old Red bricks, now forms the main spine through the space — wide enough for two to walk comfortably side by side. A second brick path branches toward the vegetable garden, while narrower gravel paths loop around the perimeter, encouraging quiet exploration. These smaller, meandering trails lead to large sandstone perching rocks, each positioned to offer two distinct views back across the garden — perfect for pausing, reflecting or simply taking a breather while gardening.
A lively mix of native and exotic flowering plants, interwoven with ornamental grasses, brings energy and softness to the space. This perennial-rich palette ensures ever-changing colour, mood and movement throughout the seasons while welcoming birds, bees and butterflies.
An old galvanised garage and shed were dismantled and reinvented as a productive, inviting vegetable garden. The space now features a climbing frame, a new garden shed, a potting bench, raised vegetable beds and espalier frames for fruit trees. Green living walls help cool and soften the area, creating a lush kitchen-garden feel. Organic bluestone steppers guide you in, with a sawdust floor that offers a gentle, quiet underfoot experience.
A once bare and sun-exposed yard has become a layered, welcoming and deeply personal garden — one that evolves beautifully with its new custodian
