OUTDOORS: WINTER GARDEN

A CREATIVE COUPLE’S COOL-CLIMATE GARDEN IS A STUDY IN MASS PLANTING, STRUCTURE AND STYLE

- JULIA FAIRLEY

Room mates “Zones or ‘rooms’ in a garden are key to getting the most out of your space,” says Katrina, a keen green thumb. Segmenting the area with ironstone walls and terraces visually enlarged the garden and made it usable, despite its slope. “The terraces flow seamlessly into each other through the curves we designed,” she adds.

As most renovators know, therapy is a common consequence. This was true for Katrina, a textile designer, and Alex, a builder, who live together in a quiet village in the Blue Mountains, NSW. “The garden was therapy from our renovation,” says Alex, of landscaping the sprawling space. The couple moved to the Blue Mountains from Sydney in 2011 and immediately sunk their hands into their property’s weed-riddled ground. “We did a massive clearing of blackberry, agapanthus, jasmine, and montbretia,” explains Katrina. “We quickly learned the maximum weight for a green bin before it wasn’t collected!”

Winter blooms For a lush cool-climate garden, turn to perennials and winter-flowering plants. “Anything that’s deciduous is going to be a skeleton, so you want to be looking for evergreens like Buxus and lavender,” says Alex. “Some perennials and bulbs flower in winter, like snowdrops and hellebores, which are fantastic,” he adds.