Landscaping dreams by Considered Design Inc.

People all over Instagram are talking about the arrival of spring, something we here in godforsaken Ottawa cannot even begin to think about at least until the end of March. While wanting to curl up under a duvet and die, I stumbled upon the portfolio of Julian Pattison and Alison Magill who make up Considered Design Inc., a landscape architecture firm located in Vancouver (which happens to have WAY milder weather than Ottawa...JERKS!). I like my landscaping modern and simple, with repetition and a casual vibe. And that is exactly what these guys do. I would give anything to turn my bland-and-never-been-landscaped-in-80-years backyard into this first outdoor oasis. Stashing this away for future reference. *LOVE*

Click to read more ...

Backyard oasis

Some garden inspiration today. Contemporary landscape design by Melbourne-based Eugene Gilligan. I've chosen a few of my favourite outdoor spaces. With the temperature tipped to reach 41 degrees Celcius (106 Fahrenheit) I'm dreaming of luscious green shade and bubbling fountains ... and definitely a dip in a pool.

Click to read more ...

The billabong

Billabong (BIL-ə-bong) - an isolated pond left behind after a river changes course.

A swimming pond at the end of the garden? Yes please. Even better if it doesn't have a slimy bottom ;) This beautifully crafted pool and surrounding garden are by Sydney-based Landart Landscapes. Love the cantilevered boardwalk perfect for that running jump into the cool waiting water.

Click to read more ...

Point of view

"I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape- the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show." - Andrew Wyeth

What do 20th century American realist artist Andrew Wyeth and Nashville landscape architect Anne Daigh have in common? Why did Daigh use his quote as the description for this garden? They are storytellers and lovers of the bleak, the melancholic, the beautiful. Daigh's design for this suburban backyard is painterly in its approach, sculptural in its execution. To me, an Australian, it has about it a certain "Americanism", the dream of the field, the barn, the farm.

Click to read more ...

Verdant views

There is a little slice of paradise in the rolling hills behind the northern New South Wales coastal resort of Byron Bay. Lush green land with stunning views often with old farm houses poised on top of a ridge. Where once dairy cattle grazed or avocado trees groaned under bumper crops now cashed up tree changers create little kingdoms. As much as I love a good old Queenslander-style house restoration (this one was moved here) it's the gardens that I'm concentrating on today. A simple, classic layout with emphasis on the house and that view. Such green goodness in Federal by Secret Gardens.

Click to read more ...