Designing for a Decade, Not a Season
The best gardens are designed for the year they will be best, not the year they are planted. A note on how we draw planting plans for the long arc.
Garden Design
Planting
Choosing Plants for Sydney Summers
Sydney summers are getting longer and drier. A working list of the species we now lean on for residential gardens that need to look intentional through February.
On Site
Behind the Build: Vaucluse Courtyard
Sixteen weeks, three metres wide, one lilly pilly craned in over the roof. A diary of how a leftover side return became the most-used room of a Vaucluse home.
Practice
Why We Take On Fewer Projects
A short note on why our studio caps the number of projects we begin each year, and what that means for the gardens we get to make.
Garden Design
Heritage Gardens: Restoring, Not Replicating
Working on heritage-listed sites teaches a particular discipline: most of the design work is subtraction, not addition. A note on how we approach restoration commissions.
Planting
Native and Exotic: The Balanced Palette
We don't design all-native gardens, and we don't design all-exotic ones either. A practical note on how we mix the two in residential Sydney work.
On Site
Stone Craft on the Southern Highlands
Working with hand-split granite on the Southern Highlands Estate — what we learned from the third-generation stonemason who walled the property.
Practice
Fifteen Years of Listening
A short reflection on what fifteen years of residential garden practice has taught us about the first client meeting — and how much of the design happens there.