This motivated garden in the Blue Mountains near Sydney, Australia, has functioned as a test garden for award-winning landscape designer Arthur Lathouris for 15 years. The cool climate and high altitude are not easy to utilize, but Lathouris’ combination of hardy, lush plants flourishes. The Lathouris family home is surrounded by the 3,500-square-foot oasis; it is split into many gardens connected by winding, paved trails. Each small garden shows something unique: contemporary metal figurines contrast with carefully pruned hedges; tiny pots of succulents decorate a bright courtyard; and vibrant patches of bugleweed sit underneath flowering cherry trees.
Arthur Lathouris Garden Designer
Lathouris cleared a few pine trees from their property’s edge to give the planting beds sun. The pines were cut into beams that are tight and utilized to build the family’s house.
Arthur Lathouris Garden Designer
Now this courtyard is filled with bursts of color, because of a mix of walnut (Acer palmatum ‘Dissectum Atropurpureum’, USDA zones 5 to 8), Japanese boxwood (Buxus microphylla var. japonica, zones 5 to 9)and Mexican orange blossom (Choisya ternata, zones 7 to 10).
Arthur Lathouris Garden Designer
Lathouris’ wife put up colored tripods around the property to indicate the blossom color changes of her dahlia plantings that were deciduous.
Arthur Lathouris Garden Designer
The gardens are connected by mulched and pebbled pathways lined with salvaged bricks. Dianella ‘Little Jess’ hedging adds softness to this route, while the rich color of black tree aeonium (Aeonium ‘Swartkopf’, zones 9 to 11) picks up on the home’s accent colors.
Arthur Lathouris Garden Designer
The site’s coastal and shallow soil presented some challenges, but regular additions of manure and compost increased the soil’s water-holding capacity. Lathouris composts all of the garden’s green waste and doesn’t use a watering system; the garden is extremely self indulgent and sustainable.
This pathway lined with bechtel crabapple (Malus ioensis ‘Flora Plena’), golf ball kohuhu (Pittosporum’Golf ball’, zones 8 to 11) and red claws (Escallonia macrantha, zones 8 to 10) beckons visitors.
Arthur Lathouris Garden Designer
The rounded shapes of Lathouris’ carefully pruned Japanese boxwood lessen the formality of the hedge. Lathouris strategically planted many different textures and colors to change with the seasons. With orange maple this pathway bursts in fall.
Arthur Lathouris Garden Designer
Sculptures, such as this piece, titled”The Golden Gate,” could be seen throughout the property. Lathouris has many pieces — mostly made from recycled steel — by more, Norman Organ, Mark Davis and artists Ian Swift. Here the stonecrop (Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, zones 3 to 9) draws the eye on the angles from the steel sculpture.
Arthur Lathouris Garden Designer
These dangling scrap metal rings have been salvaged from a nearby construction site. They hang gracefully on the veranda close to a Japanese flowering cherry tree and a patch ofbugleweed (Ajuga reptans, zones 3 to 10).
Arthur Lathouris Garden Designer
A sedimentary stone, ironstone, can all be found all around the property. Lathouris used the rock to build retaining and attribute walls which complement the garden expansion.
This ironstone palaces enhances the eulalia (Miscanthus sinensis ‘Variegata’, zones 5 to 9),blue fescue (Festuca glauca, zones 4 to 2 ) andpurple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea, zones 3 to 2 )which are so prominent throughout the garden.
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