Both front and rear gardens have been thoughtfully designed to forge a close connection to nature and frame the Hamptons-style home to perfection.
Designed by Matt McMahon of McMahon Earth Solutions to complement a Hamptons-style home set in an idyllic spot in the Noosa Valley, this garden draws heavily on its coastal location to offer the young family something very special.
While the front garden is a mix of formal elements, in keeping with the traditional architecture of the home, and rustic features; the rear garden is a more relaxed affair that feels like an extension of the wider natural environment.
In the front garden, a formal stepping stone path leads from the driveway, across the manicured lawn to the front door of the house. The garden beds reflect the formal angularity of the path but are softened by the planting and the use of rustic Corten steel edging.
The grand retaining wall that snakes its way along the front boundary was built using blonde granite boulders, giving the acreage property that quintessential country feel. To enhance the garden’s connection to its wider natural surrounds and offer greater privacy from the street, generous planting beds were integrated into the design of the wall, which the McMahon Earth Solutions team then filled with plants of varying heights.
At the homeowners’ request, Matt says the front-garden planting style is a little bit “Hamptons”, seen in the use of traditional exotic plants such as Teddy Bear magnolias and Murraya ‘Min-a-Min’, a dwarf mock orange, and a lot “subtropical classics”. In the rear garden, the emphasis is on water-wise and subtropical plants.
The planting palette is integral to Matt’s design and features a selection of natives — Australian tree ferns, native gardenia, hoop pines, and Macrozamia moorei, a tall-growing cycad — complemented by climate-appropriate exotics, such as Japanese sago palm, Carissa ‘Desert Star’ and Dioon spinulosum, a very striking cycad that’s native to Mexico.
“In the rear garden, the design is very much about family life and enjoying the outdoors. There are level, grassed areas where the children can play, an enticing pool, and a fire pit area where the family can relax and feel totally connected to nature,” says Matt. “To add to the charm, the fire pit is a repurposed Corten steel mining crusher around which we built a semi-circular seat of warm-toned blonde granite.”
This project garnered two honours in the 2023 Landscape Queensland Construction Excellence Awards. Firstly, it won the Contractor Design and Construct over $175,000 category with the awards’ judges saying: “The workmanship of this project is of an extremely high standard. The landscape has been expertly built to enhance the recreational use of the expansive rural block. The meticulous levels, surface treatments, and attention to detail shine throughout. The eclectic materials used are perfectly suited to a project of this scale. The carefully selected plants thrive, drawn from an interesting palette. This landscape redefines rural living with its exceptional quality and innovative design.”
The second award, Best Residential Feature, was for the fire pit area. Again, the judges were fulsome in their praise: ”This project distinguishes itself through its exceptional use of varied elements and recycled materials expertly crafted for maximum impact. A recycled Corten steel mining crusher serves as a creatively designed fire pit, while the fire pit’s seating, beautifully fashioned from blonde granite, carries the project’s theme throughout. Overlooking this inviting space is a creatively repurposed recycled civil bridge piling, now a feature planter housing the grand Macrozamia moorei. Skilful lighting enhances the Corten planter, weaving a captivating twilight setting for relaxation.”
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