This stunning Melbourne garden, designed and built by Steve Taylor and the team at Creative Outdoor Solutions, offers the ultimate resort-style entertaining experience — summer and winter, day and night.

“To meet the family’s various needs, we carved the garden into three distinct functional zones,” explains Steve Taylor, director of Creative Outdoor Solutions. “The pool and sundeck, the lower lawn area and the raised deck for alfresco dining, all of which have been positioned in a way that maximises every square metre of the very tight block.

“The property has a two-metre easement to the rear so engineering and positioning of structures needed to be sympathetic to this,” he continues. “Depth of space was also minimal so we had to place the main features to the sides of the property to draw the eye away from the encroaching rear boundary and redirect it towards the view of the more generous lateral spacing.”

Of equal importance was the way in which the garden related to the house. Ensuring that the design would work in harmony with the distinctive architecture and soften the effect of the large expanse of glazing to the rear was critical.

With an eye to sustainability and ease of maintenance, low-water-use plants predominate, garden beds are heavily mulched and two water tanks were installed: an 8000-litre aboveground Colorbond tank to irrigate the garden and drought-proof Anco Kings Pride buffalo turf lawn, and a bladder tank under the deck to top up the pool.

The use of blue LED lighting from Gardens At Night is another eco-friendly initiative. LEDs are incredibly energy efficient, offer low running costs and can be used to dramatic effect.

Ensuring the garden would exude maximum appeal at night was vital and a key component of the landscape lighting scheme is the Tree of Life light box from Lump Sculpture Studio. This is complemented by the three-panel steel artwork, custom-designed by Creative Outdoor Solutions and built by Lump Sculpture Studio, which is positioned to the rear of the pool.

Throughout, the selection and use of hardscaping materials has been well considered. From the Raven granite paving from Better Exteriors to the certified merbau decking, the look is clean and sophisticated.

While the large pool and spa, expertly built by Goldfish Pools, forms the backbone of the garden, it is the feeling of openness, the way in which each of the living zones connects and the simple, pared-back contemporary design that makes this the ideal landscape for the owners and their three young sons.
“With all of our designs we focus on not over designing. The best results are always achieved through simplicity and sophistication,” says Steve.

Steve Taylor and the team at Creative Outdoor Solutions have been designing and building landscapes in Melbourne and in the Mornington Peninsula area since 2000. As registered builders with qualified drafts people on staff, they offer a full “start to finish” service including outdoor rooms and structures.