Garden Design - renovation of a 1959 garden

We have been in our little 1959 cement brick 'cottage' for aprox. 3 years now and have done so much work to make it comfortable, to 2009 standards, without comprimising the feel and look of 1959. From the street our home still wears it's 1959 smile, but the severely neglected garden (consisting of a lawn alone !!!) now boasts healthy old fashioned plants like wisteria, rosemary, hibiscus (rose of sharon), catmint, geraniums and agapanthas - all of which are well suited to our extreemly dry, hot medeterranian like climate. I wanted to share the progress visually too, and you can see the conditions we have worked with as we extended the rear of our home and worked a drought tolorant, old fashioned garden into the overall scheme. Our backyard consisted of a very sickly apricot and two peach trees, some hardy nandina, and a small japonica bush. The apricot tree did not survive the 10 year drought (much to my disapointment), but the two peach trees have come back wonderfully and have rewarded us with fantastic crops the past two summers. You can see the fruitian of my garden design for our backyard shown below - I have to say I am more than a little proud, considering we had $0 budget and all the plants were grown from cuttings from friends, the path was constructed from our remnent bricks and all this was done under severe water ristrictions, not to mention two weeks in a row of 45 degrees last summer....I supose it proves that it is possible to have a lovely garden in the face of climatic change, water restrictions and limited finances !! Hurray for places of peace and tranquility !

How ghastly is a house in progress ?!!! These are quite obviously the before and 'in progress' shots !!! You can see all my cuttings growing in pots around the hot water service !! These photographs all show the eastern side of our 1/4 acre block

The rough watercolour sketch I drew for our backyard. The side shown in the photographs is the eastern side with the long, thin, 'snake like' cottage path winding through garden beds to the lawn

And what a beautiful difference two years makes !!! The same view as the earlier photographs (although the house is now screened by foliage). Just a small plug...Eden Design is happy to help you turn your garden into a haven with advice and water colour plans such as these. Feel free to contact me through this site if you wish. My pricelist and service details are listed under the label "Garden Design Service" - sorry for the blatent self promotion there !!! Note the darling little bubby - also a proud and beautiful achievement of the last two years !!!

Eden Design - Package and Price List

Below is a list of my fees and charges as of June 2007. If there is anything that I can help you with, please don’t hesitate to contact me - I'd love to talk gardens with you!

Starter Package : $100

What do you receive?

1. Initial discussions (Free)
2. Onsite meeting if required (Free)
3. Three concept plans (not available for clients to keep)
4. Discussion of concept plans and arrangements for final plans.

Note: Package one items automatically included in all other package prices


Bronze Leaf Package : $400

What do you receive?

1. All items available in package one plus:
2. Final plan - completed in black and white, A3 size or larger as required
3. Plant list.

Suitable for? Simple residential gardens where the owner intends to complete all works and as costs allow.

Upgrade available? Colour plan available for $50 extra


Silver Leaf Package : $500

What do you receive?

1. All items available in package one plus:
2. Final plan – completed in colour A3 size or larger as required
3. Two elevation drawings
4. Design description
5. Plant list.

Suitable for? Residential, industrial or developmental gardens, to be installed and maintained by owners or landscapers.


Gold Leaf Package : $600

What do you receive?

1. All items available in package one plus:
2. Final plan – completed in colour A3 size or larger as required
3. Two elevation drawings
4. Site analysis
5. Design description
6. Plant list, plant numbers required and proposed suppliers
7. Product list and suppliers
8. Cost estimate for clients installing their own garden

Suitable for? Submission to planning authorities; small or large-scale residential, industrial and developmental projects undertaken by owner or professional landscapers; displays and promotion.

Extras :

Plans on CD $25

Plans Laminated $30

Multiple copies $30 per set

Items in package 4 added to other packages $40 per item



Contact : edendesign@aapt.net.au

About Eden Design - Garden Design and Advice

Eden Design is essentially a garden design and advice service. I specialise in gardening where plants are the main focus and attraction, however, I frequently design with hard scaping elements to suit the particular requirements of a client. My personal passion is period gardening, but with 'low maintenance and drought tolerance' the theme of most gardens today, I find contemporary landscapes are fast becoming my main work.

I choose to do my designs in water colours as this is the traditional artistic medium for garden designers of last century.... garden designs are as much a work of art as the gardens themselves! When I can find a computer program that can replicate a stunning watercolour plan, then I will use it!

I am inspired by the wonderful watercolour designs of renowned Australian garden designer, Edna Walling, and have toured many of the stunning gardens of Australia, England and America for tangible inspiration. It must be confessed, however, that many of my favourite everyday gardens can be found in my hometown of Kerang ! I love to walk around a garden that has been established through years of love and tender care by the owner - it is not only beautiful to everyone, but a joy and escape for those that live there too.

I find people don’t seem to take the time or the pride in their homes that way so much anymore, but this is where Eden Design LOVES to help out! A garden need not be high maintenance or water guzzling to be as beautiful, lush or stunning as the gardens of last century. It is a pleasure for me to help people live in a place of garden beauty and wonder once again....

A small selection of the jobs I have undertaken in the past year are shown in the images on this post... I do hope they prove an inspiration to you in your gardening endeavours!