Studio Visit

Peachy Green's Feel Good Gardens

You only need a brief encounter with landscape designer Fran Hale of Peachy Green to get a sense of what her gardens are like. Open-hearted and personable, Fran exudes an instant feeling of warmth and calm. She is the kind of girl you feel comfortable pouring your heart out to within a few minutes of meeting. She’s also one seriously talented landscape designer.

We recently visited Fran in her brand new studio space at the base of Nightingale 2.0 in Fairfield, to learn more about her human approach to landscape design.

Written
by
Sally Tabart

Frances Hale, founder of Peachy Green landscape designers, in her gorgeous new Fairfield HQ. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

Entrance to Peachy Green at the base of the Nightingale 2.0 project in Fairfield. Photo – Tom Blachford.

Fran recently kitted out her space in luxe textures and confident colours with help from Ha Arch, as well as Hip V. Hype. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

Fran and her new puppy! Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

Shameless cute dog photo. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

The Peachy Green workspace, featuring a painting by Stephen Baker and cupboards by Mustard Made. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

Stephen Baker painting. Mustard Made cupboards. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

Fran working in the office. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

‘The office started as a dream of convenience – to ride the kids to school then roll downhill to the office’, Fran tells. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

Office details. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

Fran at work. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

A client project in Northcote that has had time to grow into itself and become established. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

Fran visiting a client’s garden in Northcote. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

Established trees and happy plants. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

An earlier photo of the Northcote project shortly after completion. Photo – Tom Blachford.

An earlier photo of the Northcote project shortly after completion. Photo – Tom Blachford.

Another fantastic Northcote project. Photo – Steve Tan.

Writer
Sally Tabart
11th of November 2019

‘Our garden philosophy is to create a green sanctuary that evokes a sense of calm, and brings the wonder and character of plants and nature close into people’s homes’, landscape designer of Frances Hale of Peachy Green shares. Together with her team, Fran creates divinely lush, layered gardens, harnessing the rich natural resources unique to each garden – soil, aspect, climate, shade and native species.

Originally from New Zealand, Fran arrived in Melbourne almost 20 years ago, ‘to pursue a career in a city where design matters to people’, she explains. She knew she wanted to centre her future around something related to art and design, and wisely decided to realise that creativity in gardens – ’I thought it would be good for the soul’, she explains (seriously, who has the whole work/life balance thing figured out that early?), ‘although I’m not sure I knew at that stage quite how much I would grow to love working with nature’ she admits.

In 2011, Fran started her landscape design business, Peachy Green, first working out of her home, and steadily growing her practice to the ‘thriving little business’ it is today. Now, Fran and her team work from an exceedingly lovely workspace in Fairfield at the bottom of the new Nightingale 2.0 building, which she has recently decked out in layers of luxe textures and confident, bright bursts of soft peach and forest green (how fitting) with the help of Nick Harding at Ha Arch, as well as Hip V. Hype. ‘The office started as a dream of convenience – to ride the kids to school then roll downhill to the office’, Fran tells. ‘The sign popped up in my neighbourhood in the window of Nightingale 2.0, an organisation and movement that leads in such a positive direction for our cities and communities, it felt like the perfect home for Peachy Green.’

When I asked Fran what she wanted to achieve in a Peachy Green garden, her answer focused first on the emotive potential. ‘That feeling where you don’t need to go out, but would rather spend the day at home because it holds everything you need to rejuvenate’, she says. ‘To step out and experience the garden with all your senses in all the seasons is a joy, and I love seeing how happy a garden – or even a pot plant – makes people feel’. 

This sentiment is naturally echoed in Fran’s relationships with clients. ‘When designing a garden that often follows a complex renovation or build, it is impossible not to get caught up in the significance of finishing off a long journey – sometimes many years in the dreaming/planning/making’, Fran muses. ‘Getting to the heart of what they really want to feel when they are in their garden creates the most rewarding outcomes for everyone’. 

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