2024 provided garden inspiration in abundance!
We saw everything from a meadow-inspired garden in the backstreets of Brunswick to a fairytale garden for a country cottage and even a magical coastal garden on the Mornington Peninsula.
No matter their size or location, we fell in love with these beautiful blooming spaces. Scroll down to see them all!
Ann-Maree Winter’s garden in Arthurs Seat, Victoria, can only be described as ‘magical’. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.
Ornamental grasses play a huge role in tempering the colours and making sense of them against a backdrop of farmland and gum trees, says Ann-Maree. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.
Ann-Maree says the evening light captures the highlights and shadows of the garden perfectly. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.
When our photographer Amelia Stanwix returned from shooting this garden, she said, ‘I never seen so many butterflies and bees!’
We can totally see why Ann-Maree Winter’s garden in Arthurs Seat, Victoria, would appeal to these pollen-loving insects.
The once barren site of gravel, grass and a few trees is now a wonderland of perennial and native planting, with winding paths, secret rooms and brilliantly coloured blooms.
Bluestone boulders help retain the sloping site of Bridget Bodenham’s sloping garden. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.
Bridget says of the beautiful white foliage in the bottom right corner; ‘It’s iscelmisia semicordata. I love its dry fury leaf.’ Photo – Amelia Stanwix.
The grasses capture the evening light beautifully. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.
Earlier this year we featured Bridget Bodenham’s pottery studio in Hepburn, Victoria.
What that story didn’t show you at the time was the incredible garden that lay just beyond the windows — it was simply too beautiful not to have its own moment in the spotlight.
With layers of colours and textures, the sloping site is an abundant and cascading wonderland, lovingly tended by Bridget, who draws much of her inspiration for her pottery from the verdant site.
The open air seating area. Photo – Martina Gemmola.
A 100-year-old oak tree provides incredible beauty while naturally dividing the garden into zones for a fire pit, paved outdoor dining area, and open air seating. Photo – Martina Gemmola.
Areas of the garden in full sun adopt a Mediterranean plant palette featuring larger naturalistic drifts inspired by a bush reserve over the road. Photo – Martina Gemmola.
Tim Pilgrim is fast becoming one of our favourite local garden designers for his densely planted outdoor spaces blending traditional, modern, and ornamental species.
His ‘Oak Cottage’ project is a beautifully layered and whimsical garden connected by winding paths in front of a Federation home in Macedon, Victoria.
The garden provides multiple outdoor seating areas and directs visitors to the entrance of the home, setting the tone of this enchanting country setting.
Lucy’s husband Gordy and their talented friend Nick Casey did all the timber landscaping components of the garden, including the garden path, the deck and the front verandah. Photo – Eve Wilson.
In the sweet space, you’ll find exotic natives, grasses and colourful perennials. Photo – Eve Wilson.
The duck-egg blue facade of Silvermoon inspired the colour scheme of the garden. Photo – Eve Wilson.
Before buying this Mornington Peninsula home, The Design Files editor Lucy Feagins had never really had a ‘proper garden’ before.
So when her family finished transforming this 1970s fibro beach shack into a getaway now known as Silvermoon, they turned to garden designer Jo Ferguson as their guide to create the perfect coastal landscape.
The front yard has since evolved into a sea of pastel flowers and native grasses that reflect the wild beauty of the ocean and its surroundings. You won’t believe the before and after photos!
The garden is naturalistic in style, using only gravel to create soft pathways throughout the abundant greenery. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.
Beci and Jimmy stand amongst leafy foliage, with ‘billys buttons’ (Pycnosorus Globosus) and sea holly (Eryngium) below. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.
‘Rather than think about any colour scheme, I’ve generally been led by contrasting foliage forms and let the seasons dictate the colours,’ Jimmy says. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.
It’s no secret Melbourne’s inner north is a hotspot for creatives, including Beci Orpin — illustrator, designer, and artist extraordinaire — who’s been working from a playful shared studio space in Brunswick since 2022.
But what you might not expect to find between the graffiti-lined back streets is the surprisingly lush, meadow-like garden hidden just beyond Beci’s studio, created with the help of garden designer Jimmy Sing.
A diverse mix of native plants, flowering perennials, and leafy foliage has turned this once-weed-ridden space into a naturalistic urban oasis that reflects Beci’s joyful energy!
Miscanthus sinensis transmorrisonensis (evergreen miscanthus) create a breezy, summery feel. Photo – Martina Gemmola.
Views of the garden from every angle! Photo – Martina Gemmola.
An elegant white steel arbour was added to the back patio with a climbing parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper) to produce lovely dappled shade in the summer. Photo – Martina Gemmola.
Designing a garden from scratch is no easy feat. But in the capable hands of Saint Remy’s principal designer Seam Lam, you’re sure to end up with a work of art.
In this recent project, Seam transformed a ‘confused’ patchwork garden into a vibrant landscape filled with colour and lush greenery.
When viewed through the large panoramic glass windows inside, or against the restrained palette of the home’s architecture, the garden is like a painting.
The transformed garden subtly divides the relatively small backyard (about 100 square metres) into zones for dining, entertaining, relaxing, and productivity. Photo – Caitlin Mills
The pergola is covered in Vitis vinifera (ornamental grape), which offers dense summer shade and spectacular autumn colour. Table by Jack Built It. Studio Wire Dining Chairs by Life Interiors. Photo – Caitlin Mills
Cyperus prolifer (dwarf papyrus), Nymphaea odorata (white water lily), and Pistia stratiotes (water lettuce) in the pond. Photo – Caitlin Mills
When her children entered their teen years, Miniscape Projects founder Clea Cregan decided it was time to ditch the trampoline, cubby house and ‘thirsty’ backyard lawn.
Drawing on her wealth of knowledge as a landscape designer, Clea turned her attention to her own family backyard to create a more functional and mature space filled with native grasses, flowers, and edible plants.
Bluestone pavers are softened by flowering perennials like Achillea ‘Terracotta’ (yarrow) and Liriope muscari (lily-turf). Photo – Tess Kelly
Miscanthus ‘Klein Fontaine’, Salvia leucantha (Mexican sage) and Viola hederacea (native violet) also provide grassy foilage. Photo – Tess Kelly
Prunus lusitanica (Portuguese laurel) has been used for the boundary heading, alongside Tristaniopsis ‘Luscious’ (water gum) trees for screening. Photo – Tess Kelly
The gardens of this Melbourne family home were designed to feel traditional at the front, and contemporary at the back.
BWLA director Bethany Williamson mirrored the elegance of the period facade with a front lawn and a classic garden path, while the more relaxed landscaping at the rear perfectly complements the house’s modern extension.
These spaces have given the owners the best of both worlds, with plenty of places for the kids to play amongst low-maintenance landscaping.
