Secret Gardens design gardens with the whole family in mind. Gardens can play an important part in the development of children. It may be through exercise like trampolines, climbing walls, play equipment or an old tyre hanging from a tree.  But it also could be a more subtle and sensory approach through plant design.

Flowers, foliage, colour, contrast and scent will appeal to them and make their time in the garden more exciting. If space is tight, install a custom made blackboard on a wall or turn your side passage into a bike or scooter path way to keep the kids entertained. Even a practical item such as storage for toys outside keeps the garden looking tidy when you are entertaining whilst also giving easy access for the kids when they want to play. There are plenty of ways to encourage children to enjoy the outdoors!

Here’s a few of the family friendly gardens we have designed:

Plants are a passion of Secret Gardens, they make the garden. Whilst we recognize that the practical and structural requirements need to be met, we are keen to ensure that the hard surfaces or landscape features are not overdone. There should be a balance between horticultural and structural.

Apart from the obvious aesthetic appeal, plants can perform many functions in gardens, like screening unsightly views or dealing with privacy issues; providing shade, partitioning gardens, directing traffic and so on.  Too often problems are resolved with structural solutions which can be expensive and unsympathetic.  A green outlook is very hard to beat.

Here’s a small selection of garden plantings we love:

Its herbaceous foliage is formed from very narrow, upright blue/green leaves, which are hairy beneath and often turn bronze. Coppery fan-shaped panicle flower heads appear in late summer / autumn that later become silvery white plumes which may fade to  beige in winter providing interest and change throughout the seasons.

Botanical name: Miscanthus sinensis ‘Gracillimus’
Common name: Maiden Grass ‘Gracillimus’, Chinese Silver Grass
Family: Poaceae
Origin: Eastern Asia – Japan, Korea, North East China

1. Portable umbrellas that can be fixed into concrete paving/slabs. Instant shade umbrellas are a neat solution and take up little room when not in use.
2. Mature trees are always a favourite as long as you have adequate soil capacity. Deciduous specimens will provide summer shade and winter sun, plus the advantage of having a natural canopy can really help soften and cool a space.
3. Retractable fabric awnings are also a popular solution, there are two main types:
• Folding arm awning that can be retro-fitted to masonry walls (think of the old style café awnings). Many fabric colours to choose from, quick tip – darker colours are easier to clean and will absorb the heat well.
• Fabric tensioned on guide wire. Outrigger awnings offer a wide range of solutions to choose from.
• There are also retractable weather proof structures now available, for example the ‘Corradi’ system.
4. Permanent structures such as:
• Open timber pergolas present great opportunities to grow a climber over the top. A very classic approach.
• Alternatively for more contemporary designs we are seeing weather-proof structures with fixed ceilings, fitted with down lights and speakers.

The February issue of House & Garden magazine focuses on children’s cubbyhouses and profiles a cubbyhouse nestled into a recent landscape design by Secret Gardens in Woollahra.

The February issue of Home Beautiful Magazine features a Secret Gardens landscape design in Bronte that makes use of timber for outdoor shading, creating an all-weather sanctuary.

The February issue of House & Garden Magazine features our Seaforth garden design and discusses how an inspirational plantscape along with sandstone walls and terracing have transformed a steep site into a real Secret Garden.

Gives an established look to European, Mediterranean and Asian-themed gardens. Strong dense growth in full sun and leggy thinner growth in shadier spots where a view to a feature wall behind can be partially exposed during the warmer months. A self-clinging climber which uses tendrils tipped with tiny sticky discs to cling to walls. It is a non-destructive climber and won’t crack walls but can spoil paintwork when removed. Used to shade sun exposed walls during summer, it also helps to keep houses cool. This is a low water use plant once established.

Botanical name: Parthenocissus tricuspidata
Common name: Boston Ivy
Family: Vitacea
Origin: Eastern Asia – Japan, Korea, North East China

1. Plant summer herbs such as Basil and Rocket. If using pots that have been left empty over winter, the potting mix should be thrown away. Existing herb pots should be liquid-fertilised and treated with a liquid soil-wetting agent to prevent drying out in hot weather.
2. Aerate and top dress your lawn to encourage new growth. Turf can be aerated using a fork or aeration devices available from nurseries and hardware stores. Next, top-dress your lawn with ‘Supertop’; a mixture of sand, compost and fertiliser. This can be spread over the surface of the lawn and watered in.
3. Cut back ‘Star Jasmine’. After flowers have dropped Jasmine will begin to grow rapidly so a hard cut-back will keep the plant neat and encourage fuller growth.
4. Watch for aphids, especially on new shoots and flower buds. Aphids can be sprayed with an insecticide such as Confidor or a mix of diluted detergent and water.
5. Check roses for black spot. Remove any infected leaves and spray with Triforene or diluted milk and water (1:5). Ensure that any fallen leaves are removed from the ground and place in the rubbish not in your compost heap.

In the January 2012 issue of Home Beautiful magazine Mark Curtis of Secret Gardens of Sydney talks about creating outdoor storage spaces.