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Equally important, their new retreat

needed to be low maintenance. Having

previously tended a manicured garden on

a one-acre block, they fi gured they had

done their share of horticultural toiling.

And, to top it off, local planning

requirements stipulated the garden had

to include some Australian native plants.

What Terry Meehan came up with has

exceeded their expectations.

Completely cocooned from the outside

world by bamboo-pole fencing, this garden

haven is a palette of different greens with

the only sounds the chirping of birds and

the gurgling of water in the pond between

the Bali hut and the outdoor-dining area.

“Yes, I think they’re happy we have

captured the feel of Bali,” says Terry, who

won gold for Best in Show and Best Use of

Plant Life at this year’s Melbourne

International Flower & Garden Show.

This Balinese beauty was awarded the

plum Landscape Industries Association

of Victoria’s award for Best Residential

Landscape (under $75,000) for 2009.

According to the owners, this garden is

about as low-maintenance as any could be,

ideal in a back yard where one of the few

rituals is a 5pm chardonnay by the pond.

OUTDOORS

May 29, 201022

Words & photography Tony Fawcett

A suburban back yard

has been transformed

into a piece of paradise

Top Enjoy the view across the pond to the Balinese hut from the entertaining

deck Above, inset Bamboo poles in an urn make a striking sculptural feature

ancy a tranquil backyard paradise

complete with idyllic pond, ferns

that sway in the breeze and a

thatched-roof Bali beach hut just

right for leisure-time slumbering?

It’s likely we all do at some stage but are

held back because, frankly, we don’t know

where to start.

One Heidelberg couple, regular visitors to

Bali, also had this dream. But they went

straight out and bought themselves an

authentic Bali beach hut.

Next, they called in one of Melbourne’s

most successful young garden designers,

multi-award-winning Terry Meehan, of

Seasons Landscape, to make the hut, which

came in kit form.

This would then be the centrepiece of

their own Bali-style piece of paradise, a

place to which they could escape from the

pressures of day-to-day life.

to BaliBack

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May 29, 2010 23

Right Goldfi sh and plant life keep this serene pond clean and healthy Below, inset A multi-coloured chandelier-style light shade is an elegant touch in the hut

designer talkWhen Terry took on the job, he was confronted

with what he calls “a builder’s landscape”,

with minimal planting and a slab of paving

that needed to be broken up and removed

before work could begin.

A reasonably steep slope behind the house

has been turned into various levels with the

help of a timber entertaining deck and steps

down to the sunken and tiled area where the

Bali hut sits.

An in-line drip system irrigates the garden,

although minimal watering is needed thanks

to heavy mulching and the microclimate

conditions that have developed.

“Now that it’s established, this garden is

looking after itself,” Terry says.

“The trick with gardens like this is to get

them up and running in the fi rst 12 months,

get them through the fi rst hot summer.

“After that, they tend to adapt. If particular

plants don’t make it through that fi rst hot

summer, then you don’t plant those ones again

– you try something else.”

Bamboo textilis ‘Gracilis’ creates a

tropical mood behind the Bali hut.

Elsewhere, a variety of species have

been planted quite thickly, including

native frangipani (Hymenosporum

fl avum), Cordyline ‘Red Sensation’,

Fatsia japonica, Gardenia augusta

‘Florida’, Murraya paniculata, Yucca

elephantipes, Zantedeschia ‘Green

Goddess’ and nandina.

pond perfection

plant fi le

Terry Meehan, Seasons Landscape 0417 329 043

CONTACT

D

E T A I L

S

“It’s the best little mini-eco system

we have ever built,” says Terry of the

long, planter-box-style pond with its

array of fl oating plant life and about

50 healthy-looking goldfi sh.

“It’s got a bio-fi lter attached to it

that is hardly used because the pond

looks after itself now,” he says.

This balance has been achieved thanks

to the water plants and two bubblers

oxygenating the water, and the fi sh

acting as mini pruners in controlling

the rate of plant growth.

When plant foliage does get too

heavy, it’s simply a matter of reaching

into the water and snapping off some

of the growth.

True retreatBalinese-style furniture

adds to the exotic charm