Coogee Coastal Garden

This Coogee couple were faced with an overgrown back garden with no practical room to relax or entertain.

Their family was expanding and they wanted some level space that was more usable, but still wanted large garden beds with strong Coogee coastal and low maintenance planting.

We built 3 raised garden beds – allowing room to create a flat crazy paved area in the middle. 

The furniture sits against the foliage rather than against an exposed boundary. Creating an intimate space that is low maintenance and functional.

Furniture

An XL three-seat sofa faces the open courtyard. The light coloured upholstery keeps the space neutral and doesn’t over power the busy flooring. 

A lower woven armchair was selected to provide contrast to the sofa and bring texture without introducing another colour in the garden. 

Small sculptural coffee and side tables in white provide a subtle contrast and lets the eye focus on the architectural planting.

The furniture is deliberately kept low, allowing the layered beds and the trees behind them to remain the principal view.

Plants

Blue Glow agaves repeat through the raised beds in both pots & garden beds. Their pointed leaves give the garden a crisp outline against softer mounds of clipped, silver-green Westringia balls and smaller assorted blue-grey succulents. 

Upright, green flax leaves stand as the final layer before the back hedging. Adding height between the rounded forms without closing the view. Along the bed edges, spillover planting softens the retaining wall so that it doesn’t appear too stark.

An olive (Olea europaea) in a large white pot forms a highlight in the left corner. Across the garden, an existing  multi-stem banksia gives the right-hand area a more open canopy and shade.

The new plants are distinctly coastal and a perfect match for Coogee’s seaside location.