Landscape design by Adams Garden Design

Updated: 16 Oct 2015

Elizabeth Fabri

Through the combination of gravel and semi-formal planting, Adams Garden Design owner Paul Adams has created his very own slice of the Mediterranean.

Paul Adams, the mastermind behind thriving business Adams Garden Design, has a design approach that differs from many Perth-based landscape designers. The company owner was educated at The Garden Design School in England under the tutelage of renowned landscape designers Robin Templar Williams and Moira Farnham, and believes it is possible to design an English cottage-style garden to suit Australia's climate and soils. He tends to steer clear of the standard 'developer' planting of regimented rows of spiky plants, such as yuccas and phormiums, instead creating unique gardens from the variety of plants available in Western Australia. Paul's main interests lie in contemporary garden design and waterwise gardening for residential and commercial properties, and he also has experience designing rural acreage gardens.

MANDURAH

Always busy project-managing and designing gardens for his clients, when it came to creating a garden of his own, Adams Garden Design
owner Paul Adams required a semi-formal, low-maintenance space to suit his busy lifestyle.

Sixteen cubic metres of lawn and sand were removed from the site to pave the way for a covered dining area, Tassie Oak garden bench, pond with water feature, barbecue area and mix of native and exotic plants suited to local conditions.

The original pergola was replaced with a pitched patio roof with oak-stained lining and downlights, and the lawn was substituted with WA glacial washed gravel to complement the aggregate concrete in surrounding zones. Raised beds were built in rendered brick and rusted COR-ten steel, and filled with a variety of plants, including carex, westringia, arthropodium, gardenia, pittosporum and nandina. In just over 100sqm, there was even room for small trees, and fruit, vegetable and herb cultivation. Feature lighting and a bio-ethanol fire pit illuminate the garden at night.