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Getting your coastal kitchen floor plan right
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Getting your coastal kitchen floor plan right

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A Hamptons-inspired family home on Sydney's lower North Shore

A Hamptons-inspired family home on Sydney's lower North Shore

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12 large pots that will make your plant look amazing

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5 things to know before buying a fire pit

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Five top autumn garden projects

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Before and after: Increase your street appeal

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8 free instant mood lifters

2020 Dulux Colour Awards Finalists Announced

2020 Dulux Colour Awards Finalists Announced

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These new planters are works of art

These new planters are works of art

Mum's amazing Kmart backyard makeover

Mum's amazing Kmart backyard makeover

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How to style up a small garden and make it feel bigger

Amazing transformation: from run-down caravan to sleek office space

Amazing transformation: from run-down caravan to sleek office space

  1. Home
  2. Outdoor

Outdoor bliss: Art of the garden

A lush country garden is the constantly changing backdrop to one couple’s creative vision - by Jane Parbury
  • 28 Jul 2016
Outdoor bliss: Art of the garden
Outdoor bliss: Art of the garden
Outdoor bliss: Art of the garden
Outdoor bliss: Art of the garden
Outdoor bliss: Art of the garden
Outdoor bliss: Art of the garden
Outdoor bliss: Art of the garden
Outdoor bliss: Art of the garden
Outdoor bliss: Art of the garden

Garden gallery

Heidi and Sam's wonderfully rambling Southern Highlands garden is a showcase for the sculptures, ornaments and furniture that the couple craft from clay, steel and found objects. Plantings from bottlebrushes, succulents and buddleia to lilacs, crabapples and valerian set the scene for the couple’s artworks, such as Heidi's unique ‘story’ panels, crafted in steel and then powdercoated. The red one on the side of the garage chimes with the similarly made steel bench, which is dotted around with tiny ceramic toadstools, also made by Heidi.

Sue Stubbs

Taking flight

A row of totems screens a series of clay figures climbing across the side of the garage. “When I made these it was a very windy day and the leaves were going crazy,” recalls Heidi. “They remind me of that windy craziness.”

Sue Stubbs

Alfresco appeal

An ancient dining table, covered with a pink Batik tablecloth handmade by the Bai people of China’s Yunnan province, available from Mandarin Swing (mandarinswing.com), provides the perfect setting for lunch. Beyond, pieces made by Sam using found objects, like the fire pit created from an old 1100-litre gas bottle, stand alongside Heidi’s works, like the ceramic and steel seaweed sculpture that divides the patio from the lawn. 

Sue Stubbs

Material matters

Heidi’s tall, pod-shaped water fountains, framed by a sea of buddleia and mint, were inspired by a trip to the desert. “While we were out there I gathered bags of dirt and red dust which I put into the clay,” she says. Sam’s rusted-steel tree, beside them, is home to a pair of Heidi’s ceramic magpies.

Sue Stubbs

Time to reflect

Silvery-leafed lamb’s ears and fragrant mint provide a verdant backdrop to a secluded corner of the lawn, the perfect place to take stock for a few minutes while gardening.

Sue Stubbs

Seasonal gallery

Established fruit trees such as lemon and plum shroud the treehouse and cast dappled shade over the lawn and amply stocked flowerbeds, which spill over with a vibrant array of valerian, hydrangeas, agapanthus, forget-me-nots, seaside daisies, dahlias and peonies. Carol, a prize-winning sculpture Sam constructed from recycled pieces including a lawnmower blade and an old rake, keeps watch over the garden from her position on the garden bench.

Sue Stubbs

Top idea

Heidi’s tomato toppers are a colourful way to hold supports for plants such as tomatoes, peas and beans. “My welding teacher had the idea for the bottom bits and I stuck the tops on them,” she explains.

Sue Stubbs

Full bloom

Sunflowers crafted by Sam liven up the vegetable garden. “I love recycling things,” says Sam. “I love having piles of it and putting it together – it generally just falls in place.”

Sue Stubbs

Welcome home

Heidi’s ‘story’ gates, panels and benches are made to order in powder-coated steel.

Sue Stubbs

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