Kenmore native garden

The brief

An underused backyard and pool in need of a refresh. Our clients wanted more usable lawn, a levelled yard, a facelift for the tired retaining wall, and somewhere for a pizza oven and seating. The existing pool deck was no longer safe to use. Like a lot of backyards in Brisbane's leafy western suburbs, the block had good bones but awkward levels, and the family was using a fraction of the space they owned. Levelling the yard and rethinking the retaining gave the whole block back to the family.

The design

To keep the project within budget, we created a sunken firepit and pizza oven area. Dropping the seating down reduced the retaining wall heights, solved the levels, and created an intimate spot to gather, with bluestone steppers, gravel and a corten steel fire bowl. Native planting ties the garden into Kenmore's leafy backdrop, and a water feature brings movement and sound to the space. Every plant was chosen for the site's conditions as much as its look, so the garden settles in rather than struggles.

The build

Elleven Landscapes brought the design to life, with our Design implementation service keeping the design intent through the build. It's a good example of how design solves budget problems rather than adding to them: the sunken firepit wasn't just the best-looking answer, it was the most economical one, cutting wall heights and earthworks in a single move.

“It was a pleasure working with Tristan on renovating our backyard. He understood our brief well and made very good suggestions and changes to what we had in our head. We couldn’t have asked for a better guy to work with.”
Malinga, Kenmore

Kenmore is home ground for us. We design gardens right across Brisbane's western suburbs and beyond; see landscape design in Brisbane, or read about our design process to see how a garden like this starts.