Fantastic Garden – Sneaky Peek

My friend Kim recently moved to Bulimba (a suburb of Brisbane) into a lovely modern two story home.  This is not a sneaky peek into her home but a look at a project she has just completed in the backyard. I called in on her about 4pm on a Tuesday afternoon and she had just got home from work. She had no idea I was coming to take photos and her first comment was thank goodness I mowed on the weekend!  I came armed with my list of Sneaky Peek questions and my iPhone to take the photos. I think my iPhone 6 takes great pictures. All of the pictures of peoples homes I take myself, and resize and edit them with ‘picmonkey’, before uploading. I sometimes can’t believe it is me…ME…doing all this photo stuff and blog stuff. Someone who only learnt about control C and control V the other day (to copy and paste for those that don’t know and that included me until just recently). Back to Kim’s backyard. The light was getting dim so I had to take the pictures before we sat down to chat. After I had taken them we got down to the nitty gritty of the backyard project.

Me: So what was your inspiration for this garden project?

Kim:  It was essentially a blank canvas. I came from a home with a large garden and I love gardening.  I wanted to cover the wall (of the house next door) with a garden but one that was low maintenance. The whole space had to be like an outdoor room to enjoy and also to cater for teenage children.

Me: The gates are awesome are they your favourite thing out here.

Kim:  Yes I actually found them on Gumtree.  When I went to pick them up there was some old rusty balustrading and I asked the guy what he was doing with that and he let me buy some of that too which has ended up surrounding the gates. I’m really happy with it.

Me:  Did you do this by yourself or did you get someone in to do it.

Kim:  No I did it with help from my partner David. He lives in Melbourne and was up here for a weekend. But it took longer than one weekend.

Me:  Were there any challenges.

Kim:  Yes ..Great big rocks. The ground under the garden was full of them. We dug them up.

Me:  What, with a jackhammer?

Kim:  No. Just David and I -he is very handy.

Me: Were there difficult things like welding involved?

Kim: No we used an angle grinder to cut the balustrade to size and got posts from Bunnings. Then it was a matter of screwing it all together and adding the wire trellis for the plants to grown on. The posts were cemented in.

Me: Was the bench seating part of this makeover project or was it already there?

Kim:  The bench was added at the end of the project and done by a carpenter friend. The bamboo is awesome it will eventually create a screen so we wont be able to see the neighbours and it will add privacy. Bamboo can be tricky but I researched it and it is a variety that is perfect for this purpose.

 

So Kim, let me ask a few questions so we can find out a little about you?

It wouldn’t be sneaky peek without asking – Is your Bed Made? – (Laughing) No Not today!

What is your favourite flower? – Magnolia

What is your favourite restaurant? – ‘Sugomi’ – in Oxford St Bulimba

Bunnings or Masters? – I’m a Bunnings girl

Favourite Country? – Italy

Favourite App? – Banking (did I just say that!)

and  What does Kim …

Read – Autobiographies , Home Magazines

Watch – The Block

Cook – Anything Easy

Look forward to – Weekends in the garden

Well with a garden like that I can see why. The sun had gone down and as I was leaving – the lights in the garden had come on automatically and I couldn’t resist taking some more shots. It looks absolutely stunning.

So thanks Kim for letting us look around your beautiful inspired garden rooms. I can see you having a nice glass of wine and enjoying that space for years to come.

I have included before photos and information on plants used here.(Information Page)