Mattison Rd Project
This luxurious urban garden transformation reimagines a once-blank canvas into a striking private retreat, rich in detail and layered with design complexity. Positioned in the heart of the city, the garden now offers a serene, high-end escape—thoughtfully crafted to deliver visual impact from every angle, whether viewed from inside the home or experienced within the space itself.
Though the original plot was level, we introduced the illusion of depth and dimension through elevated design elements, including Schellevis floating steps, which lend an architectural elegance and subtly define spatial zones without disrupting the garden’s flow.
Strategic planting anchors the layout, with four distinctive specimen trees—two Dicksonia antarctica, one Feijoa, and one Trachycarpus fortunei—each contributing to carefully curated focal points that guide the eye and enhance the sense of scale. The rear shed is artfully concealed using vertical timber posts, positioned behind the Feijoa to maintain natural beauty without visual distraction.
A custom bespoke metal pergola adds verticality and contemporary flair, creating a sculptural frame that draws the eye upward and balances the garden’s horizontal lines. Together, these elements work harmoniously to create a garden that feels expansive, immersive, and deeply refined.
Though the original plot was level, we introduced the illusion of depth and dimension through elevated design elements, including Schellevis floating steps, which lend an architectural elegance and subtly define spatial zones without disrupting the garden’s flow.
Strategic planting anchors the layout, with four distinctive specimen trees—two Dicksonia antarctica, one Feijoa, and one Trachycarpus fortunei—each contributing to carefully curated focal points that guide the eye and enhance the sense of scale. The rear shed is artfully concealed using vertical timber posts, positioned behind the Feijoa to maintain natural beauty without visual distraction.
A custom bespoke metal pergola adds verticality and contemporary flair, creating a sculptural frame that draws the eye upward and balances the garden’s horizontal lines. Together, these elements work harmoniously to create a garden that feels expansive, immersive, and deeply refined.
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Vicki Manders-Trett added this to Garden
The new trees consist of two Tasmanian tree ferns (Dicksonia antarctica, USDA zones 9 to 10; find your zone) — one on the front left and the other at the back right; a tall windmill palm (Trachycarpus fortunei, zones 7 to 11) and a pineapple guava (Acca sellowiana, zones 8 to 10) in front of the shed.
The huge olive tree was already there.
The four new trees and the olive, as well as most of the smaller plants, are all evergreen, ensuring the yard doesn’t look bleak in the winter months.
Other evergreen plants include the sago palm (Cycas revoluta, zones 9 to 11) between the path and pergola; several male ferns (Dryopteris filix-mas, zones 4 to 8); Japanese mock orange (Pittosporum tobira ‘Nanum’, zones 9 to 10), to the right of the pergola and also in the tall planters (see later photos), and rock polypody (Polypodium vulgare, zones 3 to 8) in the foreground.
