A quiet backyard retreat shaped around native planting and warm natural textures.

A residential property in Randwick with a walled rear courtyard that needed a complete transformation. The brief was to create a calm, low-maintenance garden that worked with the existing render wall and established tree — something with a considered, zen-like quality rather than a dense planted look.

Randwick sits on Hawkesbury Sandstone country with sandy, free-draining soils typical of Sydney’s eastern corridor. The courtyard had an established tree providing partial shade across much of the space — a constraint that shaped every planting decision. The walled render boundary offered an opportunity for vertical softening that we wanted to make the most of.

The woodchip ground plane, the rhythmic grass planting, the climbing jasmine trained on bespoke wire, and the birdbath focal point work together to create a space that reads as considered and calm. The shade-tolerance of the chosen palette means the garden performs consistently through Sydney’s summers without ongoing irrigation beyond the establishment period.