Mirror updated

Lush summer growth for the mirror surround

Coming into its first proper season, lush high summer growth is beginning to merge with this garden mirror. In time, viburnum foliage flanking both sides will obscure the vertical glass edges and the top edge will be wreathed in Madagascan Jasmine (Stephanotis floribunda).

Richly scented Madagascan Jasmine (Stephanotis floribunda) will conceal rear fence & wreath across the top horizontal mirror edge
To avoid reflecting the roof tiles, the mirror is declined from the top and inclined from the left side, to reflect the illusion of another light filled garden space from the house step out view
Mirrors but no smoke …
Lime green textures cool the house view to garden space
Even a small space can be leveraged with the right planting & retractible awning, into a shaded & restful space to come home to every day

Make 2019 be the year your garden transforms into the living refuge you’ve always wanted !! 

Special thanks to Tansi McInerney for generously allowing Paradisus design images of her Mosman garden to be published on Garden Lovers Blog 🙂 Tansi McInerney for Prime Minister.  

Peter Nixon for Paradisus www.peternixon.com.au & 0418 161513 info@peternixon.com.au 

    

Somewhere to be …

Somewhere to be mindless… without thoughts

Have you got somewhere you have to be ? … is probably one of the most often asked questions from others or we ask of ourselves. Usually requires a quick response, wedged between appointments, paying bills and the weekly shop. When applied to our mental heath, slower consideration can bring us to a less clear idea of whether a place exists for us … just ‘to be’.

Gardens are much more than pretty infill of the step out void surrounding dwellings. I believe parts of them can be dedicated to quiet places, that let in the light of an uncluttered peace. This time of year can bring us closer to more frequent mental health breaks in the garden, when its easier to detach in the warm haze of a summer’s evening to the pulsing drone of cicadas, before the ferocity of an impending year carries us off at much faster pace.

Texture patch as meditation

If you’re thinking of making changes in the garden, are grappling with a renovation or even a new build, don’t forget consideration of a meditation space. For you to sit and let go, without the need for planning it. A sort of drop in spot, for a minute or ten or longer … And if this is something you would like to bring into the existing garden now, (well, why not ?), I’d love to help you !  … Enjoy your summer 🙂

Peter Nixon – Paradisus www.peternixon.com.au   0418 161513

Special thanks to Tania & Paul Wilson for generously allowing content of her Paradisus design                  

Inner City lush ..

Lush textures & foliage colours meet ground floor house sight lines

Shady relief from high summer heat.. to enter a place that’s visually cool is what this inner city court garden is all about. Uses Madagascan Felt Plant (Kalanchoe beharensis) with bromeliads (Aechmea comata foreground & Vriesea fillipo-cobergi ‘L’il Phil’ background) with Iresine herbstii left side.    

Hot reflective surfaces and harsh visual ‘bounce back’ from the built environment of the inner city, can make such places hard to find. That’s why we must make our own.

Heroic giant landscape bromeliads (alcantarea) pushing into flower, with companion pentas & ruellia,  Kurrajong (Brachychiton rupestrus with bidwillii X acerifolia ‘Tangerine Bells’ grafted hybrid) right side for future summer shade

Open to the northern from the street end, it’s good to get shady relief from a tree canopy for twin step out spaces from respective Living & Kitchen.

Kurrajong (Brachychiton rupestris trunk with B. bidwillii ‘Little Ripper’ from master hybridiser Brent Verietz at Colours of Eden Nursery)

Beware though, to match vigour to available space or the welcome dappled shade you had in mind might turn into a monstrous maintenance burden that will swamp your small space ! Brachychiton or  Kurrajongs are a beautiful tribe of natives adapted to the wet or dry sub-tropics. Vibrant early summer flowers cover almost leafless branches, followed by a lush canopy just in time for summer shade. Even though a relatively small grower compared to other species, B. bidwillii is made even more compact by grafting its ‘Little Ripper’ or ‘Tangerine Bells’ hybrid onto a QLD Bottle Tree (B. rupestrus) trunk.. 😮 Being winter deciduous, bare stems then also allow weaker, low angled sun to warm your back on days when that’s that’s really appreciated with your Saturday morning cuppa.

Conceal block wall with Grow Cable supported Costa Rican Bow Tie Vine (Dalechampia aristolochiifolia)

Provide a ‘green-back’ for all to read against with a cascading cover of Grow cable supported Costa Rican Bow Tie Vine, that will soon be speckled with rosy mauve metallic flower bracts and your inner city heat refuge is complete.

Costa Rican Bow Tie Vine (Dalechampia aristolochiifolia) flower bract detail

Perhaps your sister, friend you went to primary school with or twenty years long work colleague is facing the exciting but sometimes daunting prospect of home renovation, a new build or just wants to transform a section of the garden that’s been on their ‘to do list’ for longer than they can remember .. ?

Ask them to make contact at info@peternixon.com.au or 0418 161513 or head over to www.peternixon.com.au …. just to have a chat about how all their pain could be taken away and transformed into a daily Paradisus 🙂

Cocktail Court a place to relax

Special thanks to Lindy Ryan for allowing pix of her Paradisus design to be published on Garden Lovers