| Q & A with Jamie Durie |
Jamie Durie is one of Australia's leading landscape designers and favourite television personalities. He talks about some of the emerging trends he has seen in his travels overseas.
Q. What is your advice to people landscaping a small space? Small gardens differ from vast, rambling spaces in which
every element is seen - it's hard to hide that ugly pot that
your grandmother gave you for Christmas last year!
Every plant, pot, sculpture, table, chair has to earn its place
within the space. Therefore, it's best to limit the number of
ideas and avoid clutter. Create an impact on the walls - a
sculpture, a vertical garden or a water feature - without
losing floor space.
Q. What paving trends have you seen
in your recent trip overseas?
Mixing turf and pavers together into stylised
feature areas. You can create a modern parterre
by cutting a pattern into the paving and running
synthetic turf between them. I have seen this
done with real or synthetic turf.
Q. How is the trend toward sustainability
impacting outdoor areas? Sustainable landscaping is extremely important now and all
gardens should be drought tolerant and the majority of plants
should be indigenous and native species.
Sustainable gardening should just be part of our natural
evolution and what we do from this moment onwards.
We won't achieve a sustainable future unless we embrace
new values. Rather than the inevitably futile path of trying
to dominate nature, we need to connect with it, we need
to understand the limits of natural systems and live within
those limits.
With severe water restrictions in place throughout many
parts of the country last summer, we should all be thinking
about what we can do to save water around the home.
The cool green lawn,
once an icon of the great
Australian dream home,
has become something of a
nightmare in today's climate
of drought. Long out of
step with the landscape
that wraps around much of
Australia, they've become
a luxury that most simply
cannot afford.
Q. What trends in outdoor
accessories are there?Firepits and braziers are becoming more popular
for outdoor fires. Also fires which burn ethanol are
more eco-friendly and there are some amazing
fireplace designs.
Candle lanterns of every type of design are still a very
popular outdoor accessory. Outdoor wall art, statues and
sculpture are becoming much more mainstream. The use
of soft furnishings and upholstered furniture
outdoors is a very big trend. All the
creature comforts that you usually
find indoors are being taken outdoors,
including floor rugs and floor lamps.
Because of water restrictions during
the last few years we have definitely
noticed a trend towards installing fewer and
smaller water features in gardens. I've even designed tiny dry
riverbeds that meander through the garden or even decking,
that gives the feeling of water moving through the space even
though there is no water to be seen.
A great environmentally friendly lighting solution for the
garden is solar powered lighting. A solar
powered light can be placed in the garden to
softly highlight paths and different areas
of the space and plants. They are easier
on the planet and the hip pocket too.
Patio products by Jamie Durie are exclusive to
BIG W. For more details please call 1800 251 311
or visit www.patiobyjamiedurie.com.au |
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