The award-winning 2024 Melbourne Flower and Garden Show ‘SaltBush’ has been relocated and repurposed from a temporary display in Carlton Gardens to a multipurpose, family-oriented garden on the Bellarine Peninsula.

This project aims to provide a snapshot of the true cost of a garden and all inclusions. We have created a detailed cost sheet to help you understand the budget for a new landscape, available for download here.

SaltBush on the Bellarine is about treading lightly on the landscape, to minimise our environmental footprint. It showcases how recycled and local materials, native plant life and considered design can build connections for a family and the surrounding landscape to gain a sense of place.

The garden has been split into multiple zones, including the entertainment, pool, landscape and kids zone.

Entertainment Zone

The entertainment zone was carefully designed to seamlessly connect with the architecture of the house, creating space for a secondary outdoor dining zone. The built-in L-shaped bench seat helps define the level change for the dining and relaxed seating areas and the flexible furniture by King Living.

It is bordered by a luscious Bursaria spinosa (Sweet Bursaria) hedge characterised by its spiny foliage to protect small bird species and white Summer flowers attracting a range of local insects. This zone is expected to adapt as the architecture expands to make space for a studio and is therefore designed to be versatile.

Pool Zone

A magnesium pool which uses minerals as a substitute to traditional chlorine methods was selected due to its plethora of health benefits including the reparative nature of the minerals for skin conditions, muscle relaxation, improved sleep and reduced stress.

The above ground plunge pool means the water works harmoniously with the existing levels, creating a perspective from the house where the eye can rest across water as well as the surrounding vegetation. The additional benefit of the pool being above ground resolves the need for fencing, which allows for unobstructed views.

The planting helps nestle the pool into the environment allowing the residents to swim towards the edge and feel immersed within the native, coastal landscape.

Landscape Zone

The landscape zone incorporates organically shaped garden beds which weave out from the entertaining area with its curved natural brick retaining wall to support the upper level.

Strategically designed voids create views from the architecture through the grasses, highlighting feature trees including the endangered Eucalyptus leucoxylon subsp. Bellarinensis  (Bellarine Yellow Gum). Contrasting these voids are garden beds with dynamic coastal vegetation to attract local pollinators and wildlife. The palette consists entirely of Victorian indigenous plants local to the Bellarine Peninsula, to optimise growth and minimise the need for supplementary watering post-establishment.

Kid’s Zone

To connect the kids to nature, a cubby house and small deck are also located amongst the densely planted vegetation zone. One bed is a discovery garden, which gives them an opportunity to learn and grow different species from herbs and fruit to native cut flowers, and can change over time. The kids zone stimulates play through different textures and colours along with a small potting shed.

The entire garden is designed to connect the family’s young children back to the earth, plants, insects, water and each other, to encourage them to not only appreciate but actively care for nature. The meandering path throughout the beds immerses them in the plethora of colours, textures and scents that this garden has to offer.

A huge thank you to all suppliers and our collaborators who facilitated the creation of the garden: Bamstone Bluestone, Castle & Cubby, EcoGroup, King Living, Lighting Options, Lilydale Instant Lawn, Master Glass Fencing, Milk Can, Native Seeds, Natural Brick, Plungie Pools, Polito Woodfire Ovens and Shapescaper.