Commercial project example
Milo Cafe and Store
Cafe garden design
These 10 drawings and first page of plant list are for a cafe garden for Milo Cafe and Store at 118 High Street Maryborough. This is a vegan cafe that opened in October 2022. The design brief was for a design for a cafe garden that produced some food for the cafe and was also a pleasant place for customers to sit and enjoy their meals. Also to have plants for wildlife, a section for native plants and a private services area.
School project example
In 2021 I was employed part time for seven months at Daylesford Dharma School as a Buddhist gardener on a one off grant, focusing on the precepts of mindful consumption and reverence for life. I was part of a collaborative design project there that designed and installed a meditation garden, including a tea garden and outdoor classroom space. I worked with the school parents, students, staff and other volunteers for both the design and installation. I understand landscaping considerations and safety requirements as they apply to schools, and am familiar with designing for a very small budget and using salvaged materials, utilising the offered skills of volunteers and coordinating installations.
The Dharma School Meditation garden was installed partially over the COVID lockdown period, mostly during 2021. I coordinated the installation which was completed almost entirely by volunteers. We had to work in short bursts with many delays when school working bees were not possible. During that long process more variables such as donations of stone and an experienced stonemason offering his services as a donation became available. Several CAD drawings were made with different possibilities for construction for these reasons.
Domestic one person DIY project example
Raised wicking beds edging a garden room
(project still under construction)
These photographs are a wicking bed project being worked on in stages as a 'spare time' project by one owner with occasional help from spring 2022 to ongoing in summer 2023.
The brief was to create a semi circular garden room in front of a bungalow with intensive food production and outdoor space
There are 8 bottom halves of IBC containers arranged in a semi circle in pairs - They were cut in half and the top halves retained for another project on site. They join up to a 'moon gate' made from recycled trampoline frames and a single wicking bed and retaining wall on other side.
The wicking beds are surrounded by a recycled timber frame, which includes a very solid top that can be sat on and even walked on. when completed no part of the IBC will be visible.
The photo's detail the construction process for the IBC's only - laying out and levelling IBC's, recycled slotted pipe, old plants pots and aggregrate in water reservoir, eco weed mat as membrane separating soil and water, connnecting individual beds via 19mm polypipe, compost, soil and sand mix, and finally planting out.
Small domestic one person DIY project example
Small Wicking beds in a wall seat using recylced concrete laundry troughs
(project has tempory wall laid out in cement block)
This is a low edging wall on a patio area in front of a house which contains a seat and a narrow garden for plants that are wanted often near kitchen door.
Second hand old concrete troughs were used, lifted on concrete blocks and behind a low temporary concrete block 'wall' (owner brief was to get plants in and food production going first and can add a more beautiful stone wall later as time and priorities allow).
The troughs were set up as small wicking beds/self watering pots with small diameter slotted pipe, aggregate, geotextile membrane and soil before planting out, photo's detail process involved
Plants here are small low plants with a mix of permanent such as a chives and temporary/seasonal such as lettuce and nasturtiums.
Owner has also found that they tend to use as a handy propagating bed for woody herbs such as sage because location so convenient.
More projects with construction details coming soon
Garden Arch
Moon gate,
Retaining wall with evergreen perrennial fence
Mandala Garden
Greenhouse made from mostly recycled materials