Mt. Martha II

Project Scope

This was a brand new build.


The clients came to us about four months before the house was finished and asked us to handle the full design and construct.


They had a large block but didn't want a single blade of grass. The whole space was going to be paving, pathways, native gardens, a fire pit, and a sauna.


We used crazy pave bluestone through the pathway sections with creeping plants growing up between the breaks.


One of my favourite things about this project is the flow.


When you walk through the front door, you can see straight through the hallway to the sauna and fire pit sitting in the backyard.


It feels seamless.

Challenges

The entire backyard was on a significant slope. We had to cut one side, level across, and bring the soil up to meet the house, which sat quite high out of the ground.


Access was through a finished, lined garage, so everything, machinery, materials, all of it, had to come through a brand new home. We also struck low water pressure on the property, which meant we had to upsize the irrigation system beyond what was originally scoped.


The custom aluminium gates were quoted at six weeks and ended up taking fourteen weeks due to overseas shipping.


Working through the summer meant dust got through the whole house, so we did a full clean-down at the end.

Deliverables

Crazy pave bluestone pathways with creeping plants between breaks

Native garden beds covering around 70% of the backyard

Fire pit and sauna with power, plumbing and data cable run underground

Extensive drainage and site levelling

Automatic gates with custom aluminium panels and block work pillars

Exposed aggregate concrete driveway

Trailer access area designed to sit naturally within the overall landscape

Front nature strip cleared, soiled and seeded

Rock retaining walls throughout. You wouldn't know they're there, but without them none of it holds

Full planting schedule tailored to the Peninsula climate, with weed management, irrigation, soil prep and mulching done before a single plant went in

Concrete crossover with council permits and traffic management plan coordinated by Flo

There's a misconception amongst locals in the Peninsula.


Most think landscaping is what you see.


The plants, the paving, and the fire pit at the end of the garden. But the clients who get it right are the ones who understand that what makes a space truly exceptional is everything you don't see.


The drainage that means your garden beds never waterlog. The irrigation infrastructure laid before a single slab goes down. The planting schedule built around the Peninsula's climate.


The people we collaborate with are investing in how they live. They are process-driven & love the finer details that make up the bigger picture.


They want to open the back door and feel like they've arrived somewhere.


That's why we build gardens that flo.


--


Jay Shelling - (Founder / Director)