Having grown up in he county, Suzan Clear wanted her Roseville garden on Sydney’s North Shore to be an escape from the rat race — a sanctuary in the city, with all the mystery of a walk in the bush. Her architect husband Nicholas Wolff, on the other hand, was keen to have a structured space — more “built” than bush. So when award-winning landscape designer Andrew Davies of Eden By Design was approached by the couple, it was with an interesting brief.

Actually, the two opposing ideas work in perfect harmony. The variation of the built structures, softened by the carefree plantings, is what makes the garden work so well. There’s an interplay of materials — from dry stone walling to render, large format paving to decking, loose pebble aggregate to mulch — that keeps the garden interesting despite its diminutive size.

Andrew has cleverly used the built structures to add privacy, such as two low “blade” walls (freestanding facade walls), one creating a front entrance, the other screening the front door and windows from the street. Walls have been rendered and coloured a soft putty shade, reminiscent of gum leaves and the general hue of the bush.

As you venture through the garden, different views and treasures are revealed. At first there’s a glimpse of a tip-toe side path through the banksias, the path then taking a slight detour around a pretty-and-fragrant rose arbour onto a grid pattern of pavers. These act like stepping stones to the main boardwalk, which leads to the front door. But even this isn’t what it seems. The boardwalk floats over the top of a still water feature, so the effect is like venturing through a billabong.

“Coming home is like entering my own castle-via-drawbridge,” Suzan says. The pathway to the front door is lovely, and glimpses to the sides are also alluring. There’s a whimsical statue, picked up for $50 in a second-hand shop; a Japanese lantern; and an “offering” shrine, which Suzan decorates each evening with a welcoming candle for her husband when he returns from work.

As the morning light streams through the trees into Suzan’s own patch of beautiful wilderness, lighting up dew-covered spider webs and nectar-rich banksias, you feel as though you could be anywhere in Australia — anywhere, that is, except a suburban garden.

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