We meet a landscape architect bringing a sense of wilderness and softness to both public and private spaces. Subscribe đ http://ab.co/GA-subscribe Jane Irwin is a Sydney-based landscape architect and says whether itâs public domain or in private gardens âwe can't be thinking about landscape without thinking about plants... all the different places Iâve worked have helped me to see gardens in many different ways."
For Janeâs high-profile work refurbishing the Government House gardens overlooking Sydney harbour, Jane says âwe wanted to pay homage to the to the heritage nature of the gardenâ by using Australian plants in a formal way. Native correas and casuarina âGreen Waveâ have been clipped into dome shapes, and then balanced with the softness of kangaroo paw, eremophila and native geranium.
âWe wanted to push the thinking about what a contemporary garden could be,â says Jane, âto reflect how people are thinking now... and being more aware of and respectful of our landscape heritage.â Clusters of Australian wildflowers show Janeâs skills in design, pairing paper daisies, flannel flowers and everlastings with native flax for a wild perennial look. Jane says, âthey just bring so much colour and vibrancy to a garden, so you have a daisy but it's an Australian daisy.â
Discussing her work in residential gardens, Jane says itâs very personal. âIt really needs to be something that you can live in and keep going... itâs not static, they're curated spaces, they're changing all the time. What we do as designers is help set up that framework.â Working on a coastal cliff-top garden that sits 60m high off the ocean, Jane says she was âinspired to work with the natural occurring geology.â
Sandstone quarry blocks were incorporated to blend seamlessly with the stone already excavated and arranged to create levels in the landscape as well as protected pockets to plant into. Jane says of the rock orchids âyou would think with the coastal wind that they wouldnât thrive so much, but theyâve become a cornerstone of the garden.â
For this garden, Jane says, âthe planting in this garden grew from an idea of seaside ecologyâ and features grasses such as poas and plume grasses, as well as yellow buttons, cushion bush, scaevola and dichondra. âEverything picks up this extraordinary light from the east that comes off the ocean. This garden I think is really expressive of place which is one of the things that we really try to doâ says Jane.
The driving force behind Janeâs work is to curate a harmonious appreciation of the natural landscape. Jane says, âI think for Australian ecologies to come to the fore in our future... we need to be thinking about different aesthetics; appreciating a little more wildness and a little more softness in our gardens.â
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