Carefully selected palms and cycads ensure maximum tropical atmosphere in this Queensland garden – with minimum garden maintenance and care.

Creating a gorgeous landscape to lure potential home buyers has come naturally to the creative team behind this tropical display garden. Landscape designer Greg Wilson worked closely with architect Cameron Fordred to create a low-maintenance outdoor area for a display home in tropical Queensland. The design was created to appeal to a particular demographic, rather than a specific client, and was also dictated by the salubrious weather and location of the property.

Cameron had the busy working family in mind when he put forth ideas to Greg, who then interpreted these concepts into a manageable modern design.

"We all have such busy lives these days, so we really want our gardens to evoke a sense of relaxation and calm," says Cameron.

However, no garden is relaxing when it requires more work than you’re willing to put in, so low-maintenance garden design has been a key factor here. The grass is an artificial cover that provides an evergreen solution to the problems associated with lawns.

"The artificial turf was chosen for several reasons," explains Tannyth Shackell from Acadia. "It never has to be mowed or watered and is green all year round. It also maintains a healthy appearance despite lots of traffic walking over it."

There is plenty of life in the careful selection of plants, though, with robust palms and cycads helping to create a vibrant jungle feel in this tropical garden retreat. Greg describes his method as "mass repetition planting" – a style that results in a dense cover to the home that will shield it from prying eyes as it develops over time. Most varieties require minimal watering yet provide enough greenery to give life to the garden.

The landscape design derives much inspiration from the clean lines of the surrounding architecture and earthy exterior colours. The home’s facade is complemented by sturdy feature pots and urns that burst with purple and brown succulents, and lilly pillys were chosen for their decorative violet berries.

The garden is a joy to explore as it weaves around the home, breaking off to create different ‘rooms’. There are pebbled paths and artificial turf to walk on, mulched garden beds and potted plants. The flow and diversity are some of Cameron’s favourite aspects of the design.

"The use of a variety of plant species creates different ‘outdoor rooms’, which changes your mood as you move through the landscape" he says. "We love the ease in which the landscape flows continuously around the home."

If you want to bring out your wilder side in the garden, talk to a professional landscaper about planting your own tropical garden.

Talking with Greg Wilson, landscape designer.

What was the brief for this project?

We needed the landscape to be as low maintenance as possible while evoking a strong tropical feel within the garden. We also wanted to screen the house and offer green vistas outside all windows and doors.

How much influence did the home builders have on these gardens?

We had to suit the clients’ requests on budget, which reduced the area in the design. They were also adamant on having the lush look and feel of a garden created with a tropical style, but the planting scheme was left mostly to us.

How does this design reflect the architecture and environment?

As the house is double storey, we used plant material that had some height to create harmony between the structure and the landscaping. We also used the colour scheme of the house to dictate the plants we chose and used repetition planting as an effect.

What do you think are the most outstanding features of the gardens?

The feature pots and plantings are quite stunning. The artificial turf also adds a new dimension, as the lush green look is maintained year round. It provides a vivid canvas for the more colourful plants to show their full potential.