Julie’s Balinese garden a place for leisure

Julie Ann has spent the last two years creating a relaxing foliage filled retreat in her own backyard.

With leisure at the forefront of the plans, the garden surrounds an outdoor shower, fire pit and deck all handcrafted by Julie.

“The neighbours on this street are all friends and we love to get together to enjoy the garden,” Julie said.

“The big shed is a men’s shed with a pool table, darts, TV and karaoke while the ladies chill on the deck and around the fire.”

While the outdoor area didn’t always look this way, Julie said she had enjoyed seeing it come together and had plans to continue work in other parts of the garden.

“The first thing we did was clear all the rocks.

“The dog couldn’t lay there, and we couldn’t walk on them, so we just cleared them off,” she said.

“Then it was gardening, taking out plants I didn’t like and putting in plants I did like.

“The firepit was the next project which led into giving the garden edges dimension with higher bricks and the deck which was built just two months ago.”

Julie said her neighbours couldn’t believe how fast they’d transformed their space and seeing it all come together had been amazing.

The sloping terrain called for an innovative solution, and Julie said she loved working with the varying levels to create a safe pathway to and from the backyard.

“We just go with it because I think that’s what makes this property different and unique because it’s got all those different levels, and it’s the same inside so we like it,” she said.

The green thumb said her aim was to create a Balinese themed garden and enjoy the lush greenery the plants’ foliage provided all year round.

“With Cordylines, when they get tall enough you can just chop them off and stick them into the ground and they will then grow roots and continue to grow,” she said.

“The cutting will then double or triple, so you’ve got multiple cuttings and then you just keep doing that until they thicken up.

“I love Cordylines for that reason and obviously all the different colours you can get.”

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