article WINTER 2016
WHERE LAND MEETS LIFE
Natural Attraction Daniel Shipp Distillery Botanica
Winter Happy Gardens New Shoots Small Space, Big Ideas
ISSUE 02
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WINTER 2016
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NATURAL ATTRACTION Design Feature
DANIEL SHIPP Botanical Inquiry
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Award Winning DISTILLERY BOTANICA
KEEPING YOUR GARDEN WINTER HAPPY
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RED ROOM COMPANY: New Shoots
Design Feature: SMALL SPACES, BIG IDEAS
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Matt Leacy DESIGNER / CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Sensory Creative WRITERS: Elizabeth Wilson (Natural Attraction), Matt Leacy, Amber Creswell Bell (Daniel Shipp), Neo Kidd-Taylor (Distillery Botanica), Georgina Reid (New Shoots), Kylie Edwards + Jasmine Perrin PHOTOGRAPHY: Jason Busch, Daniel Shipp, Sabine Schwarz (Distillery Botanica) + Christopher Phillips (New Shoots) PRODUCED BY LANDART LANDSCAPES + POOLS landart.com.au
ISSUE 02.
ARTICLE
NATURAL ATTRACTION
Old and new, tropical and native blend to magnificent effect in this expansive property.
As cockatoos screech overhead and water dragons scamper across the lawn or splash into the pool, it’s clear this is a place in sync with its surroundings. At certain points, it’s difficult to see where their garden ends and the surrounding bush begins – a blurring of boundaries that has evolved more by design than accident.
The couple bought the 2ha property on the northern outskirts of Sydney four years ago. Laurie, an IT executive, was on the cusp of retiring, but they were not interested in downsizing. They were looking for acreage, views, space to entertain and somewhere to soak up an outdoor lifestyle. This property, located at the end of a quiet road and bordered on all sides by bushland, fulfilled their wish list. The entrance is via a driveway that circles around their two-storey home to an upper garden of terraced lawns and ribbons of foliage designed around outcrops of sandstone. From the rear of the house, expansive views extend beyond the boundary, through sweeps of angophora and eucalyptus, to the heritage-listed Ku-ringai Chase National Park. “As soon as we came through the front gates, it felt right,” says Laurie of their decision to purchase the property.
ISSUE 02
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Above: Landart’s Pool Design for the Terrey Hills Residence. Photo by Jason Busch
WHERE LAND MEETS LIFE.
A drawcard was the massive pool at the bottom
They loved the work of landscape designer Matt
of the garden. Formerly a dam, it was concreted
Leacy of Landart Landscapes, who had designed
by previous owners and converted into its
their previous garden, so they enlisted him again.
present 20x30m saltwater pool, which holds an
As soon as Matt saw the site he identified areas
extraordinary 600,000L of water. “A lot of first-
where the garden wasn’t flowing – where sections
time visitors don’t realise it is a swimming pool,”
of the garden didn’t connect with each other or with
says Laurie. “They think it’s a lake.”
the setting. He also thought some of the existing
While the couple was thrilled to own acreage,
plantings were at odds with the natural bushland.
they soon realised it came with challenges. “When
“Some of the established garden was quite
we first arrived, I found the size of the garden
exotic and tropical in appearance,” says Matt
intimidating,” says Christine. “Also, we couldn’t
of the plants, which included lavender, buxus,
actually see out through the garden to the view,
duranta, cordylines, hebes, agapanthus, cabbage
so we needed to reshape the space. And that’s
tree palms, an evergreen alder and splashes of
when we called on Matt.”
vermilion bougainvillea.
“It was colourful, but it didn’t sit comfortably in the environment. We wanted to enhance the garden’s sense of connection with the landscape.” The key was to blur the lines between the established garden and new sections of nativefocused plantings. Starting in one pocket of the
Most of this new garden is low maintenance, which is exactly what you need in a property of this size.’
garden, Matt created a richly textured mix of tropical and native plants – introducing mass
This garden buzzes with life. Water dragons
plantings of the silvery-grey succulent Crassula
appear everywhere. “I love them,” says Christine.
‘Blue Bird’, strappy Phormium, Asian jasmine
“In the mornings, they’re everywhere you look, in
(Trachelospermum asiaticum), motherin-law’s
every size.” Other visitors include lace monitors,
tongue (Sansevieria), various aloes, flowering gums,
possums and many birds, who all gravitate to
grevillea, and Carex. This section of garden wends
the pool, just as the people do. “The pool fills
down to the pool area, where Matt planted a
me with a sense of calm and relaxation,” says
native/Mediterranean mix including mass plantings
Christine. “It’s our own personal water view.” And
of Miscanthus, Poa, Dianella, Lomandra, Juncus
as for the refurbished garden? “It’s like having lots
and Isolepsis grasses combined with agaves,
of different gardens in one,” says Christine. “I now
sculptural Mexican lily and closely clustered
have a more intimate relationship with it. I know
mounds of Westringia fruticosa (coastal rosemary).
every corner of it.
NATURAL ATTRACTION
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Taken from “Natural Attraction” by Elizabeth Wilson, courtesy of Australia House & Garden Magazine. All photos by Jason Busch
ARTICLE
Daniel Shipp
A selection of the wonderful flora Georgina has uncovered in her travels and now stores in her studio
Botanical Inquiry 11: North Facing Gradient
a series of photographic dioramas that shuffle nature, geography, and physics into familiar but fictional environments...
BOTANICAL INQUIRY
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WHERE LAND MEETS LIFE.
A meticulous creative, Sydney-based photographer Daniel Shipp’s career began in the realm of film and television, and is now sought after for his polished interior, exterior and fashion editorial work. Inspired to create images that sat outside of his more commercial projects, in 2014 Daniel was compelled to
“From a subjective and ambiguous point of view we witness the plant’s ability to adapt and survive.”
document something altogether unique: plants
After achieving much acclaim in 2015 for Botanical
– in their not-so-natural environment.
Inquiry at both his solo show at Saint Cloche
Describing Botanical Inquiry as a series of photographic dioramas that shuffle nature, geography, and physics into familiar but fictional environments, Daniel depicts wayward weeds growing in unexpected urban settings. In doing so he has imbued everyday moments that one might witness (or perhaps overlook) in a back lane, a gutter, a parking lot or an abandoned industrial site and imbued them with something akin to magic. By manipulating the optical and staging properties
gallery in Paddington, as well as The Other Art Fair in Sydney, it appears that Daniel has stirred something strong with those who view his work. Described as ‘ethereal’, ‘haunting’ and ‘achingly beautiful’, Daniel’s moody depictions of everyday plants such as Gazania, Purple Heart Flower, Buckhorn Plantain, and Morning Glory set against power-lines, street lights, smoke stacks, and industrial fencing have reminded people to ‘see’ and appreciate the less-than-curated vignettes that are abundant in our urban landscape.
of photography with an analogue “machine” that he constructed, Daniel has produced these studio-based images ‘in camera’ using Photoshop compositing. They rely exclusively on the singular perspective of the camera to render their mechanics invisible. “In these compositions the physical characteristics of the unremarkable plants I have collected become storytelling elements which, when staged against the backdrop of common urban environments, explore the quietly menacing effect that humans have on the natural world,” Daniel explains.
danielshipp.com instagram.com/danielshipp
Botanical Inquiry 03: Residential Embankment
Written by Amber Creswell Bell ambercreswell.com
DANIEL SHIPP
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ARTICLE
Distillery Botanica “The essence of the Australian summer garden in a bottle”
Having supported the launch of Article in grand style it was only appropriate we reciprocate the love and sit down with Distillery Botanica and get the low down on the award winning drink and how using unique Australian botanics is making noise in the world wide gin scene.
How do you go about selecting local produce to use in the distillery and what do you use? We call our gin “Garden Grown Gin” so all the unique botanicals we feature in our products are
Distillery Botanica is an intriguing name. Is the Gin as natural as it sounds? Every gin, by definition, has juniper in it but it’s all the other botanicals they contain that give them their own unique character. And all of ours are grown in the garden in which our distillery is situated. So the Murraya, Rose, Sage and Chamomile that’s in our gin is grown in our garden, hand picked and distilled at Distillery Botanica, which is about as fresh and natural as gin gets.
Photos by Sabine Schwarz courtesy of Distillery Botanica
grown in our garden. For us “local” means what we have in the garden, so it could be an Australian native botanical or not. A lot of boutique gins in this country rely on Australian native botanicals for their unique story, and while some are great unfortunately others, while interesting, in our experience don’t always make for a great drink. The most important quality we feel is to make a great product that people want to drink.
Do you change the local produce you use? Is there a percentage of locally produced ingredients that you like to stick to? We’re starting to experiment with more seasonal gin variants to reflect what’s growing in the garden at that time of year. They’ll be limited runs but helps keep up interest and reinforce what we’re all about – paying homage to the garden through our gin.
ISSUE 01
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WHERE LAND MEETS LIFE.
The hero botanical in your gin is Murraya which is commonly used in Australia as a hedge, how on earth did you end up making a drink with it?
Where do you see the future of Gin and other spirits heading in the next 5 years?
Our Master Distiller Philip Moore before he got
driving the spirits and alcohol category over the
into distilling a decade or so ago was a herbalist for over twenty years, in fact he wrote a book on them! When creating our gin we challenged Philip to capture “the essence of the Australian summer garden in a bottle”. With his knowledge and background he knew that for many people the smell of Murraya would evoke the sense of the Australian Summer, so it was an inspired idea on Philip’s part.
Murraya is beautifully fragrant, isn’t it difficult to capture that aroma in a drink?
Boutique gin is riding a wave of interest right now, and there’s no sign its about to slow down any time soon. There are three key trends we see next five years. Firstly a more discerning drinker who is keen to explore and re-discover alcohol beyond just mainstream beer & wine. Secondly, the demand for boutique, hand made products that have an authentic and genuine story attached to them. And finally provenance, knowing where things are from, how they’ve been grown, who’s been growing them etc. These key trends in combination we reckon will drive the category for the remainder of the decade.
Philip is pioneering the use in this country of a centuries old French perfume making technique called enfleurage. Flowers are very delicate obviously, so once the Murraya flowers and rose petals have been picked he lays them on a bed of coconut fat for a few days to absorb the essential oils thereby retaining the essence of the botanicals. That’s how we’re able to get a lovely, light floral taste to our gin.
What is the recommended way to enjoy the gin by staff/owners at the company? Distillery Botanica is a well balanced gin. The juniper is definitely there, but its floral in character given the garden botanicals in it which perhaps makes it a bit softer than most gins, many of which deliver a bit too citrusy a hit. So it works well as a classic Aviation cocktail, or with lighter, more delicate vermouths. If serving as a G&T use a tonic that won’t overwhelm it, with a nice botanical garnish.
What is the future of micro distillers in this country? Are there more and more spirit makers setting up distilleries or is Distillery Botanica quite unique in this way?
What can people expect to see from Distillery Botanica Gin in the coming year or two? We will continue to champion the use of botanicals that are freshly grown and picked in our garden. We’ve got quote a big garden so there’s plenty for us to experiment and play with over the next year or two!
Micro distilling is definitely hot right now, which is great. We want Australian spirits to be recognised
For more info visit distillerybotanica.com instagram.com/distillerybotanica
globally in the way our beer and wine has been celebrated for decades. The quality of Australian spirits is increasing all the time and we certainly hope that more people getting into distilling will lift the quality of our products.
DISTILLERY BOTANICA
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KEEPING YOUR GARDEN WINTER-HAPPY
Its time to put the winter woollies on your garden to keep it healthy through Winter. Garden Guru, Matt Leacy of Landart Landscapes offers fussfree tips to spruce up your backyard this season.
WHERE LAND MEETS LIFE.
Mulch like you mean it: Mulch is a blanket that keeps your garden warm
Mulching will also help prevent those irritating
in winter. It helps to retain warmth and moisture
weeds, suppressing growth. And with the weeds
in the soil whilst providing it with nutrients, all of
out of the way, your plants have much less
which are critical to the plant’s growth. Mulch can
competition for water and nutrients.
reduce watering by 60 percent.
Fine pruning:
Don’t leave the leaves:
There are two reasons why you would want to
Make sure you transfer all the leaves that
master the fine art of pruning. Firstly, by removing
fall onto your garden into a compost bin on a
the dead or diseased wood you will be stimulating
regular basis to avoid smothering your plants.
new growth and in future a bushier plant.
Consider shredding the fallen leaves and using
Secondly, maintaining the architecture of a tree
them as winter mulch on garden beds.
leaves you with an attractive and shapely plant. Also, once pruned it lessens the chances of a fall or damage during the winter months. If you are unsure of how much to prune off be safe and don’t reduce it by more than a third.
Let’s talk veggies: When it comes to your vegetable garden this Winter, make sure you remove all wilted plants. A good weeding followed by mulching of the bed will protect your soil until spring and help fertilize next year’s crops. As well as mulching plant a winter garden; vegetables like cabbage, onions, garlic, lettuce, broad beans can tolerate the winter temperatures.
Loving your Lawn: Raise the level of the blades on your mower so it cuts the grass a bit longer. As the hours of sun light reduces in the cooler months, cutting the blades of grass longer means that more of the leaf is available for photosynthesis.
Irrigation/watering: Set your automated system to run in the morning and reduce it to only 2 to 3 days a week. Plants are slowing down their growth and therefore drawing less water from the soil. Keep an eye on the amount of rain also, as this will dictate again how much watering
Using cold frames (miniature greenhouses) can
is needed. Always put your finger in the soil
help protect plants in colder temperatures and
to see how damp it is before watering.
can be constructed cheaply. If you have small cut in half to keep them warm. A little unsightly
Get organic:
but the plants will benefit.
Where possible try and incorporate some
pots you can also cover them with plastic bottle
organic matter into the soil. Dig it into the
Happy little herbs: It’s a perfect time to plant some fast-growing
soil rather than sprinkle it over the top. This will provide deeper available nutrients and water holding capacity in the soil.
herbs. As the weather cools, culinary herbs such as parsley, coriander, will all grow well from seed sown now.
Above/Left: Landart’s outdoor design for a Waverton Residence. Right: A selection of home grown vegetables in a Manly Cove Residence Photos by Jason Busch
ISSUE 02
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ARTICLE
The Red Room Company New Shoots If you want heaven, start in mud. Begin Transfiguration where you’re stuck. Take Your pilgrimage standing, up to your ankles In sludge. And if the ground binds, and if Your boots stick, and if you step out of them When you set off; if the odour on a summer’s Day, when the water ebbs, is noisome, Where you begin, so much more pure your Thoughts will be when they flower, so much Sweeter the garden’s scent when you breathe It in, so much more like birdsong your voice When you begin at last to speak. Excerpt from Lotus Pond by Mark Tredinnick, New Shoots commissioned poet
ISSUE 02
WHERE LAND MEETS LIFE.
Created by The Red Room Company, New Shoots, is a poetic partnership with the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, Sydney Olympic Park and Bundanon Trust. The project celebrates and cultivates poems inspired by plants and place.
Coinciding with the 200th birthday of the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, poets Mark Tredinnick, Eileen Chong and Eric Avery were commissioned to create “poetic pathways” that were installed in the Garden. At Sydney Olympic Park, poet Lorna Munro created poems that were embedded into the Badu Mangroves boardwalk. Linked creative learning resources support a series of poetic workshops across these sites and other gardens into the future. New Shoots was launched with poetic tours of the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney in conjunction with the Sydney Writers’ Festival and The Planthunter. To continue growing the poetic garden, Red Room Company are creating a special New Shoots site with the Royal Botanic Garden to help collect and publish botanical poems. To make an early contribution to the project, you can email contact@redroomcompany.org with your plant-inspired poem. They’ve also published limited edition poetic seed packs to help cultivate green places and inspire writing. Pick up a pack or two from their on-line store. For more info visit redroomcompany.org/projects/new-shoots
Dr Tamryn Bennett Poetry, prose, and plants had always filled Tamryn’s head but wasn’t until early in her university degree that her creative world busted open and her approach to her art began to develop. She had a teacher whose first class involved a video of a group of students with trout in shopping trollies moving through a crowd and playing harps. ‘I thought wow, people made this work and other people watch this work!’ she says. ‘At that moment, people started walking out, saying things like ‘this isn’t writing’, ‘this isn’t art’, ‘this isn’t anything’, and I thought, ‘this is the best thing I’ve seen.’’ The experience set her off on the path of ‘wanting to find people who were doing things differently, and seeing the world differently through poetry’. Following an undergraduate degree in creative writing, a PhD in literature, and a bunch of experimental multidisciplinary art projects like recording a plant symphony, Tamryn is now the Director of The Red Room Company, a poetry organisation based in Sydney. Red Room’s stated aim is to make poetry a meaningful part of everyday life through pushing boundaries and constantly challenging what poetry can be. This broad approach clearly suits Tamryn. Edited excerpt from ‘New Shoots: Tamryn Bennett’ by Georgina Reid for The Planthunter.
Photos by Christopher Phillips
For more info visit theplanthunter.com.au/people/new-shoots-tamryn-bennett
NEW SHOOTS
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ARTICLE
SMALL SPACES,
Size can often restrict ideas for a smaller space, whether it’s a compact courtyard, balcony or yard.
BIG IDEAS SMALL SPACES
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WHERE LAND MEETS LIFE.
Landart Landscapes and Pools, believe that even a small outdoor space can cater to multiple purposes whether it is a chill out space for an afternoon siesta, a cocktail party or hosting a barbeque with family and friends. Matt Leacy provides the following tips to transform compact outdoor space into a dynamic, multi-use extension of a home’s indoor living space.
PLANNING Matt emphasises the importance of thinking about your outdoor space and how you would like to use it, especially when the footprint is compact. Whether you’re transforming a small outdoor space into a dynamic dining area, a casual lounge setting or a direct extension of the indoors, planning is the first step towards maximising
PLAY WITH SIZE & SPACE “Big things in small spaces give the illusion that the space is bigger.” Matt suggests making a small space look bigger than it actually is with oversized furniture and other special features like a large potted plant, or a large-scale water feature.
every precious square foot.
While this may sound impossible and
MULTIFUNCTIONAL FURNITURE & SERVERIES
contradictory, even the use of plants with
Casual lounge area by day, barbeque and cocktail parties by night… Consider using a table that can be stored and easily brought in and out for dining
oversized leaves like Giant elephant ears, fiddle leaf fig, travellers palm or giant bird of paradise can add to the sense of space in a small space. Simple DIY improvements to a small space like painting fences in dark colours to make them recede to showcase foliage and make the greens pop, and the addition of outdoor mirrors also adds
purposes rather than being a permanent fixture
to the illusion of creating greater space.
that takes up floor space. Matt also recommends
“Outdoor mirrors help provide depth and create
looking at where a servery can be installed for extra bench space when entertaining – whether
the illusion of a bigger space,” says Matt Leacy.
that is on hinges and can be folded up or down
CLEAR LINES
as needed, or a narrow bench that clips on over a
Overgrown gardens will crowd a yard or small
balcony railing.
courtyard. Having clear lines is a striking feature
it’s under a kitchen window, something on a wall
Space may be limited but choosing the right furniture allows you to get the most out of your outdoor setting. “If you are going to get an outdoor dining setting that isn’t fold away options with
in a small outdoor space. Matt says this creates a border that defines and keeps your plants away from walking paths, all of which works in favour to make a small space look and feel spacious.
bench seats that create clean lines and ensure
Matt also highlights the importance of keeping
seats push right in out of the way. Also look at
things simple in a small outdoor space. Whether
circular tables, or built in seating that can be
you decide to choose oversized furniture or
wrapped around the perimeter of a garden, perhaps
special features, avoid overcrowding the space by
in front of a garden bed, to save space. It’s all about
creating a focal point. Keep the space clear and
creating the illusion of space,” said Matt Leacy.
simple, that way the space will feel much bigger than it is. Building in storage, that can also double as bench seating, to hold any clutter, fold away furniture or kid’s toys will also help ensure a smaller outdoor space remains looking sleeker and bigger.
Photos by Jason Busch
BIG IDEAS
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WINTER 2016
Issue 01 Also available now via landart.com.au
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ISSUE 02