Places – The Fire Pit

We believe in creating places in gardens for people to congregate, talk and take time to work things through. The fire pits we design and install have been steadily increasing in popularity with our clients but we see them as more than just a trend. They signify possibility.Frivolous or serious, they provide an opportunity for people to gather to enjoy the millenia-old ritual of fire, to enjoy time together and grow from one another’s insights.

A lit fire invites you back out into the garden to enjoy its’ winter hibernation. The bare branches of deciduous trees and the lack of bright blooms creates a different atmosphere, a sense of quiet, a bigger sense of the space. They are another way to get you involved in your garden – by being outside, and being warm and comfortable, you experience the space in a different way. Come summer, the firepit is a place to gather for social events or solo contemplation.

A well-situated, and well-designed firepit will have various incarnations over the range of seasons, now is definitely the time to rug up and enjoy the intimacy of a roaring fire in your backyard.

People – Bernard Trainor

You may not have heard of Bernard Trainor, but you might recognise his aesthetic. As a designer, there is a sparseness in what he imposes on the landscape, allowing the personality of the terrain to shine through.

He recently spoke at the Australian Landscape Conference, held biennially in Melbourne for over a decade. His lectures were an inspiration for us here at Spirit Level, where his design aesthetic has been a point of reference for us for some time now.

Plant in Focus – Strobilanthes

The remarkable foliage of Strobilanthes screams ‘Look at me’! and makes it a plant that’s constantly asked after when it’s noticed in gardens.          They all grow well in semi-shade to full sun and they don’t like frost, making them perfect for Sydney. Regular shaping brings out their best.        We love three specific species for the colour and drama that they add to the landscape.

Places – Japan

Octavia Rogers, one of our Landscape Designers, shares her garden experiences from her recent trip to Japan.

A good friend’s ceramic art residency in a little rural town near Saga, in Arita was coming to a close. I met her as it was ending and we travelled the width of the country, back up to Tokyo. My trip covered many different areas of Japan, from the historic ceramic village in the countryside, to Tokyo – the 24hr city – as well as art galleries buried in islands, in between.  What really fascinated me about the trip was that even though I travelled to very different locations, I felt there were certain themes that kept recurring in each landscape.