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Top Landscape Design Ideas Adelaide SA

Landscape Design Ideas (Adelaide SA) | Landscape Design Pictures

Landscape Design Ideas Adelaide Homeowners Can Use For Their Garden Makeover.

It all starts with an idea, a picture you have in your mind of what you’d like your backyard or front garden to look like after a renovation or makeover. A good place to start, if you’re stuck for ideas is to think of what features or garden design elements you’d like to have. Swimming pools, paved outdoor entertaining areas, pizza ovens, and fire pits are examples of physical features you might like included for your garden makeover.
Next, think about different areas you’d like to include. A place the children can play, perhaps a flat lawn area, a more private place for adults that could include an outdoor spa, undercover outdoor living area with table and chairs where the whole family can sit and eat dinner together are some typical wishes Adelaide homeowners bring up in the initial concept design meeting.
Lastly, consider what amount you’d like to budget for to have all the landscaping work completed. At Living Pictures By Tony Stanton, we work for you to produce a landscape design that you can afford to complete.

Take a look below at some landscape design ideas Adelaide residents use for small backyards, courtyards, front gardens, sloping blocks, and more.
These garden design ideas, & pictures were updated on 28/09/2023 to include a couple of informal front garden design ideas that create a focus on a point of interest, highlighting just one of the benefits when dealing with experienced expert landscape designersLiving Pictures By Tony Stanton‘.

Designing Front Gardens

Formal front garden designs suit people who like straight lines. Often used with new modern style homes and courtyard designs, houses that have been rendered can look very striking with a path of pavers leading straight to the front door.
Often too, the landscape design is low maintenance with slow-growing hedges, pebbles, and large format pavers used with effect to provide plenty of contrast complimenting the home’s modern look.

Formal Front Garden Design Idea
Modern Courtyard Front Garden Design Idea
Informal Front Garden Design Adelaide
Informal Front Garden Feature Statue

The right garden feature can look stunning in the right location. There are no worries about the garden statue shown above being stolen and makes for a stunning focal point to the informal front garden design.

Backyard Design Elements

Water features are one of the most popular garden design elements discussed during the initial concept design meeting with Tony. Some like the water fountain shown below can add movement and sound to a garden, but others like the large pond can cause extreme amounts of work to maintain. They use large amounts of water due to evaporation loss, especially during the warmer months, and cleaning algae is a constant chore.

Water Feature Fountain
Water Feature Pond

Small water features can add interest to ‘dead’ spots within or along the side of a garden, perhaps by a path you walk along regularly, or include a wall of water that falls down over stone.

Tony's Tip Tony’s Tip For Garden Features

Every garden should have a solid object amongst the plantings. This is a resting place for the eyes. Without it the garden will probably look busy and won’t feel relaxed.
The garden feature could be a statue, urn, an ornamental screen, obelisk or any other stationary object that you like. It’s best if it’s located in ‘line of site’ from a house window you often look out from or from a resting spot in the garden.
Finally, it should be something of value. Don’t undermine your efforts by putting a cheap plastic thing amongst your plants! Trust me when I say it should be something that you’re proud of and will be a talking point with friends.

Small Garden Water Feature
Water Feature Wall

If a water feature is on your wish list, ask Tony for a few ideas on how to add water as an element within your garden.

Entertain Outdoors

Outdoor entertaining areas are great landscape design ideas Adelaide homeowners can implement to bring people together, whether with the family or for when friends come over. They can be covered with a solid roof to extend their useability when the weather is a little wet or not to take advantage of the great weather we typically experience. An umbrella or verandah nearby may be an idea worth considering as an option.
Outdoor kitchens, pizza ovens, and fire pits with plenty of seating are garden elements popular with homeowners across metropolitan Adelaide and Adelaide Hills suburbs.

Open Outdoor Entertaining Area
Covered Outdoor Entertaining Area

Designed For Living Outdoors

Outdoor living areas are typically different areas to those used for entertaining. They’re generally more private spaces separated with walls or privacy screens and are set up as spaces adults can enjoy without the children or as a place where the family can come together and relax.

Outdoor Living Area | Hardwood Timber Deck
Outdoor Living Area Idea | Swimming Pool

Outdoor spas, fire pits, and comfy seats are examples of landscape design ideas Adelaide families incorporate to make for relaxing times within the garden. Outdoor garden furniture has come a long way with some very durable and colourfast materials being used to make leaving it outside a more viable option. Many people though have a box nearby to put cushions, pillows, and blankets inside during wet weather.

Open Outdoor Living Area With Fire Pit
Sunken Outdoor Living Area

Often, the delineation between what is for entertaining and what is designated for living can become blurred. Separate areas can be created, but what becomes used for may come down to the size of the group you’re entertaining and how big the family is, plus the age spread of the group.

Outdoor Living Ideas | Outdoor Entertaining Ideas
Timber Deck For Entertaining Family & Friends

Timber decks make for great-looking outdoor flooring and can be built specifically to take advantage of the views you have, or want to share, or can help to provide different living/entertaining areas.
As mentioned above, the inclusion of different areas is an important consideration when planning a landscape design, and why professional landscape designers are worth their weight in gold.

If you’re limited with space or have many areas of the garden taken up with other features, an Alfresco area adjoining the house could be one of the landscape design ideas worth considering.

Even a verandah or pergola providing weather protection can allow you to open up the inside of your home to the great outdoors. Seating, table and chairs, even a TV on the wall can make it like you have an extra room to enjoy.
Paving or decking, or even using both will provide a durable floor for BBQs and the inevitable ‘oops’ as a greasy snag hits the floor.

Alfresco Living Area Idea
Alfresco Living Area Idea With Paving & Hardwood Timber Decking

Keeping Maintenance Low

Tony's Tip Tip For Low Maintenance

Low-maintenance garden designs are on people’s minds these days, as we always seem to be too busy to maintain a garden. Adding automatic irrigation systems so you don’t have to remember to water the plants by hand and move the sprinkler to its next position on the lawn will save you time and help give the right amount of water to all the plants at the right time of the day.

As a qualified horticulturist, Tony can help you with plant selection and spacing to produce a low-maintenance landscape design you can enjoy looking at more and working on less.

Male Sterile Kikuyu is one of the best natural grasses to use for those after a beautiful low-maintenance lawn. It’s tough, very drought tolerant, and has excellent self-repair qualities. One of the best qualities it has over many other grasses available for Adelaide’s weather conditions is it keeps a lovely green colour all year round.

Low Maintenance Garden Design Ideas
Low Maintenance Natural Garden Design Idea

One of the best garden design solutions for those wishing to put their feet up more and work on the garden less if you do have a lawn is to have robotic mowers set up.
There are makes and models to suit all garden sizes and are clever enough to go back to their docking station when it’s time for a recharge.
As they only take a few mm at a time, the cut grass adds nutrients back into the lawn.

Robotic Mowers | Stihl Imow
Robotic Mowers | Husqvana Auto Mower

Small Garden Designs

Landscape design ideas for small gardens can still include the same number of features as a larger conventional garden, just on a smaller scale. With over 30 years of experience, landscape designers Living Pictures By Tony Stanton will amaze you with the possibilities to transform a small backyard into your dream garden, working within your budget restraints. Another option is to have fewer elements if you don’t want to compromise on size.

Small Garden Design Ideas
Small Modern Garden Design Idea

Courtyard Designs

Landscape design ideas for courtyards are also limited only by your imagination. Fortunately, you don’t have to do any of the heavy lifting as Tony can take your wishes and come up with a plan that will make your courtyard an outdoor sanctuary or place to entertain friends in style.

Garden Design Ideas For Courtyards
Courtyard Garden Design Ideas

Swimming pools, even on conventional sized blocks are really just ‘splash’ pools, a fun or relaxing way to cool down during Summer. Even with size restraints, you don’t have to go without if you have your heart set on a pool.
Courtyard pools can be as small as 4.5M long and just 2.7M wide and after implementing some clever design ideas can be the centrepiece of your backyard.

Courtyard Swimming Pool Idea
Courtyard Swimming Pool Design Idea

Sloping Garden Designs

Landscape design ideas for sloping gardens are a specialty of Living Pictures By Tony Stanton. Expenses can get out of control without expert knowledge and experience with excavation and retaining.
One of the garden design solutions for creating more usable space with a tight budget came to fruition for clients at Panorama (see inside our portfolio) originally having just a 2M strip outside their back door and by using moss rocks at Mt Barker, the clients saved thousands of dollars.

Garden Design Solutions For Sloping Gardens
Moss Rock Retaining Wall For Sloping Garden

In situations where there is a very severe slope, access needs to be considered. Collecting the mail can be made easy with steps and to walk from the front garden to the back, paths can be formed using a zig-zag pattern reducing the gradient and the need for steps. With some clever garden design solutions, there are always better alternatives.

Landscape Design Ideas For Sloping Gardens
Zig Zag Path For Sloping Front Garden

Lawns can be used to effect severe sloping blocks and fun for the kids to run up and down on. Sometimes when access is required and the slope is very severe, curving the steps can make for an attractive element.

Lawn On Sloping Block
Curved Steps On Sloping Block

Native Gardens

As we’re all looking for more time to unwind and relax after the stressful day and we’re being more water-wise, many bring up native plants in the initial concept design meeting with Tony.
While there are many indigenous plants that can be incorporated into a low-maintenance garden design, there are many others that can also be used native to climates similar to ours from other countries.
That mix of local native and overseas varieties is one of the design ideas Adelaide homeowners can use to create the garden style you’re after.

Landscape Design Ideas For Native Gardens
Landscape Design Idea For Native Garden

Cultural Gardens

Out of the ordinary is OK with landscape designers Living Pictures By Tony Stanton. In fact, with thousands of landscape designs under his belt, we doubt you’ll come up with landscape design ideas Tony hasn’t had experience with before.
This Japanese garden example was created to give privacy and peace incorporating traditional Japanese elements.

Japanese Garden Landscape Design Ideas
Landscape Design Ideas For Japanese Garden

Tony's TipTony’s Tip: Consider Garden Lighting

Lighting is important in a garden but can be overdone sometimes. Apart from utility lighting such as under the veranda, your garden lighting is as much about shadow as it is about light.

Veranda lighting provides light to entertain, to read by, and to eat under. Garden lighting creates a mood. It inspires romance. It can create a sense of privacy or isolation. It can change the way you see your garden both literally and conceptually.

So it follows that less is often more. You don’t want to light the garden up like a football stadium so judicious placement is all important.
You light from behind to create a silhouette. Light from below and in front to create unusual shading. From in front and above for drama and highlight. You can also create a light screen by lighting the rear hedge or plant screen which prevents you from seeing further back. This creates a sense of intimacy by making the apparent space smaller.

We hope these landscape design ideas and pictures have given you an idea or two of what may suit your vision for that renovation or makeover to your backyard or front garden.
This page is updated regularly, so feel free to check back to see some more landscape design ideas Adelaide residents can incorporate within the garden.

Would You Like A Garden Makeover?

Have something in mind but need a plan? Ask Tony for help.
After booking the initial concept design meeting and completion both your hardscape working drawing and softscape design plan, you’ll have a very good idea of what the costs will be to transform your current outdoor space into the dream garden you’re after.

Whether you’d like a formal or informal design, whether you have a small backyard to renovate, a courtyard garden to update, or a large back garden you’d like to transform, you can trust Tony Stanton to come up with innovative garden design solutions to match your lifestyle.

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Welcome & Thank You

B.App.Sc.
Cert. III Horticulture
Bld. Lic. 183200

Welcome to our Living Pictures website & Thank You for taking the time to see some of the projects we’ve completed for people just like you.

Tony Stanton

Design Elements

Take a look at the design elements Adelaide home owners often choose to include within their new garden makeover.
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