Landscape design and build in Doonan.

Hinterland acreage, on its own terms.

Doonan blocks are large, unsewered and mostly off mains water, and that changes what a landscape has to do. The gardens that work here establish on tank water, hold through a wet summer, and stay maintainable by the people who live on the property rather than needing a crew every week.

The other thing Doonan properties share is water movement. Storm runoff crosses these blocks rather than soaking into them, and on a large lot that turns into scoured beds, saturated turf and silt heading for a neighbour's boundary. We treat drainage as part of the design rather than something to correct later, shaping swales and falls into the layout before a single plant goes in.

What we tend to build in Doonan.

Whole-property work is the norm here rather than a single zone. On acreage the front entry, the driveway approach, the ground between buildings and the boundary runs all read as one landscape, so we masterplan the lot on a single drawing and build from that.

The Doonan Acreage project in our recent work is a fair sample: swales and subsurface drainage shaped first, ten truckloads of sandstone set through native beds, a fire pit circle between the two dwellings, and Corten edging welded on site so the mowing lines run as long unbroken curves.

Several styles suit Doonan.

Doonan rewards planting that establishes on tank water, copes with a wet summer, and grows into the hinterland rather than sitting apart from it.

• Modern native Grass trees, banksias, grevilleas, westringia, casuarina and native grasses under heavy mulch. Low input once established, and it reads as though it belongs on the block.
• Bushland naturalistic Builds on the existing eucalypt canopy with understory natives, sandstone detail and loose, drifted layouts. The lowest-maintenance option on a large lot.
• Subtropical Palms, gingers, cordylines and large-leaf foliage for sheltered courtyards and pool surrounds, where the humidity and rainfall do most of the work.