beach drive, VICTORIA

The house on this property sits high, looking out over Beach Drive to glimpses of the ocean beyond. The original front garden was planted on a steep slope from house to lower lawn and consisted of run-of-the-mill evergreen plants, sparsely spaced. Not only did the slope make for difficult growing conditions, but there was little flowering interest and the plantings could not be seen to good advantage from inside the house.

Our goal was to create a series of more easily-accessible and level planting areas that would complement the mass of the house as well as the natural rocky outcrop, bringing flowers and foliage into view from the upper windows of the house, while also creating a colourful, multi-layered welcome when approaching the house. Warm coppers, soft oranges and reddish-browns dominate the colour scheme.

This garden is frequently visited by deer. Although we started with “deer resistant” plants, some have not been able to withstand the ravages. We have had to remove some and continue to experiment with others, protecting some important plants with netting or deer repellents, but now have a fairly stable and resilient planting established. A deer resistant planting doesn’t just have to be pieris and rhodos!