With a record number of entries into the Boutique Garden Competition at the 2024 Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, Smart Landscapes was honoured to be selected as a finalist alongside 4 other entrants, and even more delighted to be named as one of the three medallists in our first ever Show.

Our design, entitled ‘Coastal Waves’, aimed to showcase what Smart Landscapes represents on the Mornington Peninsula. Focusing on locally sourced materials and native flora, our goal was to highlight the beauty of our seaside neighbourhood.

Our design utilised limestone rock, beach sand, and curved expanded mesh metal screening to create a sense of movement and wind while displaying the harmony between the built form and natural environment.

Designed and built in-house, a bench seat crafted from steam bent Tasmanian Oak battens was nestled amongst the limestone and plants, providing a place for rest and reflection near the tiled water trough.

Landscape lighting was skilfully executed to create a magnificent display, especially at night, with shadows and reflections dancing along the mesh screen from the water trough.

The planting palette included Indigenous species like Atriplex (Coast Salt Bush), Leucophyta brownii (Cushion Bush), and Correa alba (White Correa), as well as other natives such as Casuarina glauca ‘Greenwave’ (Sheoak), Dianella caerulea ‘Goddess’ (Native Flax Lily), and Corymbia citriodora (Lemon Scented Gum), which provided shade over the bench seat and reflection pond.

Smart Landscapes is very proud of what our team managed to produce in such a short time. We look forward to the possibility of participating again in future Shows. Watch this space!