High ideal

While Kate Chater lives in a fifth-floor apartment in Sydney’s Inner West, she retains a close connection to the earth, thanks to her blissful balcony in the treetops. And that prospect attracted her to the property on Gadigal land back in 2020. For green-fingered Kate, who lives here with her partner Jane, stepdaughter Kaiya and three Brussels Griffon dogs, the large outdoor area (an L-shape wrapping around the apartment, about 20m long on the east side and 10m on the north) presented a fertile opportunity.

“I saw the potential to create a balcony that might look and feel like an actual garden,” Kate says. “I knew the size would allow me the freedom to play with pot placement to achieve that effect.” A generous built in planter along the north side and a mature fig presiding over proceedings sealed the deal.

Kate had previously lived in apartments with “standard rectangular” outdoor areas that offered limited scope, including an east-facing courtyard where she created a tropical garden, and a small, west-facing balcony where she grew succulents and bromeliads. But here she had the luxury of space and a sense of place, due to the fig – and the fauna: she’s regularly visited by lorikeets, corellas, noisy miners, magpies, possums and bats. Little wonder then that she wanted to focus on natives: “I’d never gardened with natives before and knew they’d be a challenge in pots, so I did as much research as I could.”

And the balcony presented its challenges. The eastern side loses the sun about 1pm, which is not ideal for natives. And it can be buffeted by winds that dry out the pots and damage taller plants. Meanwhile, the north side receives direct sun for most of the day. It can swelter, so succulents and other drought-tolerant plants were no-brainers.

Because she wanted the ambience of a “real” garden with discrete zones, Kate carefully planned the placement of pots. “I wanted the feeling of walking through a natural, organic space, so I chose low, bowl-type planters to create a path between the areas. With more than one plant type in every pot, they disappear into the balcony tiles.” She then chose large upright pots to add height and because she wanted trees, “although that didn’t altogether work out, given the wind. The one that did survive was the [coastal] banksia, so I plan to introduce more of these.”

The garden has four zones: a sitting area, which is on the northern side, next to the living room; a dining area, on the north-east corner; a cooking area with a barbie and produce garden on the eastern side; and a private sitting area with rustic bench adjoining the main bedroom.

Plant-wise, natives and succulents make good bedfellows. “Both grow well in a native potting mix, so I planted them together,” Kate says. “I wanted the garden to pop against the choc-brown cladding, so I tended towards silver-leafed and pink plants and flowers, with contrast here and there.” Licorice plant, Lomandra ‘Lime Tuff’, blue fescue and Alternanthera ‘Little Ruby’ all feature strongly on the eastern side.

For the northern planter, Kate was inspired by the work of the Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf. “Repeated patches of complementary colours and textures look like an abstract painting,” she says. “It looks beautiful when the late afternoon sun hits it, especially when the Aloe ‘Fairy Pink’ is flowering.” Drifts of blue chalksticks, silver jade and kalanchoe complete the picture.

The only “structured, formal” area in this “organic” garden is outside the main bedroom, with the sliding balcony door framed by two standardised ‘Lollypops’ grevilleas and a planter box hedge of Adenanthos ‘Silver Streak’. Romantic Euphorbia ‘Euphoric White’ adds contrast.

Kate confesses to some early mishaps. “I included proteas for colour and interest in the first round but the first wet spell killed them off. And I put dwarf flowering gums in the large pots, but they couldn’t cope with the strong winds down the east side.” Gymea lilies and ‘Sterling Silver’ wattles are much more forgiving.

But she has no regrets, with the garden offering rich rewards. “Spending time and working in my garden is the best way to deal with stress,” says Kate, who is in the legal profession. “After a long day at work, walking around the balcony, with the dogs at my heels and a bit of crushed rosemary in my hand, I am in my happy place.”

Story by Chris Pearson
Photography by Brent Wilson