Wildest dreams

For self-taught green thumb Fesi Djojo, her flourishing and impressive courtyard garden in southern Perth is a constant work in progress – and that’s just the way she likes it.

“Most of my plants are in pots so I can restyle them constantly to create a completely new garden,” Fesi says. “I will never be finished, which means I will never be bored.”

Forming what Fesi describes as “an imperfect big S-shape”, the garden winds its way around and between the home that she shares with her husband, Victor, and their two children, Leah, 11, and Wyatt, 8, and the granny flat at the back where Victor’s parents, Natalia and Iwan, live.

It’s hard to believe this lush, green haven began as a blank canvas only 10 years ago. Fesi and Victor purchased the 916m² vacant block on Whadjuk Country in 2011, and with the help of architect Gerry Kho and builder Mark Diedricks of Arklen, designed and built their forever home, with a central courtyard for Fesi’s dream garden.

“I don’t have a degree in horticulture, I do it as a hobby,” says Fesi, who grew up in Indonesia surrounded by plants.

“My late dad used to work in the forest and would take us camping a lot,” she recalls. “I don’t remember helping Mum and Dad with their gardens, but I still remember what they looked like. Having all these plants around me now makes me feel closer to home.”

Indeed, there is a lovely natural, overgrown feel to Fesi’s garden, where greenery lines the pathways, climbs the walls and cascades down from above. The sound of bubbling water and the click-clack of bamboo swaying in the breeze add a tranquil soundtrack to the immersive space, which has been designed as a series of small ‘rooms’, with a hammock or table and chair in every corner.

Four fast-growing Hong Kong orchid trees were the first things she planted, and they provide much-needed shade in the hot west-facing courtyard. Their sturdy boughs are the perfect support for hanging pots of philodendron, hoya, rhipsalis, sarcostemma, fishbone cactus, old man’s beard and string of pearls, among other species.

Nearby, a covered alfresco dining space is brimming with potted Philodendron crassinervium, P. cordatum, P. stenolobum, variegated rubber plant (Ficus elastica), foxtail fern (Asparagus aethiopicus) and Monstera standleyana. It looks onto a green wall, where more philodendron, lace fern, Carex ‘Feather Falls’, Dichondra ‘Silver Falls’, donkey’s tail (Sedum morganianum), rhaphidophora and many types of Fesi’s favourite rhipsalis spill down its surface. This vertical garden acts as a privacy screen for in-laws Natalia and Iwan, who admire its plantings from their granny flat.

Along the boundary fence line, a raised garden bed plays host to a grove of fruit trees, including exotics such as chiku, rose apple, guava, longan, persimmon, a somewhat finicky mango and various citrus, including a mandarin heaving with fruit. “The kids like to pick and eat them straight from the tree,” says Fesi.

As well, there’s a trio of deep, round bowls used as fish ponds, a greenhouse “where all my not-so-great plants go to recover” and numerous sunny spots for the family’s miniature dachshunds, Meeko and Gia, to soak up some rays.

“I like big-leafed plants, with shrubs and grasses for contrast. I don’t do fussy plants because I’m not that patient. If they don’t survive in my garden, I don’t have them.”

The garden continues inside, where up to 500 plants bring life and vibrancy to each room. “I like to bring what you’d normally see outside inside,” says Fesi. “A shade-loving tree like a ficus looks common outside, but when you bring a 3–4m tree inside, that’s really special.”

It’s an impressive collection of plants, and many are sourced from Fesi’s plant retail and design business, Bar Botanik, which she runs with her brother-in-law, Daniel. Having such easy access to plants means she constantly finds new varieties to try. “If I like something, I’ll bring it home and make it work later,” Fesi says. From the look of things, there isn’t much that this avid gardener can’t make work.

Header image by Robert Frith/Acorn Photo