Natural pool garden wins green award

Phillip Johnson Landscapes has won the Most Sustainable Garden Award at the 2011 Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show for the Bathe installation – showcasing compact urban sustainable landscaping and natural pool design, construction and maintenance.

Also awarded a Bronze Medal in the Show Garden category, Bathe demonstrates the company’s unique approach to rooftop and vertical garden design, integration and maintenance; and the use of reclaimed materials including concrete rubble to create attractive waterfalls and landscape features.

The colossal sheet of granite used in the construction was rescued from Lysterfield Quarry where it was to be crushed into road base.

The pool uses simple technology including a natural filtration zone system, while the water level is sustained using various on-site capture systems. Clusters of native rushes and sedges such as water ribbons are found in the filtration zone bordering the natural pool.

Raw materials have been sourced within a 100km radius of the site. Construction of the natural pool involves a combination of waterproof membranes and geo-fabric as protective linings.

Creative Director, Phillip Johnson, says that recent severe weather, from drought through to flooding, means our approach to landscape design needs to now consider both extremes.

“Billabongs and natural pools are the soul of each of our landscapes – they provide a reservoir of water during times of low rainfall and can assist in fire-safety; and in times of flooding, act as a catchment area,” he says.