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Week 11: Emma and Ben

The room: Backyard and pool

Cash spent: $19,375 (Budget: $50,000)

Score: 37.5 (38.5 with gnome)/40 (first place)

“I just love the luxury – there’s so many layers of luxury here,” said Marty Fox. “that is what will capture the buyers.”

The back of a house with a pool in it, a rocked area, timber decking and many plants in it.

Emma and Ben’s winning backyard paid homage to the surrounding landscape with hundreds of trees and expansive vistas.


Emma and Ben triumphed in backyard and pool week with a spectacular garden and wine cellar. The Victorian couple took on more than 1000 square metres in area to create a winning backyard and pool area.

The concept from the couple’s landscape designer Colin Hyett was to incorporate the adjoining rolling hills of Daylesford into the backyard design, as “borrowed landscape”. This involved lots of trees – and using 80 per cent natives in the plant selection.

“So the garden seamlessly blends into the hills behind,” explained Emma.

Guest judge Dave Franklin said the backyard presented as an amphitheatre looking over Daylesford, calling the choice of natives “very sustainable”.

Entrance to the garden and backyard was made via huge timber steps leading off their back deck, framing a large planter with a spectacular tree.

From there, it was a step down to the pool area with cabana through a clever hidden retaining wall. The pool surround was an earthy brown brick, which blended beautifully with the landscape. Pavers as stepping stones helped to define the pathway while keeping it relatively informal. 

A vegie garden, grove of citrus trees and firepit were located on the opposite side to the pool. The couple’s wine cellar, located under one of the wings of the house, won lots of praise, especially for the stone feature wall.

“It’s that natural colour palette and materials palette that relates to the outside, relates to the landscape and it just feels really right in Daylesford,” said Darren Palmer.

A room with towels hanging on hooks on a wall, tiled flooring, a split system attached to a wall and a print hanging on it also.

Design tip

Choosing trees and plants that are native to your area will result in a garden that is easier to maintain and uses less resources, such as fertilisers and water. Talk to your local Bunnings garden experts about what is indigenous to your local area before you decide on your plant choices.

 

What colour paint did they use?

Ben and Emma used Feast Watson ‘Black Japan’.

 

Create the look yourself with these D.I.Y. projects

Health & Safety

Please make sure you use all equipment appropriately and safely when following the advice in these D.I.Y. videos. You need to be familiar with how to use equipment safely and follow the instructions that came with the equipment. If you are unsure, you may feel it is safest to consult an expert, such as the manufacturer or an expert Bunnings Team Member.

Grave health hazards are linked to asbestos, which may be in homes built up to 1990. Health hazards may result from exposure to lead-based paints in older materials and copper chromium arsenic (CCA) treated timber. For information on the dangers of asbestos, lead-based paint and CCA treated timber and tips for dealing with these materials contact your local council's Environmental Health Officer.