Seen from the street, a gingerbread Victorian cottage near Melbourne, Australia hides its secret: a streamlined rear extension with a sleekly modern silhouette. The challenge for landscape architect Ben Scott of Ben Scott Garden Design was to create a garden to connect the two faces of the facade.
The result is a front garden with irresistible curb appeal: an informal, meandering design of old-fashioned flowering plants punctuated by spiky perennial grasses that add a modern sensibility.
The back garden is another story. During a remodel a few years ago, homeowners Lynn and Brett Cheong added spaces for outdoor dining and entertaining. To complement the contemporary design, Scott’s back garden emphasizes the sharp-edged geometry of the architecture.
Let’s take a walk around the garden, from front to back.
Photography by Derek Swalwell, courtesy of Ben Scott Garden Design.
![Mature liquidamber and Japanese maple trees were starting points for Scott\2\17;s garden design. At the edge of the wraparound front porch, a tumble of oakleaf hydrangeas and purple verbena is happy beneath a tree canopy.](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/247_2white-victorian-australia-garden-front-porch-ben-scott-733x489.jpg)
For more growing tips, see Verbena: A Field Guide to Planting, Care, & Design.
![Bluestone pavers lead to a handmade garden swing, tucked into a shady corner.](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/white-victorian-australia-garden-swing-pavers-ben-scott-733x1100.jpg)
![Similar in habit to the ground cover star creeper (which is an Isotoma), Australia native Pratia blooms with an explosion of starry white flowers.](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/white-victorian-australia-garden-pavers-ground-covers-ben-scott-733x489.jpg)
See more landscaping ideas in Hardscaping 101: Ground Covers to Plant Between Pavers.
![Sedum \2\16;Autumn Joy\2\17; spills over the edge of a garden bed.](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/white-victorian-australia-garden-perennials-ben-scott-733x1100.jpg)
![Painted wedding-cake white, a Victorian weatherboard facade gains texture from layers of perennials, including exuberant euphorbias (to the right of the walkway).](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/white-victorian-australia-garden-facade-path-ben-scott-733x489.jpg)
Before
![Before the Cheongs moved in, the house was painted yellow and had a patchy front lawn. Photograph via Real Estate.](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/victorian-facade-yellow-berfore-photo-melbourne-australia-cropped-733x550.jpg)
After
![Mixed in with old-fashioned flowering plants, spiky grasses including Lomandra and Miscanthus add a modern element.](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/white-victorian-australia-garden-pavers-path-ben-scott-733x1100.jpg)
![In a gravel courtyard on the side of the house, homeowner Lynn Cheong grows herbs in a raised-bed kitchen garden made from recycled apple crates.](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/white-victorian-australia-garden-gravel-bench-black-fence-ben-scott-733x1100.jpg)
![Boston ivy softens the fence, and a row of pleached flowering pears (Pyrus calleryana ‘Chanticleer’) creates another layer of foliage (and privacy).](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/victorian-cottage-garden-australia-ben-scott-bench-733x1100.jpg)
![In the back garden, the emphasis shifts to clean lines and modern silhouettes: bamboo, grape vines on the pergola that shades the dining terrace, and shrubs (Gardenia florida) planted against the back wall of the house.](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/white-victorian-australia-garden-ourdoor-dining-deck-ben-scott-733x1100.jpg)
The non-invasive Bambusa textilis ‘Gracilis’ (a clumping bamboo) is planted against the fence line to add privacy.
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