Drought Tolerant Garden Design Ideas and Waterwise Garden Photos

Gardens that look lush on a fraction of the water — soil preparation, gravel mulch, planting in blocks and irrigation that only runs when needed. A waterwise garden is not a gravel yard with three succulents in it. The best examples are dense, layered and green, and they use a fraction of the water of a conventional garden because of decisions made below ground. Soil improved with compost holds moisture, deep mulch stops evaporation, plants grouped by water need stop the thirsty ones dictating the schedule, and irrigation delivers water slowly at the root zone rather than spraying it into the air. Soil comes first. Break up compaction, add organic matter generously, and create planting beds deep enough for roots to go looking for moisture instead of sitting in the top few centimetres. Then mulch — 75 millimetres of coarse bark, gravel or crushed stone depending on the look you want. Gravel mulch suits Mediterranean and native schemes, keeps foliage dry, reflects heat away from the soil surface and never needs topping up the way bark does. Plant in blocks and repeat. Three to five species massed together read as a designed garden and shade the soil between them, which...

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Pool Designs

Compact Plunge Pool Design with Natural Boulder Edging and Pool-Side Pergola Dining Area

Compact Plunge Pool Design with Natural Boulder Edging, Timber Deck Inserts and Sandy Beach Entry, Mass-Planted Agapanthus, Palms and Soft. this image created by www.homedesign-photos.com — Compact Plunge Pool Design with Natural Boulder Edging, Timber Deck Inserts and Sandy Beach Entry, Mass-Planted Agapanthus, Palms and Soft Coastal Grasses, featuring a Pool-Side Pergola Dining Area and Firepit Lounge, with Considered Outdoor Zoning and Soft Layered Textures

Pc 16 is part of our Pool Designs collection — one of 97 large-format widescreen concept visuals in this section. It is presented here at full size so you can study the layout, the planting, the surfaces and the way light falls across the design before you commit to building anything on your own block.

Infinity, lagoon, plunge and lap pools with surrounds, surfaces and pool-side living. Use this concept as a starting point: note the proportions between built form and greenery, where shade and shelter sit, how paths and paved areas move people through the space, and which materials repeat to hold the whole scheme together.

Every visual on this site is a design idea created for Home Design Photos. Browse the rest of the Pool Designs collection, or open the complete image catalogue to see every home, garden, pool, pergola, furniture, lighting and beach house concept in one place.

← Modern Infinity Edge Pool Design with Deep Navy Tiling and Wide Sun Deck, Umbrella Resort-Style Swimming Pool Design with Pale Sandstone Surrounds and Swim-Up Bench, Spa Spill →

More Pool Designs concepts

Lagoon-Style Swimming Pool Design with Charcoal Pebble Interior and Sun Lounge Terrace, Shaded Cabana

Lagoon-Style Swimming Pool Design with Charcoal Pebble Interior, Bluestone Coping and Blackbutt Decking, Cycads, Strappy Foliage and Uplit Feature Trees, featuring a Sun Lounge Terrace, Shaded Cabana and Outdoor Shower, balanced by Clean Sightlines, Shaded Retreats and Relaxed Family

Compact Plunge Pool Design with Natural Boulder Edging and Pool-Side Pergola Dining Area

Compact Plunge Pool Design with Natural Boulder Edging, Timber Deck Inserts and Sandy Beach Entry, Mass-Planted Agapanthus, Palms and Soft Coastal Grasses, featuring a Pool-Side Pergola Dining Area and Firepit Lounge, with Considered Outdoor Zoning and Soft Layered Textures

Family Lap Pool and Deck Design with Glass Mosaic Tiling, Travertine Coping and Frameless Glass Fencing, Clipped Hedging, Feature Olive. this image created by www.homedesign-photos.com

Family Lap Pool and Deck Design with Glass Mosaic Tiling and Waterfall Wall, Stepping

Family Lap Pool and Deck Design with Glass Mosaic Tiling, Travertine Coping and Frameless Glass Fencing, Clipped Hedging, Feature Olive Trees and Silver Groundcovers, featuring a Waterfall Wall, Stepping Pads and Evening LED Glow

Resort-Style Swimming Pool Design with Pale Sandstone Surrounds and Swim-Up Bench, Spa Spill

Resort-Style Swimming Pool Design with Pale Sandstone Surrounds, White Rendered Walls and Bronze Fittings, Layered Ferns, Elephant Ears and Lush Poolside Greenery, featuring a Swim-Up Bench, Spa Spill and Poolside BBQ Kitchen, complemented by Durable Weatherproof Finishes and Low-Maintenance

Resort-Style Swimming Pool Design with Pale Sandstone Surrounds and Swim-Up Bench, Spa Spill

Complete image catalogue

Driveway and Entry Path Design Ideas and Photos

Materials, widths, jointing and drainage for driveways and entry paths that lift a facade instead of dominating it.

A driveway is usually the largest single surface on a property, so it has more influence on how a house looks than any other landscaping element. The goal is to make it recede. That means choosing a colour and texture close to the paving and render elsewhere, breaking the expanse with joints or planting strips, and keeping the width to what is genuinely needed rather than paving everything between the fences.

Materials each carry a trade off. Exposed aggregate concrete is durable, seamless and mid cost, but hard to patch invisibly. Large format pavers and bluestone look best and cost most, and they demand a properly compacted base. Permeable pavers and gravel handle stormwater brilliantly and suit rural and coastal properties, though gravel migrates and needs edging and topping up. Plain grey concrete is cheapest and looks it, unless it is saw cut into a considered grid.

Geometry and drainage decide whether it works. Allow three metres for a single driveway and five and a half for a double, add a turning or parking bay if visitors would otherwise reverse into the street, and keep the crossover aligned with the garage. Fall the surface away from the house and toward a grated drain or swale, never toward the garage door, and set a grate across the entry to the garage as insurance.

Front Yards design ideas photo from the Driveway and Entry Path Design Ideas and Photos feature. this image created by www.homedesign-photos.com

Planting and edges make the difference. A crisp edge — steel, stone or a clipped hedge — holds the line and stops gravel and mulch mixing. A strip of groundcover or lawn between two wheel tracks softens a long drive dramatically. Trees set back from the surface give shade without lifting the pavement, and low bollard or recessed lighting along one side makes arriving at night feel considered rather than functional.

House Design Photos is a HUGE Library Gallery and Directory of Home Design Photos

Drought Tolerant Garden Design Ideas and Waterwise Garden Photos

Compact Plunge Pool Design with Natural Boulder Edging and Pool-Side Pergola Dining Area

More Pool Designs concepts

Driveway and Entry Path Design Ideas and Photos