Landscape design and construction
Coastal gardens, built to stay.
Native gardens, pools and outdoor rooms across Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and Port Stephens. Designed and built by one team, then looked after for a year once they're in.
On site now A dune garden and plunge pool at Bar Beach, week nine of fourteen
Design and construct Since 2009 12-month plant guarantee
Why Saltbush & Stone
Most gardens are drawn by one firm and built by another. Ours never change hands.
When a designer hands over to a separate builder, things get lost: the level that made a step work, the reason a tree went where it did. We've done both under one roof since 2009, so the person who drew your garden is on site while it's built.
We also design for this stretch of coast and nowhere else. Salt-laden nor'easters, sand that drains in minutes, heavy clay a metre down around the lake. Every plant is chosen for its exact spot, not picked from a catalogue.
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17
years designing and building on this coast
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212
gardens, pools and outdoor rooms handed over
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9 in 10
plants we use are native to the NSW coast
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12
months of establishment care with every build
What we do
Four kinds of work, one crew.
Most projects mix all four. A pool needs a garden around it, a garden on a slope needs stone, and an outdoor room needs both. It's all designed together and built in the right order.
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01
Coastal native gardens
Layered planting that copes with salt and wind, with the soil, drainage, irrigation and lighting done properly before a single plant goes in.
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02
Pools and spas
Concrete pools, plunge pools and spas, positioned for sun and shelter and designed with the garden around them, not beside them.
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03
Outdoor rooms
Covered terraces, outdoor kitchens and fire pits you'll use on a July evening as well as a January afternoon.
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04
Stone and structure
Sandstone walls, steps, paths and retaining, engineered for sandy dunes, clay subsoil and steep lake-edge blocks.
Through the seasons
A garden's first year, season by season.
We plant for how the garden will look in year five, then stay for the year it takes to get established.
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December to February
Summer
Handover. The backbone plants are in: lomandra, saltbush and kangaroo paw, chosen because they'll cope with a January nor'easter in their first week.
- Deep water twice a week, never a splash every day
- 75mm of mulch, kept clear of the stems
- We visit every fortnight for three months
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March to May
Autumn
The soil's still warm and the rain's more reliable, so this is when coast banksia finds its feet and we fill any gaps the summer showed us.
- Feature trees staked against the southerlies
- Irrigation dialled back as the nights cool
- First pruning to keep the shape low and dense
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June to August
Winter
Westringia and correa carry the colour. Correa's little bells feed the eastern spinebills when almost nothing else on the coast is flowering.
- Hard prune of westringia after the westerlies
- Every stake and tie checked and loosened
- Drainage tested in the wettest weeks
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September to November
Spring
Flannel flowers open and the grass tree sends up its spear. Twelve months in, we walk the garden with you and replace anything that's struggled.
- Struggling plants replaced at our cost
- A written seasonal care plan for your garden
- Optional seasonal visits from here on
Pools and water
Water that sits in the landscape.
A pool on the coast should look like it's been there for years. We set it low, edge it in honed sandstone, render the interior dark so it holds the sky, and plant right up to the coping so there's no glare of paving baking in the afternoon sun.
- Concrete pools from 6 metres Lap pools, plunge pools and spas, shaped to the block rather than the brochure.
- Warm enough for May Salt or mineral water, with heat pumps sized for swimming well past Easter.
- Fencing drawn in from day one Frameless glass or a sandstone wall that doubles as the barrier, never an afterthought.
What to expect
From first visit to first swim.
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01
Site visit
90 minutes
We read the soil, the wind, the falls and the way you actually use the place. No charge within our area.
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02
Concept design
3 to 4 weeks
Plans, hand sketches, a planting palette and a budget range you can rely on, presented on site.
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03
Detail and approvals
4 to 8 weeks
Construction drawings, engineering for walls and pools, and the certificate or development application lodged for you.
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04
Construction
8 to 20 weeks
One site lead from first peg to last plant, and a written update in your inbox every Friday afternoon.
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05
Establishment
12 months
Fortnightly visits for three months, then one each season. Anything that fails, we replace.
Fees
What it costs, before we start.
Fixed design fees, quoted in writing. Construction is a fixed-price contract with every provisional sum listed, never cost-plus, so the number you sign is the number you pay.
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Concept design
from $6,500
fixed fee, including GST
For a clear plan and an honest budget before you commit to building anything.
- Site visit and measured survey
- Concept plan and hand sketches
- Planting palette for your site
- Two rounds of changes
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Where most clients land
Design and construct
budgets from $180,000
fixed-price contract, including GST
Most of our projects sit between $180,000 and $450,000. A pool usually adds $95,000 to $160,000.
- Design fee credited against the build
- One crew, one site lead
- Weekly written updates
- 12 months of establishment care
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Full documentation
from $14,500
fixed fee, including GST
Everything in concept, documented in enough detail to build from, whoever builds it.
- Construction drawings
- Lighting and irrigation plans
- Engineering coordinated
- Approvals lodged for you
The studio
The people who draw it also build it.
Three directors and a crew of eleven, all employed by us, none subcontracted. We take on about fourteen projects a year so each one gets a director on site every week.
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Tess Callaghan
Founder and design director
Registered landscape architect
Grew up in Redhead and spent eight years designing parks for councils before starting the studio in 2009. She still draws every concept by hand.
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Joel Marchetti
Construction director
Licensed builder, NSW
A stonemason's son from Kurri Kurri. Runs every site, sets the stone that matters and won't leave a wall he isn't proud of.
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Mia Tran
Horticulturist
Degree-qualified horticulturist
Chooses every plant, mostly grown by two local-provenance nurseries, and runs the twelve months of establishment visits.
Recent work
Three of last year's fourteen.
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Merewether
Dune garden and plunge pool
Coastal planting, a 6m plunge pool and sandstone steps down to the beach track
- Build
- 16 weeks
- Budget
- About $240,000
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Fishing Point
Lakeside terrace and lap pool
An 11m lap pool, spotted gum deck, outdoor kitchen and a planted lake edge
- Build
- 20 weeks
- Budget
- About $410,000
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Fingal Bay
Courtyard outdoor room
A covered terrace, fire pit and dry-stone walls, sheltered from the southerly
- Build
- 10 weeks
- Budget
- About $185,000
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They told us which of our ideas wouldn't survive the wind. Two years on, they were right about every one of them.
Kate, Merewether
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Joel's crew left the site tidier every Friday than they found it on Monday. We've never had that with a trade.
David, Fishing Point
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It looked good at handover. It looks better now, which is exactly what they said would happen.
Sue, Fingal Bay
FAQs
Good questions to ask early.
Anything else, call 0491 570 110. You'll get Tess or Joel, usually from a site.
Do you only plant natives?
Mostly, but not on principle. About nine in ten of our plants are native to the NSW coast because they handle salt, sand and dry spells better than anything else. If you want a lemon tree by the kitchen, you'll get one, planted where it'll thrive.
How long does a project take?
From first visit to handover, usually four to nine months. Design takes two to three months, approvals can add four to eight weeks, and construction runs eight to twenty weeks depending on whether there's a pool.
Do we need council approval?
Pools always do, through either a complying development certificate or a development application. Taller retaining walls and some decks do too. We'll tell you which at the concept stage and lodge it for you.
Will a garden survive this close to the beach?
If it's designed for it. We plant in layers, with tough front-line plants taking the salt and wind so softer plants can shelter behind them. Anything that fails in the first twelve months, we replace at our cost.
When's the best time to start?
About six months before you'd like to be swimming. Design over winter, build through spring and plant while the soil's warm in late summer and autumn.
Can you work with our architect or builder?
Often. If you're building or renovating, bring us in before the slab's poured. Levels, drainage and the pool position get settled once, which is far cheaper than settling them twice.
What happens after the first year?
You'll have a written seasonal care plan for your garden. Seasonal maintenance visits are optional from there, from $480 a visit, and plenty of clients look after it themselves.
Get in touch
Start with a site visit.
Ninety minutes on your block, at no charge anywhere in our area. Send a few details and we'll call within two business days to find a time.
- Phone
- 0491 570 110
- Studio
- Cardiff, by appointment
- We work in
- Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and Port Stephens
- Hours
- Monday to Friday, 7am to 4pm