This elegant garden has been lovingly restored to complement the magniftcent home.

Goliath, the family pet, enjoys drinking from the reflection pool

Castle Ridge, a gracious home that was constructed in the early 1920’s, is perched on the maximum point of Westcliff’s ridge in Johannesburg, Gauteng. Its current owners, a young family, embarked on a comprehensive restoration of the whole property approximately five years back and Gregory Mark, renowned garden designer, was encouraged to be part of this procedure.

Vibrant-blue agapanthus create a pop of colour against a wall clad in Westcliff stone.

The formal rose garden leads on to the swimming pool on the lowest level.

A photo of a rose garden on the house, taken in the house’s early decades, suggests that the garden was originally styled formally. Inspired by this, Gregory and his customer set about removing some of the backyard features that no longer functioned the home, and introducing those that would honor both its age and architectural detail.

This humorous sculpture presides over the formal rose garden on the lower terrace.

The ‘boy playing his flute’ perches on the Juliette balcony at the front entrance.

The faux rock pool was eliminated to make way for a formal rose garden and a central manifestation pool next to the beautiful summer house in which the family enjoys entertaining and relaxing. Here,’Johannesburg Garden Club’ and also the shocking-cerise’Queen of the Garden’ show their glorious blossoms.

Clipped Syzygium paniculatum topiaries add a sense of geometry to the kitchen garden patio.
A potting table is dressed with the client’s favourite accessories.
The classical water feature creates a tranquil focal point for the kitchen.

The granite-cobble driveway snakes up the slope to the home, dividing the formal rose garden by the new swimming pool area which substituted an old tennis court. Two statuesque London planes announce the entry to this tranquil pool garden, which is planted in layers of greens.
Syzygium paniculatum along with the gentle pink of this’Mushe Kirsh’ rose.
One of the most enjoyable projects, Gregory mentions, was converting part of the initial service area to an elegant patio garden that escapes off the kitchen. To begin with, the neglected Boston ivy creeper (Parthenocissus tricuspidata) against the home required urgent care. It was seriously pruned, secured and fed to ensure it once more enhances the façade of the home.

The new north-facing terrace sports a hedge of Abelia ‘Dwarf Gnome’ and ‘Mushe Kirsh’ roses.

The patio garden is filled with many facets of geometry, in the gravel walkway interspersed with clipped topiaries into the elegant rose-filled backyard simplifying the water feature that functions as a focus for your kitchen. The backyard is used to sponsor an annual private charity event, and the guests congregate here in order to take pleasure in the high tea and magnificent views.

The structurally engineered retaining wall alongside the entrance provides a sun-drenched
terrace for the owners.

“My customer is an avid gardener, and now We’ve spent many happy hours choosing plant material, “The bright red, blue and yellow café-style seating is part of the artwork that permeates the garden”
On the northern component of the home, the land initially fell away steeply and was hardly available. As this facet boasts a grand view over the suburbs, Joe van Rooyen of JvR Architects made a 10m-high structurally engineered wall to create a new platform that enables the owners to enjoy this perspective.