On a steep coastal slope close to the southern most tip of Africa, a family garden embraces the land’s natural contours — blending ecology with thoughtful design to create a place of wonder.
The Ideal Location
For Rachel Looney and Kristoph Lodge's family holiday home came unexpectedly. ‘We weren’t exactly house-hunting,’ Rachel admits, ‘but the second we set foot here, we felt it… The wildness, the trees, the potential. We wanted the garden to feel like a place to explore — somewhere magical, where the children could roam and discover.’
The plot, a generous double stand of 1 000 square metres, was anything but straightforward. It falls nearly eight metres from top to bottom, with thin, rocky soil and a seasonal spring that cuts through the slope. Where others might have seen a logistical challenge, landscape designer Mary Maurel saw opportunity. The result is a garden of winding stone stairs, planting that feels rooted in place and somewhere magical where children hide, clamber and explore.
Mary’s approach to the site was instinctive and informed by the natural terrain. While designing on a slope can present enormous technical demands, as she explains, it also means ‘embracing movement and the potential to create a garden that becomes a journey rather than a destination. Level changes naturally lead to a feeling of discovery.’
The garden meanders down through a series of platforms and terraces, each one fringed by planted edges and anchored by dry-stacked stone retaining walls. ‘Wherever possible, I avoided retaining,’ says Mary, ‘and where essential, I used curved forms and irregular heights for a gentle, more natural result.’
Much of the stone used was unearthed during excavation or salvaged from the site. The hand-chiselled, sandstone slabs used for the stairways were chosen for their similarity to local rock, their edges softened to echo natural formations. Between them, pockets of nutmeg pelargonium, cobwebbush, delicate crassulas and lilac coloured coast scabious blur the distinction between built and grown. The result is a garden that reads less as a constructed landscape and more as one uncovered. ‘The walls don’t contain the garden — they cradle it. Curves soften the geometry of the house and shape the land with care,’ Mary says.
One of the most enchanting features is how Mary has choreographed the flow of water. A natural spring flows through the slope from the top, and rather than conceal it, Mary gave it centre stage. The water
emerges high on the site as a fine rill — an architectural feature designed to echo the precision of the house, before dropping into a waterfall that spills into a pond at the garden's lower level. This dual expression of water, controlled and wild, captures the spirit of the garden — balanced between form and freedom, structure and play.
The pond area is a favourite with the family. ‘My youngest loves to crouch by the edge, trying to catch the goldfish,’ says Rachel. ‘It’s like having a miniature ecosystem right outside our door.’
The planting throughout is light of touch and deeply rooted in local ecology. ‘I didn’t want to alter the soil dramatically,’ Mary says. ‘Just a layer of compost to boost organic content. The rest is about choosing plants that belong here.’ This meant a palette of waterwise species — many from the local fynbos biome, chosen for their ability to thrive in free-draining soil and coastal conditions. Grasses such as African lovegrass thread between fragrant garlic buchu and wild rosemary, with bursts of colour from coast scabious and trailing dassie vygies.
In the shadier zones, where large trees like yellowwood and Cape beech cast dappled light, Mary used blisterleaf, sedges and leather leaf fern for cool, textural underplanting. Marginal pond areas are edged with arum lilies ‘Green Goddess’, swamp lobelia and soft rush to bring texture and movement to the water’s edge.
A Milkwood tree, craned into the driveway, stands as a symbol of resilience and place — a coastal stalwart rooting the design in its context. For all its technical finesse, this is not a show garden. It is a space made to be lived in: swung through, splashed in, dug up and loved. ‘In summer, the garden becomes the heart of our home,’ says Rachel. ‘We open every door, light the braai and the kids spend the entire day outside — swinging, swimming and building fires in the evening. It’s peaceful and alive all at once.’ Perhaps this is the greatest achievement of Mary’s design: a garden that holds complexity beneath its serenity, that allows wildness within its form and that gives a young family the space not just to grow but also to belong.
Design Intel
Landscape designer Mary Maurel shares her approach to crafting a coastal family garden that honours place and play, and thrives in tough conditions.
The best coastal gardens feel like they were always there. If you work with the natural layers — sun, shade, soil and slope — you can create something that feels not just beautiful, but inevitable. For holiday homes, prioritise drought tolerant, low-maintenance plants and always make space for play. Designing on a coastal slope presents a unique set of challenges: lean, fast-draining soils; relentless wind; shifting light and a need for low-maintenance structure that can weather the seasons. Embrace these conditions instead of working against them. Mary's approach to the Scarborough garden was rooted in restraint. ‘We didn’t import soil,’ she says. ‘Instead, I chose plants that will flourish with what was already there — thin, stony ground and a shady, south-facing slope. The result is a palette that is site-specific and simple to maintain.
Text by Heidi Bertish
