Australia's Best Backyards

AUSTRALIA’S BEST BACKYARDS

6:30pm (G)

**SEASON FINAL**

*Who will be crowned Australia’s best backyard?*

On the season final of AUSTRALIA’S BEST BACKYARDS, revisit the nine amazing backyards that have been chosen as our finalists, before host Jamie Durie makes a surprise visit on one of the nine to crown Australia’s best backyard – as voted for by viewers at home. Plus, laugh along with our presenters as we watch some never-before-seen behind the scenes footage.

The nine finalists of AUSTRALIA’S BEST BACKYARDS are:

Episode One Sustainable Billabong - Victoria

Episode Two Tropical Paradise - Queensland

Episode Three Wigandia – Victoria

Episode Four Toowoomba Rocks – Queensland

Episode Five Flemington Community Garden – Victoria

Episode Six Newcastle Escape

Episode Seven Boardwalk – Queensland

Episode Eight Hawthorn - South Australia

Episode Nine Daintree – Queensland

Jamie will present the winners with the Golden Fork and a holiday for four to Samoa flying Virgin Airlines.

Sunday October 7 at 6:30pm (G)

This week on AUSTRALIA’S BEST BACKYARDS, could this be Australia's best water feature? - and it's remote controlled; how one couple turned their backyard into a Thai resort, complete with a giant 3 tonne Buddha; the perfect bachelor pad with a no-fuss garden; a fairytale front yard for topiary lovers.; and why a father raised his family in a huge rainforest he created himself.

AUSTRALIA’S BEST BACKYARDS, hosted by JAMIE DURIE and featuring landscape designers FIONA BRUYN and ANDREW O’SULLIVAN, takes a peek over back fences across the nation in search of the country’s best backyards.

AUSTRALIA’S BEST BACKYARDS

6:30pm (G)

This week on AUSTRALIA’S BEST BACKYARDS:

Vic Cherrikoff - NSW

Vik created a pool that looked like a natural lagoon, similar to that of Mataranka Springs in the Northern Territory and it doubles as a dam he uses on his plants. Plus he creates an unconventional ‘Aboriginal ground oven’ to cook food the same as the ancient traditional way of the Aborigines.

Wombarra - NSW

Gaye and John have worked hard to turn a cultivated garden from an overgrown mess where non-native plants had run wild and replaced them with native plants local to the Illawarra area. Gaye is an artist and has also filled the garden with sculptures – some are made from clay and others are made from bark, sticks and stones that are found on the property.

Boardwalk – QLD

Alan built his pool area with his sons in mind - he wanted an area where they can bring their mates, listen to music and play cards and not disturb the rest of the house. The property backs onto a creek and as part of the design they decided to build a man-made creek that flows into the natural one. Best thing about this is the water from the man-made creek actually gets pumped from the natural creek with a boardwalk over the top.

AUSTRALIA’S BEST BACKYARDS

6:30pm (G)

This week on AUSTRALIA’S BEST BACKYARDS, how to fit a pool, cabana and party room into a pocket-sized backyard; the family with a vineyard in their Melbourne suburban garden; a living slice of Australia's heritage in outback WA; the benefits of creating an organic garden; and the backyard that comes with its very own pizza oven:

Italian Feast - VIC

The couple who own this backyard have an established productive garden full of fruit and vegies but it also has plenty of space for the family to sit and enjoy their surroundings. Their aim in this backyard is to get back to basics and keep up cultural and family traditions.

Newcastle Escape – NSW

Once you close the gates behind you you’re in another world, a tropical wonderland. This backyard is in the city suburbs of Newcastle surrounded by apartments and buildings. The owners wanted to achieve a tropical, holiday-like feel to their backyard. They always wanted to have a pool and so when it came to designing their garden they made sure that’s where they started.

AUSTRALIA’S BEST BACKYARDS

6:30pm (G)

This week on AUSTRALIA’S BEST BACKYARDS:

Wahroonga - NSW

This Sydney couple have created a park for their children in their own backyard. The amazing adventure playground is complete with flying fox and climbing ropes all under a protective UV shade sail. They also have a temperature controlled swimming pool. The adults have not been neglected with a pavilion complete with a wood fire pizza oven.

Nyngan Pub – NSW

After a redundancy pay out from a city job this couple have made a life on the farm where the husband grew up. The farm was black soil wheat growing country and it is a great place to raise kids. They are part of the Open Gardens Scheme (and donate the money to local charities like the local school) and also open their backyard and the beautiful rose garden up for groups.

Kinvarra Billabong – VIC

Located in Victoria’s Yarra Valley, Kinvarra is a 10 acre estate situated on a north easterly slope overlooking the Dandenong Ranges and the Great Dividing Range. The owners have created 2 ½ acres of landscaped garden which includes fruit trees, veggie patch, roses surrounded by box hedges, a chook pen, a billabong, waterfall and an amazing natural looking dam.

AUSTRALIA’S BEST BACKYARDS

6:30pm (G)

This week on AUSTRALIA’S BEST BACKYARDS, a crazy Bali courtyard competes with a re-claimed bush garden, complete with giant growing green giant; Jamie shows us a backyard that looks more like a 5-star resort; and a Melbourne warehouse that hides an amazing potted garden.

Crazy Bali - VIC

After a house fire 12 years ago the owners rebuilt and decided to build a rock-like swimming pool in the backyard. The design was inspired by the families numerous trips to Bali and the sculptures they bring back with them. The enclosed pool area creates a beautiful atmosphere for both people and plants.

Waterfall Cottage - NSW

Visiting Waterfall Cottage on Sydney’s northern beaches is like dreaming of an enchanted forest filled with beautiful plants and never ending pathways… only this is not a dream. The owner of this beautiful property set about creating this magical wonderland over two decades ago and it’s been evolving ever since. There’s a series of bridges and boardwalks to lead you around the 8 acre garden.

AUSTRALIA’S BEST BACKYARDS

6:30pm (G)

This week on AUSTRALIA’S BEST BACKYARDS, a Queensland garden made just for Pirates; how to fit 100 cars and a pub in the backyard; Jamie visits a remarkable Victorian garden where the owner never waters, weeds, or fertilises; the South Australian beachfront courtyard that makes the best of two worlds; and a backyard dam with a difference.

Turnball Acreage - NSW

When the owner of this property decided to construct his backyard his aim was to recreate a babbling brook and swimming hole that he and his wife swam in as kids in the Blue Mountains. The property now has an impressive 100 metre man-made dam which takes centre stage amongst beautifully designed landscaping and amazing entertaining areas.

Wigandia - VIC

Built on the side of a sleeping volcano, Wigandia is aimed at working with the harsh Australian and southern hemisphere climate rather than working against it.

AUSTRALIA’S BEST BACKYARDS

6:30pm (G)

This week on AUSTRALIA’S BEST BACKYARDS, a thriving parkland style roof garden used by over 400 residents living in a warehouse conversion in Sydney; a Melbourne backyard steeped in mythology and ancient symbolism; and of the most celebrated tropical gardens in Australia.

As a former industrial area of inner Sydney, Pyrmont is not somewhere you’d expect to find an impressive backyard, or any backyard for that matter. However on M-Central, a modern warehouse conversion, there is a thriving parkland-style roof garden that is a welcome patch of greenery for the 400 residents that live in the building. Around a hundred years ago this building was a wool warehouse and the roof was never intended to bare much of a load, especially that of a garden. So, to achieve a garden with minimum of 300mm top soil, extensive structural work had to be undertaken.

You don’t have to step back in time to find a backyard steeped in mythology and ancient symbolism. In fact you only have to go as far as the Melbourne suburb of Northcote. Owner and designer Philip Stray is a self-proclaimed devotee of all matters spiritual, mythological and Celtic which you can see throughout the layout of this eclectic backyard. He loves all sorts of symbolism and has sections of his backyard devoted to the energy and stories behind the arts.