Couple brings tiny yards to life with garden comp

SHAUN and Renee Morriss have designed their business Creative Oasis for The Chronicle Garden Competition to show residents what was possible.

GARDEN OASIS: Shaun and Renee Morriss from Creative Oasis with their business entry for The Chronicle Garden Competition. Picture: Kevin Farmer

SHAUN and Renee Morriss have designed their business Creative Oasis for The Chronicle Garden Competition to show residents what was possible.

Mrs Morriss said as Toowoomba's house and land sizes were shrinking, creating a dynamic feature area helped to bring the backyard to life.

"People have feature walls inside their home, why not have a feature area outside?" she said.

This is the second time the duo has entered Creative Oasis into the gardening competition, winning Commercial Premises highly commended last year.

Shaun and Renee Morriss of Creative Oasis, Mort St garden entry of The Chronicle Garden Competition 2016 of the Carnival of Flowers, Sunday, September 4, 2016. Picture: Kevin Farmer

The store stocks iron furniture, water features, garden statues, Buddha and exotic animals.

Mrs Morriss said her aim for entering the competition was to encourage younger people into the garden to create their own space.

"You don't need a big yard to make a masterpiece out of it," she said.

"The possibilities of what you can do is endless and we help point people in the right direction for what they want to create."

Water features, ornaments and large statues can bring to life a small area in the backyard. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Mr Morriss is a landscape designer who worked with Downlands College as a gardener in past garden competition entries.

His experience with the competition in the past inspired the pair to get involved and redesign Creative Oasis to enter.

"It's a big display to give people with a tiny yard ideas and we base it around an area, and plant annuals within the design concept," she said.

Mrs Morriss said mirrors in the garden also helped to give the illusion of space.

Shaun and Renee Morriss of Creative Oasis, Mort St garden entry of The Chronicle Garden Competition 2016 of the Carnival of Flowers, Sunday, September 4, 2016. Picture: Kevin Farmer

"It's all about personalising your yard. We encourage people to come in and take photos to help them envision how it will look in their yard," she said.

Mrs Morriss said getting started was the hardest step for people looking to spruce up the yard.

Creative Oasis is at 25 Mort St, Toowoomba and is open from Wednesday to Friday from 10am until 5pm and on Saturday and Sunday from 10am until 4pm.

Winners of The Chronicle Garden Competition will be announced at an invited guests function at the City Golf Club next week on September 14.

All entrants' names and addresses are published on September 16 in the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers souvenir guide.

Shaun and Renee Morriss of Creative Oasis, Mort St garden entry of The Chronicle Garden Competition 2016 of the Carnival of Flowers, Sunday, September 4, 2016. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Originally published as Couple brings tiny yards to life with garden comp