It wasn’t the first time we’d been encouraged to do a display at the Queensland Garden Show here in Nambour, Australia, but in earlier years, we couldn’t quite see ourselves taking on such an undertaking. Helping fellow landscapers bring their ideas and creativity to life in previous years displays was always fun and enjoyable, though attending the event as a patron was always a highlight in the years calendar. Having started Landscaping in 2014, it wasn’t until 2023 that we became a Certified Aquascape Contractor and started focusing on ponds and water features. With mentors whispering in my ear “Do the expo, Caleb” it was time to showcase the passions and creativity that could be built from the last 10 years of experience.
The History
An experienced background in construction and completing a trade in Structural Landscaping, opened the door to working outside and with nature which is my passion. The addition of a certificate III in Civil Plant Operations allowed me to grow in the scale and scope of projects, overseeing design through to construction. Experiencing the breadth of what was possible with my qualifications was formative, but, in retrospect, it was only a matter of time before water features became central to the work I was doing.
Establishing the business feels like a happy accident. Stepping out on my own with the purchase of a small trailer-able excavator, it began by subcontracting to a local business and long-time friend, Zacc the Dam Doctor. Amongst my own designs and builds, subcontracting opened doors to working on some incredible projects, not only around Australia but soon included multiple international builds, with people who fast became mentors. The first international build was in Georgia, USA for Shaquille O’Neill’s dam conversion. Then there was a Waterscapes project on Lantau Island and the latest one, in South Africa under Ed Beaulieu. Working with these artists and pond builders caused a shift over a two-year period. All-the-while, the advice from my mentors got louder; “Do the expo, Caleb.”
Ed’s South African water feature and cenote really struck a chord. There’s a real sense of scale and presence in that project that you only get in nature once you’ve found the source of a river or a stream. It’s a style I was immediately drawn to emulate within my own designs as I personally seek these sights out when I’m in nature. When I was approached again to design and build the display at the Queensland Garden Expo in early 2025, Lanthir Lamath was already pulling together in my mind. I gave in to the advice of my mentors and put in an EOI (Expression of Interest) to do the Expo.
The Brief & Concept Behind Lanthir Lamath
The Queensland Garden Expo’s display area is a gently sloped lawn of 30 meters long and 15 meters wide, lined by buildings and a curb. Just set back from the entry way to the event, access was easy, but we couldn’t dig below 600mm and needed to be considerate of the established trees within the space. As a tight team of three, with our schedule and their timeframes, we had nine days to build the feature for the three-day event, and then we had to take it all down in a matter of days.
With that, the intention behind the design was to create something that evoked the spirit of Hobbiton in Middle-earth while honouring the tools, experiences and the echoing voices of mentors who made this project possible. Even knowing it would be pulled down after three days, there was a drive to give it a sense of age and show it was possible to experience a secluded, tropical gorge on a much smaller footprint without losing consideration for the room to explore.
Lanthir Lamath: Waterfall of Echoing Voices
Lanthir Lamath was a three-tiered water feature that began in atop a hobbit home we created from a repurposed concrete civil pit. With varied interactive landscaping features and viewing points, the entire project reached just over 2.4 metres in height. The water features and rock scapes throughout were constructed with 30 tons of basalt boulders. With the heaviest stone weighing in at 3.5t, the larger boulders brought that sense of scale to the project while additional floating rocks and steppers throughout the wider project promoted continuity, tying everything in with the water feature. The water element in the project had two ponds and two waterfalls, each flowing into each other. The top pond measured 3 meters long, 1.5 meters wide and had a depth of 600mm. It sat eye-level to the expo’s main walkway which drove the last-minute decision to ditch the rock on the outward facing edge of the pond and replace it with a 40mm Perspex viewing panel, creating a space to watch the native Saratoga moving below the water’s surface. Between the two ponds, two resident Saratoga and some eel tail catfish welcomed another key, interactive feature.
The lower pond, measuring 2-meters wide, 3-meters long with a depth of 600mm, sat flush against the hobbit cave and under the timber deck we’d prefabricated offsite alongside the floating stairs of the entryway, both made from upcycled hardwood railway sleepers. The waterfalls were artistically placed in a more gorge style falls ’ large framing boulders, narrow thick water dropping into deep water ‘ with a drop of 700mm creating a strong attraction both visually and audibly from a far.
More than Water; Lanthir Lamath Landscaping
Around the ponds and the falls, the display was immersive through varied interactive landscaping viewpoints. There was a sweeping, lawned, Corten-steel edged staircase that curled up around the top pond, moving past the Perspex viewing window and down to the edge of the curb. The ‘official’ entrance to the feature started below the lower pond where visitors could walk up the floating stairs. From there, they could explore different vantage points from the deck, firepit area or the hobbit home which we fitted out with a rounded door and clad in the same aged timber we made the signs from. Seating areas were created with Queensland sandstone blocks and a manganese fire pit that had been upcycled from an iron ore crusher, while the deck platform, timber bench and upcycled barrel provided elevated views across the feature. Every element was made to feel as though it had aged into place, from the mosses and air plants to the grassed Corten steel edged staircase.
The planting brought the display to life. A careful cross section of mosses, ground cover, medium sized tropical plants, and established tree ferns that reached upward of 1 meter gave the effect of a canopied rainforest. Rare ferns, orchids, and collectors’ plants were sourced from personal collections and trusted suppliers, including dicksonia antarctica tree ferns and angiopteris evecta king ferns. Inside the hobbit house, the planting was styled after cenotes and living walls, with mosses, orchids, and Tillandsias cascading throughout the interior and along the roofline. By day, Lanthir Lamath had a cool, shaded gorge atmosphere, while at night the feature transformed with underwater lighting, pathway lighting made of aged timber bollards and hanging, century-old lanterns passed down through family.
Challenges of the Build
Curbing our creativity was a challenge on this project. We were lucky enough to have so many willing contributors who were willing to loan elements – the rock from a client, plants from local suppliers and fellow collectors, Corten steel edging from another contractor. Elements like the 40kg Perspex glass feature and turfing the stairs were last minute design additions we had to do once we started piecing the project together. Of course, there was inclement weather at the start of the build. There was a last-minute dropout from the build crew with one contractor even saying, “If you can get out of it, do it now.” We laugh now, but there was definitely a moment of wondering if we’d bitten off more than we could chew. The final challenge was, of course, pulling it all down and returning the land to the gentle slope.
Inspiration from Middle-earth
More than a display garden, Lanthir Lamath was a crafted experience inspired by Middle-earth, and drew from all the threads of our professional experience, passion for nature and love of Tolkein’s world. Echoing the voices of mentors, this piece is designed to showcase scale, presence, and the wild elegance of the world that inspired it. The hard work of our small team proved that scale, presence, and immersion can be achieved even in a temporary space. It only came to life through the support of family, friends, and suppliers who lent their time and materials, for whom we are deeply grateful. Watching visitors explore the hobbit home and children following the Saratoga through the Perspex window made it clear we’d created something worth sharing. The echoes of those waterfalls, and the voices that pushed me to “Do the Expo,” will carry forward into every build that’s yet to come for us here at Swell Landscape & Design.
