Abben Art is a landscape design and construction business based in the beautiful coastal town of Rye on the Mornington Peninsula. We service all areas across the Peninsula.

Design, create and inspire are fundamental principles in our approach to conceiving and creating beautiful and functional gardens.

Clive Abben is the founder and principal designer at Abben Art. Together with his wife Leanne, the couple have built a team of passionate landscapers who love their craft. The team includes their daughter, Amelia, a qualified landscaper who shares Clive’s love and passion for dry stone walling.

Clive is constantly staying current with advances in design technology. We use computer generated design (CAD) to produce 2D and the more advanced 3D designs.

Abben Art has designed and constructed landscapes from small inner urban courtyards to sprawling country estates – no job is too big or small. We see every client and garden as an opportunity to design, create and inspire truly unique gardens, tailored to each client and their individual needs.

We offer landscape design for all applications including commercial and private projects. We also offer more technical drawings when these are required for architects and council permits.

For examples of our work, please browse our 3D design galley and our photo gallery of completed projects.

Clive Abben

Principal Designer and Senior Landscaper

Clive trained in England as a landscape designer and horticulturist. He then spent 10 years as manager of a rapidly-expanding grounds maintenance and landscaping company based in Surrey..

Clive moved to Australia and joined a small but innovative firm based in Warrandyte, managing a landscape team that designed and created contemporary gardens specialising in dry stone walling and water features. It was during these early days in Australia Clive became involved in building display gardens for events such as the flower and garden show.

Clive’s love of learning about the diversity of plants and environmental conditions saw him relocate to Rye on the Mornington Peninsula. It was here he established Abben Art to pursue his own vision of creating landscapes that both stood the test of time and were sympathetic to their natural environment.

Since the company’s inception, Clive has designed, project-managed and constructed a diverse range of landscapes. These have ranged from a native rooftop garden in Port Melbourne overlooking the bay to a rural five acres of landscaping and planting in Merricks, where the happy clients now cross a sleeper bridge into an oasis of winding paths and hidden secret areas.

Clive’s passion for design and horticulture has led to being featured in gardening magazines including Country Style, The Weekly Times, Better Homes and Gardens, Outdoor Design and Living and he is always happy to talk gardening.

Leanne Abben

Business Manager & Gardener

Amelia Abben

Qualified Landscaper, Specialising in Dry Stone Walling