The Block 2024 episode 44 recap: Some teams hit it out of the park but two couples cop it from the judges

3 weeks ago 11

Courtney and Grant have taken out landscaping week (and pocketed $30,000) with a Mediterranean-inspired garden that was both practical and pretty.

There were no big surprises here. After all, Grant is in the landscape business and, compared to some of their neighbours, have come into this week cashed-up and calm in the chaos.

This week, judges Marty Fox, Shaynna Blaze and Darren Palmer were joined by landscaper and Block favourite Dave Franklin to make their assessments.

After receiving two perfect scores from Darren and Shaynna for their efforts, an elated Courtney said: “I could totally leave this competition happy, regardless of what happens at auction! We got our 10!”

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Courtney and Grant’s winning backyard.

The only criticism of Courtney and Grant’s space came from Marty, who felt the wooden pillars along the pathway felt unfinished and would have been better as an arbour covered with vines. Dave strongly disagreed, emphatically declaring the posts “garden art”.

Despite his reservations about the posts, Marty felt the garden was “35 to 40m of perfection.”

With its olive, lemon and bay trees — not to mention practical kitchenette — Darren declared the couple’s barbecue “sexy.”

Meanwhile storage queen Shaynna was swooning over the contents of Courtney’s drawers.

The foursome had previously been likewise impressed by Maddy and Charlotte’s efforts.

Despite a last-minute hiccup with their barbecue benchtop — foreman Dan swooping in at the eleventh hour to tell Maddy the stone she had driven four hours to collect was banned — the judges were wowed by the simplicity of their make-do wooden set-up.

Maddy and Charlotte’s outdoor area impressed the judges.

Marty declared the area “an entertainer’s dream” due to its north-facing deck. And all four judges were impressed by how much the sisters had gotten done in just one week, marvelling at the two seating areas, fire-pit, pool, spiral staircase and basketball court.

Despite a tight budget and the fact they had no professional landscaper to direct their efforts, Ricky and Haydn held on to their title as the “fun palace” thanks to a very sturdy swing set.

With the second largest space on The Block, Dave paid homage to Ricky and Haydn’s tenacity in getting their garden done without a landscaper to help them.

Ricky and Haydn did okay considering they had no landscaper.

But Shaynna felt it was a let-down after what she had seen in the previous two houses.

“It ticks so many great boxes, it just doesn’t have the finesse and the finishings,” she noted.

“If they had a professional landscaper, they would have sold the dream more.”

Mimi and Kristian’s garden also proved hit and miss.

It’s remarkable the couple’s yard looked as finished as it did given once again Mimi went MIA at crunch time.

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This time the aspiring actress was whooping it up at a concert of Disney and Nickelodeon music with her cousins. Yep, apparently four-year olds aren’t the only ones who like to sing along to Disney classics.

Kristian and Mimi’s backyard and pool was declared “unAustralian” for its back of a barbecue.

Mimi’s flair for theatrics came to the fore with the garden decoration though. All four judges loved the bollards wrapped in rope (to resemble remnants of a pier) and an old boat fashioned into an outdoor bar filled with rum bottles, Darren with remarking: “It’s like they picked up a piece of Phillip Island and put it here in the landscaping — it’s really effective.”

Where the couple lost the judges was their outdoor dining area, which was inexplicably miles from the kitchen and — worst of all — without a barbecue.

“It’s un-Australian,” Dave and Marty agreed.

It wasn’t a budget decision to have no poolside sausage sizzle. Mimi and Kristian won a fancy barbecue earlier in the competition but had bizarrely decided to place it on the upstairs balcony instead. Because who doesn’t love going to sleep with the smell of smoke and chop fat wafting through the windows?

But any criticism they had for Mimi and Kristian’s efforts paled in comparison to what they dished up for Kylie and Brad.

Kylie and Brad’s backyard and pool with camo tiling and two pathways next to one another.

Nothing appeared to go right for the Cairns couple this week. Although they had the smallest garden to make over, their project was marred by delayed deliveries and the fact their landscaper, Clay, had never worked on The Block before.

Although hardworking and enthusiastic, it didn’t help matters that he forgot to order plants.

Lucky for the plantless Clay, there was a Block veteran to come to his rescue at the finish line.

Although his name has been mud all week due to his “can do” energy and chutzpah, Kristian and Mimi’s man, Troy, stepped up to help Clay lay turf and shovel dirt so there was something beyond a pool and a few pavers to show the judges.

Their efforts amounted to nothing though as the judges were underwhelmed by the budget backyard.

Justifying their plain Jane efforts, Kylie reasoned a low-maintenance garden was more practical for holiday makers. But Brad admitted budget constraints had impacted their plans.

“There’s nothing about this that says: ‘Come and hang in my back yard’,” Shaynna said as Marty labelled it an “uninviting, poorly planned space” that looked like things had been “just plonked in” without any consideration for what the buyers’ wanted.

Marty complained that the huge above ground pool with divisive “camo” tiles looked more like a giant water feature than a recreational zone for a family to enjoy because of its tiny deck.

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And, after complaining that there were too many paths and not enough decking for the pool to be functional, Darren noted that the main bedroom also now overlooked pool equipment.

Dave added: “it’s giving me absolutely nothing,” pointing out the lack of established trees and lacklustre planting. The garden pro was particularly unimpressed by the fake stone tiles around the pool, lamenting that it would be “killing every other stonemason around Australia to see that”.

FINAL SCORES

Courtney and Grant 39

Maddy and Charlotte 37

Ricky and Haydn 32

Kristian and Mimi 35

Kylie and Brad 27