Garden of dreams

This garden acts as a visual extension of the home's rear-facing rooms – sense of place and a Japanese aesthetic are also part of the plot

Plants include Geranium ‘Rosanne’ and Euphorbias, Canna panache,

The view from the garden back towards the

The plantings earth the garden in this location

The organic-look pathway along the side of the

The garden has a magical quality that leads

While the existing garden was pretty tired there

Diversity and seasonality were the key drivers for

It’s the marriage of productive plantings, Japanese influence

Landscaping by Zoe Carafice, Xanthe White Design

From the landscape designer:

The existing garden

The site was what we would describe as a forgotten backyard. You could have imagined that once there had been a loved garden there but it was pretty stripped back and un-gardened.

While the existing garden was pretty tired there was generous treescape on the neighbour’s boundary which created a backdrop to grow into – making the garden feel more established sooner.

What we wanted to create

We wanted to create immersive spaces that are integrated within a garden setting.

The garden spaces flow and connect but are submerged in layered plantings. The resulting spaces offer both long disappearing views and discoverable areas within the lush planting.

Our starting point

The two main design approaches were to relinquish a large lawn and to manage the water through a natural rain garden.

This move allowed the living spaces to be set within plantings rather than against a lawn, which changes the dynamic and depth of the spaces.

The rain garden also offered the opportunity to draw on some traditional Japanese influences in terms of the rain chain and stones bridging the flood zone to connect spaces.

It’s the marriage of productive plantings, Japanese influence and local stone and materials which make the garden feel unique to this place.

The garden has Japanese influences such as a rain chain & stones bridging the flood zone to connect spaces.

The rain chain you're having when you're not having a drainpipe.

Plantings

Diversity and seasonality were the key drivers for plant choices – so we looked at a blend of native material which are always the base building blocks in any design.

These earth the garden in this location with highlights of colour and productive trees.

Plants include Geranium ‘Rosanne’ and Euphorbias, Canna panache, Isotoma groundcover, taro, and titoki – there are a lot of layers to the planting in this garden!

Hard landscaping

The stone is all Paradise stone which is the most available locally sourced paving stone appropriate in the Auckland region.

Using local stone is not just more sustainable, it also creates a signature of place.

When we use stone we look at the weight of use and invest more in high use areas, drifting into soft floating pavers for areas where the movement is secondary.

As the seasons change

Gardens definitely rise and fall but in the warmer north the falling period is shorter – and this garden was no exception.

When working on planting design we analyse the seasonal shifts of colour in a garden to make sure there are ‘moments’, even if they are singular, through each period of the year.

The idea of four seasons is insufficient for a master garden designer.

The patterns of this garden are broken down into at least monthly cycles so there is always anticipation as one thing passes for another ‘moment’ arriving.