Blogs

What is a well thought out garden design? This is a subjective concept - but ultimately a garden design should meet your needs and desires. What do you hope to achieve, the reasons are diverse - privacy, places to play and relax, to increase the desirability of your property for resale?

Up on the Mt Pleasant property overlooking Redcliffs the final touches to the garden design are under way. Cooler temperatures at the start of the day now, but the generally settled weather have made for good working conditions. 

We are building a low curved block wall around the edge of the retaining wall that follows the curve of the concrete mow strip. This block wall will hide the straight edges of the tanalised post retaining wall and mirrors the curve of Pegasus Bay on the horizon. There is a planting bed between the mow strip and the block wall which will soften the hard edges of these two elements. 

Over past few weeks we’ve been back working at three Christchurch hillside properties we began working on earlier in the year. The change to cooler temperatures has been welcome - just hope the much needed rain doesn’t come too soon!

At the first property, the building work on the house is all done, the owners are in and the final touches to the garden design are underway. Several large boulders have been placed and the area is being prepared for the last of the planting. 

Wet weather on the hills

Despite the swing to wet weather last week, the exposed aggregate paths have been poured on the Christchurch hillside property we have been working on.

Bit of a mud bath at times as we got the final bits of boxing in.

However, the pour went well and it’s good to have this major component of the landscape design complete.

Central Christchurch - Wild outdoors

These past weeks we’ve been working on another Christchurch hillside property. Up here there are great views up the coast and out over Redcliffs to the sea beyond.

Using recycled hardwood sleepers, reclaimed from the wharf upgrade to the port of Lyttelton,  we have been building steps in this hillside Christchurch garden. These steps link the lower area of the property up to the second level of the house and then on up to the future garden area at the top of the property.

With the decks on this hillside Christchurch property built, we’ve been onto laying a circular cobblestone paving area at the top of the section. Having all the pavers and associated material needed to construct the paving area craned in at the start of the job was certainly appreciated by our crew! It would have been a tough slog getting them in otherwise.

Now that all the heavy lifting is done (see the video here), we’re onto building the decks. On a steep Christchurch hillside like this one on Cannon Hill, decks are a good way to get some usable outdoor space. Somewhere for the kids to play and much easier to maintain in the long run than difficult to access garden beds!

For this project, our brief was to create a clean, modern garden design that reflected and enhanced the modular design of this newly built house.

Corten steel clad planter boxes, wide concrete steps, large boulders, recycled sleeper steps and hardwood decking make up the elements of this landscape design.

On the back side of the house, in what could have been a neglected area, our design incorporates a secluded garden. Here blue tiles contrast with the oxidising Corten steel and lush green planting. There are vibrant views from both outside and inside the house.