The client brief was to design a garden with better access to the main door and to remove all front lawn space, allowing for a colourful more modern garden that would fit in with the Art Deco house. The clients garden space is small and she wanted to create a small but interesting main entrance to the house with good access paths and wide steps, with the option of a seating space.

The harder elements are the two sets of floating exposed concrete steps and path allowing easy access to the front door. We have placed a feature block wall and seat and the remaining gardens are fully planted. We placed in new exposed concrete edges and then asphalt for the driveway. Outdoor lighting is also placed to accent the steps.

The planting was designed around some of the client’s wish list, with the use of mainly exotics and herbaceous perennials and a back bone of screening natives and some foundation Rhododendron. We have worked around one larger specimen Maple that was from the original garden. The use of colour in this garden was a strong design element with flowering wanted throughout the year.

The client loves the garden, and likes working outside to maintain it and enjoys its year-round interest.

The 2016 Landscaping New Zealand Awards Judges also loved the garden resulting in 3 gold awards for the project and the best horticulture award.