consultancy
We can visit you garden to advise you on the plants that best suit your site and meet your needs. We developed our consulting services in response to seeing people struggle with the selection of plants that are now available on the market.
With plants being transported throughout the country, not all plants sold in Canterbury are suitable for our region’s climate and weather. Although a plant may look good on paper, and its label makes it look very appealing, it may be the wrong choice for your site. For example, the plant might grow to 1.5 metres, tolerate clay, flower in the spring, and be frost tolerant. However, the label won’t tell you how much frost the plant can stand or how it will cope with Canterbury’s infamous easterly and north westerly winds.
A key to a healthy, thriving garden is choosing the right plant for the right place. Our consultation process guides you while you design or redesign your garden. Our services can help you with small jobs, such as how to limb a tree or deciding whether to remove it, to bigger jobs, like designing your garden, starting with a blank canvas. With decades of experience and a degree in horticulture, Brent can advise and guide you through your next garden project
Building the foundations
planning
A garden needs planning and preparation. This planning stage varies from property to property, no matter the size of the garden. Planning is important because a garden grows into the available space and changes throughout the seasons and over decades.
While consulting with you we take into consideration your lifestyle and what you expect from your garden. At the end of the consultation we will leave you with a basic concept and a list of suggested plants. We may take you to various gardens that we have designed to show the finished space, but either way you are very much part of the planning.
When it comes time to planting, we can either place the plants in position so you can plant them, or we can organize the planting for you.
If this planning service is something that appeals to you, please don’t hesitate to contact us for further information.
Planning the planting
knowledge
Brent obtained degrees in horticulture and horticultural management in the eighties and has been in the industry ever since. We have been growing plants for decades, previously at Birch Manor Nursery in Prebbleton and now it Motukarara. During that time we have seen many changes in garden design.
When planning a garden a lot should be taken into consideration; the style of the home, how you live in the home, the position of the garden in relation to the house, any existing trees, neighboring buildings, soil types, prevailing winds, and so forth. This is where experience in landscape design and great knowledge of plants helps when selecting the correct plants for a site.
Nine months on from planting
results
Seeing the results of your efforts to plan, design, and plant a garden correctly is probably the most satisfying part of the process to create a beautiful, manageable, and sustainable space.
The images immediately above show a portion of garden that Brent designed. The magnificent rock walls were already in place; we sited the area and discussed the needed preparation with the owners. We positioned the plants for the owner, who then completed the planting. The pictures were taken 10 months after the planting was finished. It is fabulous to witness a garden develop and to watch the owner’s knowledge of plants and enthusiasm for gardening grow.
The images below show a variety of styles of two completely different sites. One is an industrial building with a swale that is wet in the winter and dry in the summer. The other an architecturally designed home that bordered on a council native reserve.
