A Resort Feel, Rooted in Native Bush
They Wanted Tropical.
The Land Had Other Ideas.
When Bruce and Trish McLean came to me for their 16-hectare property overlooking Whangateau Harbour, they arrived with a clear brief: a resort vibe with tropical planting”, just like the Pt Chevalier garden we'd done together years earlier. I had to explain how this bush clad site was calling for a more integrated approach. It simply won’t feel right to plant a tropical garden when coastal bush surrounds it . Tropical plants would be without context”. We decided on a brief that was more appropriate for the natural surroundings and while not entirely native we focussed on plants that would bring birds such as flaxes, kowhais, Australian bottlebrush and many grasses . This would help to bring in an essentially NZ feel along with natural materials such as dark water, stone, timber and gravel to complete the resort feel. This was the correct call entirely to achieve a landscape that spoke to its surroundings.
The Design
The design is created in a series of zones that follow the shape of the land, flowing one to the other: a pool area, a shaded deck with a pizza oven, and a yoga deck that doubles as the best spot on the property for catching the sun in the evening and watching the light settle on the estuary below.
The dark pool and the simple tiled edge that presents as an infinity edge, as if it had water overflowing it and gives the pool the feeling of a bush pond just settled in the landscape. A simple wharf-like deck and stone wall entry, along with the nearly black water, enhance this idea. The pool is fully tiled in Italian Bisazza mosaic tiles — bronze and blue tones. They create darker water, moody with a little sparkle, pāua-like. On the outside of the pool wall, a tūī is rendered in the same Bisazza tiles,copying a painting , with permission from Waikato artist Jane Crisp. This becomes a focal point from the living areas while the real tuis feed in the kōwhai above.. The planting, developed by Tracy Chalmers from my previous team, consisted of layers of grasses, using textures and colour changes appropriate to the bush colours, Trish and Bruce’s soil was really heavy so we used various cultivars of Australian Lomandras as grasses which thrive in the heavier soils and blend as if they were native. A pathway lined with NZ kowhai flourishes, helping to feed the birdlife and dwarf Australian bottlebrush settled well into the backdrop of natives also providing a much needed winter food source. Westringia 'Aussie Box' provided some structural elements acting as a foil for the softly moving grasses. Great drifts of oiois and flaxes bleed out into the natural bush areas making a seamless transition from the more managed areas and the tawny colours of Muehlenbeckia connect the house garden to the e bush beyond.
Here is a link to the “Stuff “article about the garden with a video and further description. Trish said we nailed the resort vibe. I think the harbour and the bush backdrop did most of the work.
