Easy does it

No more mud, no more mowing. A total redesign has given this family exactly what they wanted – a garden that almost takes care of itself

- Carol Bucknell

When planning renovations it pays to think about your landscaping requirements at the same time. Leaving it until afterwards, as often happens, can result in access problems for earthmoving equipment and building materials, and the ability to move large plants around. Three years ago when Penny and Barney, both busy professionals and parents of three young children, decided to extend their Grey Lynn villa, a pool was not in their game plan. But as soon as construction began, they realised it was now or never.

“We didn’t plan on putting a pool in initially, but then realised it would be almost impossible to do at a later date. In fact, the renovation was originally intended to be only an addition at the back, but in the end we pretty much renovated the entire property,” says Penny.

“The pool was the first thing they did after the demolition of a lean-to, so they had great access to our backyard with the digger. Virtually the entire garden, front and back, was dug up so we had to landscape it as part of the renovation.”

To help them put the garden back together again after the build, the couple called on landscape designer Kirsten Sach whose work they had first seen in Your Home and Garden when they bought the property. “She’d already done our garden plan for an earlier renovation and deck at the house, so we knew she could give us a garden we couldn’t ruin too easily!”

THE SITE

The couple have owned the 480-square-metre property for 11 years and the original garden was not the least bit inspiring, says Penny.