Going Coastal

On a good day, the view stretches up the harbour to Hobsonville in one direction, and the Auckland Harbour Bridge in the other.

- Simon Farrell-Green

On a wild day, the weather comes sheeting in; on a king tide the surrounding land can be underwater. There are huge old phutukawa on a neighbouring property with their toes in the water, and an idyllic little beach.

Here, on an oddly shaped piece of land jutting into the Waitemat Harbour, landscape designer Philip Smith of O2 Landscapes has created a coastal garden that morphs and shifts, depending on the season and the whims of plants. “The garden dances, it really does,” says Smith, crunching along the gravel path that winds its way between beds integrating natives and exotics.

New Zealand coastal shrubs and groundcover provide consistent structure, while spring delivers colour. “Stuffpops up all the time, and it looks different every year, yet the same,” he says.

Smith designed the garden to fit around a house by Michael Fisher. The home sits on a diamond-shaped section, which creates three natural exterior zones – in effect, Smith created three separate gardens.