Grow Community

Whether you are a passionate gardener or more of an admirer we believe gardens create gardeners not just beautiful spaces.

Where does a landscape become a garden? Where the people reach into the soil and foster what grows. People are essential elements of a garden.

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The making of a garden starts with knowledge

Making gardens - and gardeners

As well as design our practise works to create connections between ideas and spaces. A beautiful garden reaches beyond boundaries and can bring joy to the community in which it sits.

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Reclaiming Spaces

Behind every garden is a relationship. Beneath the pretty picture is the process of working together. Gardens connect us and the world around us. A garden can change the way we interact with our neighbours, It can provide us with food or support the local ecology. Gardens are also points of conversation and create connections within our schools and communities as well as across borders. People are as important elements on our design process as plants. Listening and learning through the design process is a continued journey of discovery with each garden a unique conversation between the gardener and a space. It's these relationships we treasure.

Learn more: Māra Kūmara at Sanctuary Mahi Whenua
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Education History & Connection

People are essential elements of a garden. From those that work in the nurseries to plant societies that study speciality plants like ferns or dahlias and see the minute variations in one family. New Zealand is rich in these people who work often in the background expanding our understanding of the world of plants and gardening. Our studio extends to include these people who are our teachers and collaborators. Sharing our diverse knowledge and favourite people is at the heart of our practise. We are all on a long journey of learning together and each garden created is another step along the way. Within the studio we all carry different lenses from here and other parts of the world that helps enrich the work that we do.

Learn more: Traditional plants of India, Vol. 1

Ōkahu Rākau

At the heart of Tāmaki, Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei has been working on restoring their whenua to create one of the most significant public spaces we will see in our lifetime. At the heart of their work is the nursery team who have just opened a new tunnel house at Te Pourewa, Ōrakei as one step towards their greater vision for opening up the whenua and the knowledge it holds to all.

Te Pōurewa
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Rangimārie

Rangimarie was commissioned by Art de Jardin in Northern France and created an opportunity to collaborate with Charmaine Bailie (URU Whakaaro) to create this unique garden for the centenary of Armistice day. The project was always significant with the many stories of the families, the heroic sacrifices and the huge losses to our community at Les Quesnoy just seven days before the end of WW1 at the heart of the design process. The project also asked us to examine what cultural values we would bring to working in this sacred space. A year after the making of garden it was discovered that Xanthe's own Great Uncle Freddie Alexander had passed away in the liberation of Les Quesnoy and his story had till now been lost to her family.

Rangimarie
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Sharing the love

The simple joy of making a garden for the local community to enjoy. A garden without borders. A place of abundance. A conversation starter; an icebreaker. Exploring the traditional idea of the 'front yard' by pushing the boundaries - or removing them altogether.

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“Some people need their gardens tamed and set back, while others are quite comfortable with a plant reaching across the path and brushing an ankle.”

— XANTHE WHITE

About us

Xanthe White Design is a Landscape Design studio working with an emphasis on the spirit of collaboration. Our work is a bridge between people and the natural world, fostering respectful and understanding relationships. We acknowledge our responsibility to positively impact communities and the planet through thoughtful and sustainable practise, nurturing native ecologies and the whenua.

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Contact

Get in touch

If you are looking for help with your community initiative we would love to hear from you. We offer special rates for schools and other community programs, as well as the possibility of pro-bono on a case-by-case basis. Please get in touch via the form below or visit the contact page.

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XANTHE WHITE DESIGN
Auckland Studio
Phone: 09 815 1187
Email: info@xwd.co.nz

XANTHE WHITE DESIGN
Wellington Studio
Email: wellington@xwd.co.nz

© Xanthe White Design