A garden without borders

This project in the Auckland suburb of Rangimatarau is an example of how gardens can be designed to create engagement with the communities they sit within, rather than being a cloistered space for private pleasure. On a busy street corner the garden is designed to provide a rich and diverse palette of plants and flowers, including fruit trees and herbs, as well as indigenous New Zealand plants.

We were excited by exploring the boundaries of public and private, and the idea that the fringes of our suburban spaces can be used to create interface as well as support diversity, providing both food and human interactions.

This is a garden which depends on plants rather than hardscape for its magic, allowing the architecture of the house to provide a beautiful backdrop and permanence of form. As landscape designers an important part of our practice is using beauty to effect behaviour in a positive way, creating spaces that are supportive of human ecology in an urban and suburban environment.