Small urban gardens in high density housing areas present a unique set of challenges – narrow spaces, prying neighbours, no room for the barbecue, dog kennel or clothesline. When Philip and
Tess Richardson moved into their Auckland townhouse with puppy Abby, the garden consisted of wall-to-wall red pavers, a few rose bushes and the odd pittosporum. But rather than being daunted by this challenge, Philip reveled in it and discovered a whole new joy in his life along the way.
Philip is a good Kiwi bloke, full of life and very creative. Tess reckons he can turn on enough charm to extract blood from a stone. Being a builder has helped no end. It provided him with the necessary practical skills to create a great garden as well as truckloads of unwanted plants from various building renovations.
Philip proudly announces, “Practically everything in this garden has been given to me!” Even the volcanic rocks lining garden beds were scrounged from construction workers in exchange for a few beers.
He loves the Balinese culture, so he opted for a subtropical-style garden. Gone are the red pavers and rosesInstead, lush lawn is surrounded by tall screen trees and narrow borders filled with textural-foliage plants and bold colour accents. Clever decking solutions add to the overall appeal, as do subtle water features and lighting effects. Philip says he enjoys nothing more than coming home after a hard day’s yakka to rummage about on his hands and knees, pulling out the odd weed and generally fiddling in the garden.
“The garden is the best de-stresser you could find,” he says. Though he hardly knows one plant from the next, Philip has proven this doesn’t have to be an issue if you have a good eye for design, affinity for your materials and an awareness of how to plan a space effectively.
Yuccas and dracaenas make wonderful accent plants, creating dramatic effects with their spiky foliage. If they grow too big, simply chop them back and they’ll re-sprout at the cut.
Bougainvillea Scarlett o’Hara absolutely smothers itself in flower all summer long, is drought tolerant once established and can be trained into practically any shape you like.
Iresine is a fantastic plant to use as a gap filler in sun or shade. Water regularly and watch for caterpillars, slugs and snails.
Jade plant forms a shapely bush with beautifully textured, rounded foliage. Use it in containers or as occasional foliage contrast around the garden.
Cannas impart a distinctly tropical flavour with their bold, lush foliage. Variegated types such as Tropicanna also provide nice colour contrasts.
Star Jasmine has attractive foliage, scented summer flowers and is easily trained to any shape. It’s also not too vigorous and is tolerant of hard trimming to keep it under control.
Philip uses a clever Japanese garden design trick: Hiding the view of the main garden area from the entrance gate (in this case using the barbecue shelter). The view is only revealed once visitors are well inside the garden.
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