Creating your sanctuary

5 Ways to Maximise Your Landscaping Budget

1.  Seek inspiration. If you are unsure about the look and feel you want for your garden, start looking at inspirational landscapes that speak to your sense of style.  The internet is always a wealth of information, and sites like Pinterest and Houzz make online scrapbooks easy and fun.  However there is no substitute for seeing the real thing, and moving about in a space.  The Auckland Botanic Gardens, Eden Garden, and Ayrlies in Auckland are open to visit most of the year, and seasonal festivals such as the GardenDesignFest give a peek into superb private gardens.

Ayrlies, 2012, photos by Erin Farrow

2.  Get a landscape plan. A landscape concept that is unique to your property is like a roadmap – it gives you directions and helps you reach the end goal of your finished, beautiful garden.  A plan can range from a simple sketch of an area to broadly show the visualised space, to a full, to-scale, plan which lists existing elements, and proposes new hard and soft landscape features.  The planning phase is critical to a successful landscape, and is ideally done before any physical work begins.  The beauty of a plan is that it allows the construction of the garden to be phased as time and budget allow.  It also enables costing of the various elements.  The small initial cost of a plan will save a lot of money in the long run, and provide you with a reference to refer back to.

                   Landscape plans by Erin Farrow Landscapes, 2015

3.  Right plant, right place.  If you’ve bought that beautiful flowering plant on impulse at the garden centre, only to have it wither and die after a few short weeks, you are in the majority.  Plants should be carefully selected to suit the soil, aspect, and purpose for which they are intended.  Luckily, nature has provided an almost infinite variety of plants which fulfil a multitude of functions.  Shade, privacy, colour, flowers, fruit, vegetables, scent, the list goes on.  If you are overwhelmed by the choices on offer, a qualified landscape horticulturist will be able to compile a list of possibilities for you to choose from.

4.  Reduce, reuse, recycle. The catch cry of modern life also applies in the garden.  Don’t cut down that tree, tear down that solid but ugly fence, or throw those old pavers that have been lying neglected out back of the shed into a jumbo bin until you have explored all the possibilities for their role in your future landscape.  One client had enough materials on site after their renovation to construct most of their built landscape; another re-used original kauri fence posts which were under the house for years as part of their raised vegetable garden.  Sites like TradeMe are also an excellent source of second-hand landscaping materials.

 Recycled wine barrels make excellent containers, photo by Erin Farrow

5.  Get your hands dirty. Getting outside in the garden is a healthy, enjoyable pastime.  Like buildings, gardens need ongoing maintenance to keep them looking their best.  If you take note of and action the points above, you will be well on your way to being able to spend a few enjoyable hours every couple of weeks pottering– and with your garden being a well planned, flourishing, functional, and beautiful space, it won’t seem like hard work!