Landscaping criticised

Press, 24 September 1987, Page 4

Landscaping criticised

Public landscaping has been severely criticised by the Christchurch architect, Sir Miles Warren. “A lot of our so-called landscaping is appalling,” he said at the presentation in Auckland yesterday of the Keep New Zealand Beautiful Printpac awards to industry. “Much of our landscaping is no more than a mish-mash of plants selected at random from the nurseries, bespattered hither and thither about

the buildings,” said Sir Miles. “Municipal shrubberies lying prostrate half-dead in the dust — bedding plants arranged in shrieking colours ... “It seems to me that most of us New Zealanders have a blind spot about the environment and landscape. When we think of them we conjure up an image of the natural landscape, and, as second best, man-made landscapes. “We rarely think of the

built environment: the cities and towns, the houses and factories, where most of us spend most of our time. “We have a fond belief that all planting is a good thing, and most building, especially factories and industrial buildings, a bad thing. The less you see of them, the better. “Good landscaping is a challenging and creative design process, not to be left to the handyman or his wife,” Sir Miles said.