Landscaping for all budgets Maximise your garden

Press, 24 February 1988, Page 14

Landscaping for all budgets Maximise your garden

In Residence

by

Sarah Sands

Hiring a landscaper to design a domestic, easycare, low-maintenance garden is becoming more common, but Christchurch landscapists say they are still up against a myth that their work is only for the wealthy. Grant Chirnside, the owner of Canterbury Lanscapes, says that it is wrong to think of landscaping as only for the elite. “Yes, we’ve got people who can pay vast sums just by writing a cheque, but we also work for many people who have saved long and hard to get the job done. “Only five per cent of our clients would spend a lot of money — we work for everyone.” Grant Chirnside believes that many people would benefit from hiring a landscaper.

“I would describe landscaping as the successful use of the space that is available to any one client.

“New Zealanders in the past have been very spoilt by having big sections. Generally the backyard is 30 per cent vegetable garden which often has only one cabbage in it, a clothesline, and a concrete path smack down the middle.” This “mis-use” of space has extended to the placement of the garage, he says. "I believe people who are going to spend $BOOO to $lO,OOO putting in a traditional, Kiwi double garage which stands like a monolith dominating the whole backyard, would be better simplifying that to a carport and a simple garden shed. “They could then develop that space and would probably save about $4000.” Another Christchurch landscapist, John Archer, a landscape architect, agrees that the placement of the garage is often the first change that could be made to improve a domestic landscape. “Town planning legislation always used to mean that the garage was down the back of the section — — driveway, garage and car got 33 per cent of the open space and the children got a square at the front and back of the house to play on.

“By looking at where the garage is and moving it from the back to the front, you can have a huge extra space to use as you wish.” This is the main advantage of a landscape architect, he says. “A landscape architect looks at the site and says ‘how do we maximise the use of external space?’ It’s looking at the wise planning of open space.” Landscaping deals with the five senses of the human being and in some ways, the sixth sense, he explains.

“If space is designed nicely it has a relaxing effect — it’s employing design principle and practice to give a lift to a space.” Using a landscape architect could often save a lot of money, he claims. “Having worked in a nursery, I’ve seen people come down on a Saturday morning and spend two hours looking for plants. They may go home with four dr five plants, about $5O worth. They go and read the label which says hot, warm spot.”

Nine times out of 10 the person would choose the right space, but it’s a risk when for their whole garden they may spend $lOOO on plants, he says. “Yet to get someone to do a plan is very simple — a plan done for your property is like having a map for life and I believe ■it’s good expenditure. “The plan could cost between $350 and $5OO,

depending on what was involved but it gives people something to work to.”

Alan Morgan, a managing director of Morgan and Pollard, also believes landscaping can save money. “People get frightened off landscape design because they perceive-it as an expensive luxury yet they tend to spend quite a lot of money on their gardens in an unco-ordi-nated, ad hoc way. “If they invested in a landscape plan at the outset and got on paper what they were going to do and some advice on how to do it then they could work towards achieving that in a logical way.” John Morton, another Christchurch landscape architect, says he finds almost every New Zealand home has a concrete path. “The home handyman tends to follow his nose and his usual skills are in wielding a concrete shovel and barrow so he lays paths everywhere.” John Archer is a landscape architect, which means he draws plans and if requested contracts out the work and supervises the standard.

Morgan and Pollard and Canterbury Landscapes are landscaping firms which have designers and tradesmen to put the designs into practice. However, Grant Chirnside points out that the designing and the building are separate.

“People believe that ii they come to us for a design they have to have the work done by us, but that’s a fallacy. “We will draw a plan and they can take it away and get someone else to do it, or they can do some of it while we do the hard bits. As a landscaper who is involved in both designing and building, Grant Chirnside says he has very strong feelings about practicality and affordability in design. “The only valid reason for getting a landscape plan drawn at considerable cost is to use it as the first and most basic tool to get a landscape job on the ground. “Nobody wants to get a landscape plan drawn to hang on their wall — it’s not an art form, it’s got to be a reference chart to getting a job done.” Bearing this in mind, a landscape plan has to fit three criteria, he explains. “First, it has to be aesthetically pleasing, second it’s got to be practical, and third, it must be affordable. Because Canterbury Landscapes build a lot of gardens designed by others, Grant Chirnside says he often sees work where there has obviously been no discussion about what the finished product will cost. “The problem with that is that in a compromise to get the garden built, it is often the best parts that have to go.”