A backyard garden designed to inspire

1 March 2013

A backyard garden designed to inspire

Darfield landscape designer Ross Baldwin is hoping his exhibition garden will inspire visitors to the Ellerslie International Flower Show to look at their backyards in a new light.

His ‘Out the Back’ garden is based on a typical Kiwi backyard and is designed to be both appealing to the eye and functional – two things that Mr Baldwin believes are critical to good garden design.

The garden has been deliberately designed in such a way that people could build it themselves if they wanted to, as money and time allows. It features a deck with a pergola, a paved area for entertaining, attractive planting, trees, lawn, a vegetable garden and garden shed. There is also moving water and a pond to add to the garden’s visual appeal and sense of tranquillity.

Mr Baldwin, who has more than 40 years’ experience as a landscape designer, is hoping that people will look at it in and say ‘I could do that’.

“So many people have a backyard and don’t know how to develop it to make it both functional and visually interesting,” says Mr Baldwin. “You need it to not just look good, but also function well to fit your lifestyle.”

For example, he says it is important that lawns are flush with adjacent surfaces so they are easy to mow and that trees and plants are selected and positioned logically to provide shade in the summer and sun in the winter.

“It usually does pay to get advice from experienced people who’ve done it all many times before,” says Mr Baldwin.

The key piece of advice he likes to offer home gardeners is to plant species that will last many years and perform on a seasonal basis.

“Many people are scared of planting trees but there is a great selection of deciduous ones that are easy to manage and provide seasonal interest, shade in summer, sun in winter, and attract birds. Home owners don’t have to plant tussock grasses, cabbage trees, flaxes and hebes ike they see endlessly on motorways and around most service stations. Many of the Northern Hemisphere plants and trees suit our environment well and really flourish here.”

Mr Baldwin’s ‘Out the Back’ garden is one of dozens of exhibition gardens that will be open to the public throughout the course of the Ellerslie International Flower Show next week.

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Ellerslie International Flower Show will be held in North Hagley Park from 6 – 10 March 2013.

Tickets for Ellerslie International Flower Show, at a pre-gate price of $35 for Adult Anyday passes, are available from the website www.ellerslieflowershow.co.nz, all open Christchurch City Council Service Centres, Mitre 10 Mega Stores in Christchurch, Ashburton and Timaru, Terra Viva, EziBuy Christchurch and Nichols Garden Centres.

ENDS

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