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IT TAKES A TEAM

A Christchurch garden that grew from the hearts, hands and minds of many

WORDS SUE ALLISON / PHOTOGRAPHS STEPHEN GOODENOUGH

A Christchurch garden grows from the hands and minds of many.

When an American clergyman observed that teamwork makes the dream work, he wasn’t specifically thinking of Amanda Booth and Roland van Bommel’s garden. But the couple would agree that John C. Maxwell’s truism perfectly fits their hillside property overlooking Moncks Bay in Christchurch. Amanda, a New Zealander who had lived abroad since 1995, met her Dutch husband, Roland, while working for the same whisky company in London. Eight years ago, the cosmopolitan couple made the big decision to settle in New Zealand for the lifestyle and to be closer to Amanda’s family. They bought a section in the seaside suburb of Redcliffs for its ocean views and access to a distinctive hillside terrain and built a house that made the most of both, while doubling as office space as they both work from home. To complete the dream, they wanted a garden that was in harmony with its surroundings and soothed their souls. To make the dream work, they realised they needed a team of gardening gurus to help maintain the garden.

Amanda and Roland love gardens, but don’t profess to be gardeners – although Amanda was initially under the impression that her husband-to-be was. “When I met Roland, I said ‘what are your hobbies?’ and he said ‘I like gardening’. I now realise he didn’t actually mean that he liked to do any weeding or anything. He meant that he liked sitting in the garden with a book,” she laughs.

“We do some work in the garden, but would find it quite overwhelming to manage without any support,” says Roland, who has a wide portfolio of directorships and is involved in a local economic development agency. Amanda, who has a background in human resources, works as a research assistant alongside studying full-time for a PhD in health and well-being.

The dream team contributing to their own wellbeing started with a happy collaboration between the house and landscape architects before the build.

“The advantage with a new house is that you can map it out together when the house plans are still on the drawing board,” says landscape architect Paul Roper-Gee, who worked closely with Tobin Smith and his architectural team during the design phase.

Roland and Amanda had simple but clear requirements for the garden. “We wanted something that was sympathetic with the house, that was easy care and attracted native birds,” says Amanda.

The resulting garden, which won a gold medal in the Registered Master Landscapers Landscapes of Distinction Awards 2021, takes its cues from the surrounding countryside and architecture of the house. It is anchored by strong rectangular forms in

timber, blockwork and paving, with planting both softening and enhancing the geometric lines. Terraces step down the slope, echoing the elevations of the building. “We played around quite a lot with the terracing,” says Paul. “We wanted to avoid the need for balustrades so had to keep all the drops under a metre.”

The planting, mainly native, is carefully arranged to give shelter while keeping the coastal views open. “We kept to a natural palette with pops of colour for interest,” says Paul. Purple flaxes and burgundy-leafed canna lilies are eye-catching amongst the swathe of naturalistic planting that wraps around the house and spills down the nearly 1000m² wedge-shaped section.

The mood is set at the entrance, where even the roadside verge is carpeted with soft textural mounds. An elevated boardwalk then cuts through a grove of trees to the front door.

It has the feel of entering a forest sanctuary, yet immediately through the portal it is all about the sea with extensive glazing looking over the garden to the coast.

Two separate decks from each side of the living area give options for outdoor living depending on the sun and wind. The rear deck, screened from the road with high bamboo, doubles as a sheltered outdoor room. On the sea side, a spiral staircase leads from a tiled balcony to the lawn and garden, which includes substantial vegetable beds on one side of the house.

Says Amanda: “My grandmother had a big traditional garden. It was an acre and a half and beautiful, but she was in it from eight in the morning till four in the afternoon. I said to Roland that I don’t want the garden to be something that stops us doing other things when we have free time.”

Their “other things” include running with a group three times a week as well as walking their beloved miniature pinschers, Vixen and Dancer, twice a day. They do yoga and pottery, and Amanda, who is enjoying catching up with family after so long away, is learning te reo Māori.

“We’re always awake early and like to sit in bed and have our cup of tea and watch the colours appear as the sun rises. I must be boring people with all the photos I take on my phone. There are so many rainbows. It’s just magic,” says Amanda.

“We came for the lifestyle, and it’s really beautiful here. You need to enjoy life. That’s why we rely on support to help us with the garden. All these people not only help us but they also educate us. They’re our team of five million.”

‘I don’t want the garden to be something that stops us doing other things when we have free time’

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2022-06-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-06-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

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