We enjoy spending time in our gardens, but there’s much more to it than that. Outdoor spaces function as an expression of identity, places to grow relationships, produce food, and connect with nature.

As we approach spring and the start of another growing season, we consider yet again the benefits of working in your garden for well-being, and the same is true for the health of our relationships.

“Frequently our practice is asked to consult and design outdoor spaces for sites of historical significance or heritage buildings. These projects present us with a set of unique challenges, and it’s an incredibly satisfying part of our work as landscape architects.”

“We were recently engaged to design a residential landscape to complement a beautiful family home on the outskirts of Christchurch. The brief was to create a serene, green outlook that included various outdoor ‘rooms’ for the family to enjoy. “ Kamomarsh’s Emily Hastie speaks on one of the team’s latest projects, here.

They say changing the world starts in one’s own backyard. Making your own little patch of dirt flourish with colour, fragrance, and life can represent a slice of you, in your very own space. Summer is the most rewarding time to get amongst your greenery, where the myriad of benefits is well known and seemingly endless.

The list of health benefits from spending more time in nature is long and gives you plenty of reasons to invest in your landscaping. But let’s not forget, a well-designed space can also add significant value to your home.

The design of our outdoor spaces can say a lot about who we are, much like our homes, clothes, and even our chosen pets. If you keep your eyes open on a jaunt around your neighbourhood, you’ll notice a range of gardens styles; from the immaculate formality of buxus hedges and standard roses to fruitful and overflowing organic vegetable beds, or the low-maintenance luxury of sleek decking and concrete – and maybe a pool.

t’s undeniable that there’s been considerable downtime recently for a lot of Cantabrians, and often, in this case, a focus shifts to working around the home. After a tumultuous couple of months, now, more than ever is a time to get out and support local; this particularly rings true when working on your own garden space.

No matter how compact your living space or outdoor area, there is always room to add a little green to your life. Even the tiniest courtyard can accommodate garden pots or planters overflowing with greenery.

Ask any gardener, and they’ll tell you tending to plants is good for you. Taking time to connect with nature, relax, destress, and reflect brings untold benefits and combined with the gentle exercise and daily shot of vitamin D that gardening provides, it’s a winning formula.

The quintessential New Zealand summer holiday consists of a sweet and salty combination of the scorching sun, pounding surf, deep, refreshing river swims and long, balmy evenings spent around the campfire

Works of art thoughtfully placed in the outdoors add interest and intrigue, enhancing the experience of enjoying nature and allowing for interaction with the elements and the changing light.

Often, the most striking element of a garden or public space is its trees. Whether tough and evergreen or delicate and adorned with fleeting blooms, we are drawn to their strength and size, the shade they gift us on a hot day or their welcome shelter in the face of an icy wind.

As landscape architects, we aim to create spaces that people will feel comfortable in and want to use. A well-designed space will not only look beautiful but encourage us to get out of the office, car or house and get into the outdoors

Providing safe, secure, and interesting areas for animals is often a consideration when designing gardens.

Are you planning a new outdoor living area or renovating an existing one? There are many things to consider but careful planning will enable you to create spaces which suit your lifestyle and your home.

“To me, it makes sense when creating outdoor environments to enhance what is existing while creating the new. “