Landscapers create lush, topiary-laden garden for stately Remuera home

Humphreys Landscaping was brought on to the Lucerne Road project after the build had been completed. Designed by Patterson Associates, the stately, rectangular brick home needed a subtle, structured garden to complement its angular form and offer relief from the monochromatic palette.

“We came on to the project after the clients had already moved in. All of the gardens were in place, the paving had been done, and the walls had been built, so we knew where the gardens would be; it was just a matter of filling them up,” says Humphreys Design Manager Jeremy Cole.

Prior to contacting Humphreys Landscaping, the clients had purchased several plants for the property, including 20 buxus green gem topiary balls and a couple of large bay trees. But when it came to planting them, Cole says, the clients didn’t know what to do.

“The clients said, here’s our house, our garden, this is what we’ve got. Please fill in the gaps and lay out the plants we’ve chosen because we’re not sure what to do with them; we just know that we want to use them.”

To bring the client’s vision to life, Cole worked backwards, finding spots where each of the topiaries could grow in harmony with the structure of the home. From there, he filled the gaps, creating layers of colour and texture that complemented the topiaries.

Because the garden is predominantly evergreen shrubs, hedges, and trees, it was important to ensure the greens matched.

“It’s a whole range of different greens, and some greens work better together, so I was looking at the textures and colours of the leaves and how they all sit next to each other.

“At the front of the property, there’s a big sloped bank of star jasmine, and when that’s in full bloom, it’s amazingly fragrant. It’s flanked by a couple of shades of green, which is quite nice. There’s a little bit of colour variation, but predominantly, the interest in this garden comes from the shapes and colours of the foliage,” Cole explains.

As the small site is elevated, the home, without its garden, had a somewhat formidable presence from the street.

“Because of the colours and the number of pavers used, we needed to add a lot of plants in these quite small spaces to really soften the property and make it feel cooler, temperature-wise,” Cole says.

The result is a surprising abundance of green space wrapped around small courtyards, like islands, that pop in pleasing contrast. In addition to the aforementioned star jasmine, white flowering shrubs can be found blooming in a low bowl planter, or peeking out from behind a perfectly manicured topiary, accentuating the green landscape.

For Cole, the stand-out feature is the front courtyard. “There’s a few different topiaries in there, some topiary cones, some big standards, a nice shade tree, and some hydrangeas. It’s just a small, intimate courtyard. You could walk past on the street, and you wouldn’t even know it’s there, but it’s got a lovely view over the rooftops of Remuera.”

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