Out the front, we have slow-growing quality grass (as used for golf greens) and flowerbeds on the right of the driveway (looking from the street), and a rockery and pebbles on the left (which will double as extra parking space, if required). We have our old Christmas tree (a pine tree) in the front-right corner of the section -- at Christmas time we put lights in it. We also have a Pohutukawa tree and a Kowhai tree (both natives) in the front flowerbeds.
Along the left side of the house, we will have a fernery, with a river-stone pathway.
We will have an unpainted trellis-topped wooden fence around the property, excluding the front: our covenant prohibits fences within eight metres of the road edge. There will be gates on both sides, with a double gate on the right to allow trailer etc access to the back. Inside the fence is a line of trees, raised by half a metre or so, for privacy.
Through the gates on the right side of the house we will have a herbal lawn, which doesn't need mowing and has a pleasant smell. We also have a vege garden and will have fruit trees.
Next to the patio, we would like to ultimately have an in-ground swimming pool with a built-in spa (hot tub), as shown in an earlier version of the garden plan. It would be a custom-made pool, made to look as natural as possible, with a rock feature on the far side. But in the meantime, we'll have a lawn in that space.
In the back-right corner, we have a fish pond water feature, consisting of a large pond and a small pond, connected by a short stream, with a cascading waterfall leading into the large pond. We will probably have a small bridge over the stream, and a bog garden next to the small pond. The ponds as they stand now are short-term only -- in the medium-to-long term, we might remove these ponds and make the big pond as shown in the previous plan. Or we might leave that until we are ready to install the swimming pool, as shown in an earlier plan, or we may decide to keep the current configuration and merely upgrade the liner and pump to better quality, and add a filter.
The back part of the section will be a Japanese-style garden, with stone pathways, benches for contemplation, trees and bushes, and so forth. The pond will play a major part, and will be surrounded by suitable plants. We'll also have a hammock and a swing seat for relaxing. And we might have a Zen garden (raked sand), though the cats might decide it makes a good bathroom!
Hopefully most of this will happen over the next few years. We definitely want to do the Japanese-style garden and other areas, but some parts, like the swimming pool, remain in doubt. We'll see how things turn out -- we fully expect it to be a work in progress for quite a few years. Should be fun!
Of course, we would welcome any suggestions or advice you may have -- please e-mail us.
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