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December is a delicious month in the garden, with abundant strawberries, the first raspberries, and early blueberries ripening up too.
GreenBridge is in the midst of our first garden installation project.. at the pocket neighbourhood in Whakawhiti Street. Bena has been working hard (literally, with some rock-hard ground to contend with) preparing the ground, adding compost, mulching, and planting fruit trees, berries, and supporting groundcovers.
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STRAWBERRIES GO BALLISTIC | BUILDERS EATING STRAWBERRIES... by Bena Denton
If the strawberries eaten by the builders are anything to go by, the edible gardens in the shared space at Whakawhiti Street are off to a great start!
For the past few weeks my main project has been installing the softscape planting for a "pocket neighbourhood". This landscape is unique in that the developer (Pepper Construction) has given the go-ahead to plant the public areas of this small subdivision in 50% edible species. As I planted out the strawberries, I offered them to the builders on site (who are currently building two small-footprint homes designed by GreenBridge) and they sheepishly told me they had already been eating them. Success!
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Above: The edible garden design for Lot 1 at the pocket neighbourhood on Whakawhiti Street.
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These strawberries are special, a small variety of alpine red and whites that creep (send out runners) and will in time form a dense and delightful groundcover below the blueberries. Snuck in there is also dwarfing comfrey to provide the berries with potassium, and wisteria for fixing nitrogen – a nice little guild.
A footpath links the houses and runs past small productive gardens outside each dwelling. These gardens fulfill a few functions, including acting as a visual and physical buffer between public and private spaces. The gardens contain edible plants, support plants, and plants for beauty. Rather than a monocultural planting of one species (often the norm if any plants at all are planted in a subdivision), a large variety of plants ensures nature's pattern of diversity is respected.
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Above: A recent "Basic" bare site design.
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EDIBLE LANDSCAPE PROJECTS
Kama has been working on a couple of edible landscape projects recently, both of which also involved wastewater design.
Most of our clients are new to gardening, or new to our climate, so one of the projects was unusual in that the client was already an experienced local gardener. She was looking for an overall plan that connected her house to the garden, maximised the garden's productivity, and created some nice outdoor spaces for her and her friends to relax in.
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Another recent project involves an unusual bare site alongside the Mokau River, both on a floodplain and in a wetland! The clients are creating their weekend getaway dream, with fruit and nuts galore.
Some areas of mounded earth are designed into the site, to allow a variety of fruit and nuts to thrive, to enable wastewater to be safely treated, as well as shielding the site from prevailing winds and traffic noise.
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EXPERT ADVICE... MONTHLY ARTICLES
We are very happy to be writing monthly articles for the Daily News Property Weekly (shown on the right), sharing expert advice about buying and developing property. Look out for our articles and also check them out on our blog and facebook page.
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Above: Mike, construction foreman at the pocket neighbourhood, is enjoying the strawberries.
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GARDEN INSTALLATION
We now offer a
garden installation service.
Give us a bell and see how we can help you with your project!
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HEALTHY, SMALL FOOTPRINT HOME
Is it possible to design and build a healthy, sustainable family home with three bedrooms, within a footprint of 52 m2? This was part of the brief presented by a client with a tiny, north-facing site by a busy road in an established residential area.
We like a challenge and we liked a lot of the features on this family’s wish list:
- Natural, low-impact, healthy materials.
- Energy efficient design.
- Warm, light, private, funky, comfortable spaces.
- Minimal footprint to allow space for vegetable gardens and fruit trees.
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Our concept design has a north-facing combined kitchen, dining and living space with double glazed sliders opening full-width to the garden. Two bedrooms and a bathroom are tucked behind, with a further 23m2 mezzanine floor above containing the master bedroom and a bouldering wall for practicing those rockclimbing moves. The house has a high-performance, breathable building envelope, which improves indoor air quality and thermal performance.
Additional features that will be added in the future include rainwater collection, grey water recycling, solar PV panels, a north-facing deck with pergola, and a west-facing verandah.
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CO-HOUSING PROJECT IN NEW PLYMOUTH
Have you ever wondered how it would be to live in a safe multigenerational neighbourhood where you are valued and feel you belong? To have privacy and autonomy AND really know your neighbours? To live lightly on the earth, and not have to own and do everything yourself?
A local group has formed to establish a cohousing project here in New Plymouth. If you are interested in being a resident, home owner, or investor, contact Danielle Diamond by email or phone 06 753 2196.
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Above: Earthsong, the cohousing neighbourhood in West Auckland.
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