BEFORE: Wide open spaces lack privacy. Photos supplied.

A SMALL, walled garden totally transformed by the use of clever design is one of the gardens featuring in this month’s Auckland Garden DesignFest.

The transformation, initiated by designer Robin Shafer, is more than skin deep.

It is reflected in the aesthetics of the Meadowbank property and also in the quality of life now experienced by the delighted owners.

Where previously there was only a path crossing lawns to the front door, the property now provides privacy from the street and neighbours, safe play lawns for the children and elegant outdoor living.   

Privacy and security have been achieved with beautifully detailed masonry walls, wrought iron balustrades and strategically placed plantings.

The brief given to Robin was to create a garden that would suit the cottage-like character of the bungalow and give plenty of scope for gardening playtime. 

Essentially, it was to be a walled flower garden with whimsical touches encompassing character and romance, as well as being a safe haven for children. One of the challenges was that it still had to contain a path to the front door for visitors.

This garden had to look good from every angle. 

It is designed to have a clear, clipped, green structure of buxus and ficus hillii that will keep it tidy over the chilly winter months.

But, over the opulent spring and summer months, it will overflow with roses, flowering annuals and perennials.

A tiny parterred embankment, with informal stone slab steps, divides the garden into two levels.

A water feature on the top level is smothered with perfumed roses over the summer, creating a focus amongst an espaliered star jasmine wall. 

The outdoor living areas on the upper levels are designed to become a perfumed haven for spring and summer.  

There are many elements fitted into this tiny space and attention to every detail is a large part of its charm.

The wrought iron work was hand-crafted, as were the steps and the natural stone paving.

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AFTER: Good-looking structured features add interest and practicality.

Another unusual feature is a tiny stone-cobbled bike ramp for the small children of the family, allowing both levels to be an adventure.

This garden has not been opened to the public before and is just one of the surprises in store for visitors to the design event.

• Limited tickets to all gardens in the Auckland Garden DesignFest can be pre-purchased for $40 from Palmers Gardenworld stores in Auckland or online from www.iTicket.co.nz. A 10% discount applies if both days are attended.

Tickets are also available at the event for $50. 

Limited seats are available on an escorted bus tour for $120 per day. This includes lunch and a bonus visit to historic Highwic, where there will be a guided tour of the garden (glass of wine in hand) at the end of the day.

To book on the guided bus tour, email pcliffin@unitec.ac.nz.

Over the next two weeks, owners of the 24 gardens selected for inclusion in the Auckland Garden DesignFest, will be busy trimming hedges, mowing lawns and generally titivating as they prepare for this exciting new event.

Then, when the event takes place on November 19 and 20, the designers behind each garden will be on-site at each location to talk about their vision. 

Gardens range in size from small urban courtyards, where the designers have used their skills to maximise every centimetre of space, through to magnificent estates, where they have indulged their sense of creativity and passion for plants. 

One of the aspects set to impress visitors is the diversity in the gardens chosen.

As well as perfectly clipped hedges and dreamy swimming pools you would expect in an event organised by the Garden Design Society of New Zealand, there’s a diversity of gardens not seen previously in an event of this kind in this country.

Garden author and chairperson of the Garden Design Society of New Zealand, Rose Thodey, says the aim is to highlight the difference a skilled garden designer can make even on a small budget and in a small space. 

“That’s just as important as the inspirational gardens that will make visitors go ‘wow’,” she says.