Imagine proudly touring your dream home until you catch a glimpse of a largely untouched, overgrown, yet somehow mucky backyard. Outdoor areas are often the last spaces considered when building a new home, so although it’s easier to see the bigger picture and envision the final property, most of the budget has already been spent.
There’s much to consider when designing the perfect landscape for your home: your needs and wants, your life stage and future plans, the property’s location and climate, and the budget. Landscape architect Emma Taylor has mastered finding a balance between them all.
She says that whether it’s a young couple that has maximised their budget on house design or renovations or empty nesters who have disposable income but whose needs will change over the next decade, considering how these factors impact each client uniquely is what’s most important when designing residential landscapes.
Planning Ahead
“Having a plan is key,” she says. “Plans allow homeowners to work away at a design, adding on features like outdoor fireplaces and patios as their budget allows. If it takes two months or 20 years, a plan ensures the site will work as a whole.”
Knowing where key features and focus points could go and how people will access and move through the space is vital. Each landscape is unique to both the client and site, a sentiment Emma prioritises.
“I always tell my clients ‘It’s your house, not mine’. It’s really important to create a design that they like, that works for them, their lifestyle, and their property.
“Success for me is when it just fits. Sometimes, this means creating a design which looks like it’s always been there, and other times, it's finding a solution to create or retrofit an outdoor space that floats over previous walls and paving to reduce removing concrete to landfill.
“Most importantly, it’s when the client is excited about their plan and the vision that we create for them.”
With balancing so many factors, compromise is inevitable. Sometimes, the client’s aspirations, unfortunately, lie outside the realm of possibility. Emma says that understanding priorities is the key; often, meeting the brief means making a few previously unconsidered changes.
“An example of this might be relocating existing water features to a more suitable location, or sadly removing a tree to open up space and replacing with another specimen which works better for the site,” she says.
Trends and Timelessness
Emma is less concerned about trends and instead focuses on using quality and local products, seeing as landscape design is such an investment and trends change often. Some clients might have picked up on a current design trend and wish to incorporate its elements into their outdoor space, but their location means the style isn’t viable.
“A homeowner might have had a great weekend at a lodge in Queenstown, but trying to recreate that look and feel space of that outdoor space in the backyard of their Ponsonby villa just isn’t going to work!” Emma remarks.
The challenge then becomes adapting what the client liked about said lodge, maybe the firepit or a certain seating area, to a style that works for the site. Plants can prove another imbalance, because as Emma says, “you wouldn’t find a nikau palm growing commonly in a Dunedin garden.”
In fact, picking the right plants can be a major hurdle. “No plant is going to do well in the wrong climate or a space that's too big or small for that species.
“It’s about finding what the client likes. Is it the shade that a tree provides, or the colour of flowers, or the scent?”
From there, Emma finds plant species that work in the location and provide similar effect. “The right plant in the right location is a key to success.”
Kiwis Outdoors
New Zealanders love their outdoor spaces, and it’s thanks to landscape architects such as Emma that so many visions nationwide have come to life.
“As Kiwis, we pride ourselves on our backyards and love indoor-outdoor flow. I think we love creating landscapes which are an extension of the house, often called ‘outdoor rooms’.
“They also give us a sense of place; many of our native species are endemic to certain areas of the country.”
“Our native flora is unique to us, and we have so many fabulous species which provide colour, texture and seasonal interest.”
Head to www.boffamiskell.co.nz to connect with Emma Taylor and bring your dream residential landscape design to life.
