WINTER WONDERS

GREY SKIES AND LOWER TEMPERATURES SHOULDN’T PREVENT YOUR GARDEN FROM LOOKING ITS BEST AND BRIGHTEST

Words RACHEL CLARE

Plantings of perennials with striking foliage, such as Phormium ‘Māori Queen’ (New Zealand flax), can provide garden drama and colour during cooler months

The colder months might have a reputation for being the ‘off season’ in the garden, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Each season is a great opportunity to experience a different palette of colours and textures. By integrating trees and plants that add interest year-round or that come into their own during the coolest part of the year, there’s still plenty to delight.

foundation

Gardens need mainstays such as hedges, evergreen shrubs and trees that look good year-round and provide a reliable backdrop for plants waiting in the wings. Trish Bartleet of Trish Bartleet Landscape Design (trishbartleet.com) likes to create gardens that span all four seasons and recommends cycads and palms for Auckland’s subtropical climate. In cooler areas, plant evergreen natives such as cabbage trees and flaxes. Only 11 New Zealand native plant species are fully deciduous, so if you plant natives you’ll have a reliable backbone to last the year. Choose species such as pūriri or kōwhai, which bloom in late winter or early spring, to provide tūī and kererū with kai.