Are you looking to inject some life into your garden this summer? Gardening and landscaping in New Zealand can be a highly rewarding experience: seeing your efforts blossom into flowers, fruits, and trees is a manifestation of your hard work. It’s something that can impress guests, brighten your backyard, and even fill up your fruit basket. Whether you’re a green thumb or just starting out, find out what everyone’s looking for this summer!
Edible Gardens
An ever-relevant mainstay of New Zealand backyards, working to see your efforts bear fruit is always a rewarding choice. Featuring plots, trees, and hedges, you can grow a variety of edible plants all in your backyard – and look good while doing so. Choose raised beds for your plots, ideally with complementing frame colours.
With NZ homes growing ever smaller, consider practicing espalier (image on the left), where the branches are pruned and tied to a frame, talking up less real estate while opening up room for aesthetic combos. Apples, pears, and mandarins are a great choice that not only inject colour, but reward with yummy fruit. For freestanding trees, lemons are a highly versatile option, while lime trees can be planted in warmer regions.
Hedges are a great way of filling out the space against your fence. They can disguise your backyard boundary and make it appear larger than it actually is. Having a hedge you can eat? Even better! Blueberries, feijoas, and even passionfruit can make for amazing hedge walls. Many climbing plants are idea for adding some colour and deliciousness into your garden. You can also consider incorporating potager elements – a kitchen garden with French origins. Plots with vegetables and herbs can supplement your cooking with homegrown additions – something you can proudly announce to guests.
Native Plant Gardens
With New Zealand’s iconic collection of flora, it comes as no surprise that our wildlife has been admired by people all over the world. Our native plants carry with them a unique sense of identity and cultural image, while their diversity makes them more than capable of creating endless garden combinations. Flax can be a great partner for deck-side display, while Nikau Palms can bring a unique shape if you have the room. The Hen and Chickens Fern is a good choice for adding some fluffiness, while the Rengarenga Lily can break up your garden with starry, white arrangements.
Dynamic Colour Gardens
Bold and maximalist, growing vibrant gardens has been incredibly popular throughout generations. With lush, eye-catching hues, this garden is all about expression. From the rich reds of NZ pōhutukawa to the sunny energy of kōwhai, native species are quite capable of enriching your day, but when it comes to going all out on colour, we won’t need to limit ourselves to our homegrown offerings.
Going international, our options are multicoloured – jumping from cuddly pink rhododendrons, to fuzzy and playful lavender, your options for a chromatically enriched garden are virtually limitless. Just be sure to take a look at what species are restricted in New Zealand so you don’t get disappointed.
Outdoor Living Integration/Container
It comes as no surprise that many New Zealanders are opting to extend their homes with a charming deck or some concrete pads. This can open up a lot of living space at the cost of greenery and it can be quite worth it if you’re big on BBQs and outdoor gatherings. By adding pergolas, fire pits, and canopies, you can bring the comfort of sheltered living while enjoying the summer breeze. Consider integrating stepping stones, gravel paving, or bark paths to show the way while minimising concrete use. Add some crawling vines, outdoor LEDs, or even water fixtures to create an elegant modern hybrid that takes on a new look at nighttime.
Drought-Resistant Gardens
If you’re a fan of evergreen plants and year-round beauty, choosing a drought-resistant garden can be an ideal choice.
These gardens are composed uniquely with species that can tolerate low-moisture periods and will be able to show their best even in the driest of seasons. New Zealand’s unknowable weather, such as Auckland’s historic 40-day dry spell in 2020, gives credence to keeping low-maintenance gardens. New Zealand flax is a good choice, as is Mānuka, rosemary, and various species of sage. With careful selection of plants and materials, you can also make a Mediterranean garden since they share the same drought-tolerant nature. Different species have different tolerances to drought, so keep an eye on the level of commitment required.
Gardening is not just a hobby – it can be an escape from the busyness of life, a channel for your emotions, and a rewarding treat for both yourself and your guests. The transformative power of a garden cannot be understated, being able to change your backyard into a decadent living space or a vibrant wonderland, and with all the positive effects associated with greenery, it can refresh your mind and body. Whether you’re after container gardens, lush greenhouses, or dense native displays, there’s a trend for everyone – pros and beginners alike.
Sources:
Designer vegetable garden: how to make your edible plot look better than ever | Stuff
8 Gardening Trends Taking Over in 2025, From Maximalism to Edible