NZ Gardens Trust member and creator of the Urban Jungle, Mark van Kaathoven, presented to the 11^th World Green Infrastructure Conference at the University of Auckland on 4 September.  He talked about his creative use of green waste to reduce landfill, restore healthy soil dynamics and to protect against drought and flood. 

Fortunately much has been written about Jo’s sustainable garden in Central Otago. Her vision has caught international attention, and the garden appears in the acclaimed book ‘Wild: The Naturalistic Garden’ by Noel Kingsbury, with photographs by Claire Takacs.

Many of us working in the Horticultural and Agricultural sector may carry out our work like it is second nature and come to rely on instincts and experience to carry out our tasks. This can come after years of study, training, hours and hours of trial and error and practical ‘hands-on’ work in the garden and on the land.

Jenny did not install irrigation – doing so just freezes the garden in time and makes plants and gardener dependent on this scarce resource.

It is easy to think gardening is the most natural wholesome thing in the world as it predominantly involves plants, soil, water and sunshine. However, gardening has a dirty little secret – there is an insidious layer of the unnatural lurking in many gardens. Often times this comes as a legacy from a time when innovation and improvement was prolific and new ways were considered better than the old-fashioned techniques.

How we deal with what we call our “carbon deposits” during the growing season and how these techniques might help you as gardeners deal with some of the more difficult gardening spots on your properties 5 Min Read

The Te Parapara Garden project is a joint project between Nga Mana Toopu and Hamilton City Council. It extends beyond a physical development to include records of traditional knowledge, interpretive material and ceremonies all focused on the heritage and tikanga associated with the local area.

Like so many things in our hyper connected world, the word “sustainability” is bandied around and applied to almost any human activity whether warranted or not, think greenwashing…….. I would like to outline my thinking on sustainable gardening by firstly asking the question; What does it mean in my context? 5 Min Read

Autumn is a favourite time of year not just for the visual feast of rich colour and those beautiful drawn-out sunsets, but for the prospect of all the organic matter that is about to become available. It is this time of year I start to plan where leaves will live out there second and third lives. 6 Min Read