BACKING YOUR BACKYARD
It’s undeniable that there’s been considerable downtime recently for a lot of Cantabrians, and often, in this case, a focus shifts to working around the home. After a tumultuous couple of months, now, more than ever is a time to get out and support local; this particularly rings true when working on your own garden space.
When thinking about improvements you may like to make to your property, there are numerous benefits to considering what is in your region. By using products produced in New Zealand, you support not only our economy but also products which will likely have much smaller carbon footprints.
Sticking with local products may reduce the range of options available to you. Still, they will arrive ready for your new project, having travelled a much shorter distance and be from traceable and ethical sources.
Using goods from your region can also help to develop a strong character/style for your property. In design language, we sometimes refer to this as critical regionalism or vernacular design. Essentially this is the benefit of a designed space embodying the characteristics of the site surroundings and having a strong ‘sense of place’.
In Canterbury, we are lucky to have some great material options to explore – think Port Hills’ stone walls, greywacke paving details, the limestones of North Canterbury, and bluestone from Timaru. Local manufacturers also produce a vast range of concrete paving and outdoor furniture, and by staying local, the opportunities to explore a custom design are at your doorstep. You can also explore opportunities to integrate some of Canterbury’s history into your home environment by using products such as ‘ironbark’ timber, recycled from the Lyttelton wharves.
Planting also forms an integral part of the feel and function of your outdoor space. Staying local for the supply of plants has many benefits, including local knowledge as well as access to species purposely grown to be hardy for our climate. The range of plant suppliers in our region means you can access native plants that have been eco-sourced to maintain ecological purity, or exotic plants that can bring colour to your garden but withstand our winter frosts. Our temperate climate means we can produce many types of fruit and vegetables in our backyards – start thinking about fruit trees which could provide you with a bounty.
Also, vegetable gardens could be incorporated into your space to offer both a design feature and fresh produce; you could even use locally grown and milled macrocarpa sleepers for the beds.