Tucked down a right of way, off a typical urban street in Matamata, Chanelle and Chris Wilson have created an eye-catching and tranquil oasis on their property which is enjoyed by their family and friends.

The garden demonstrates that mixing re-purposed and brand new materials, along with local knowledge of suppliers, you can create a space that gives your property the ‘wow’ factor.

Chanelle and Chris were delighted when they found a property in town which boasted a beautiful old villa, on a sought-after 1600m² section. It was when the couple built a small unit for Chris’ father on
the property, that experienced landscape gardener Chris’ creative juices began to flow.

“There was just this stretch of boring grass between the two houses,” says Chanelle.

“We’ve always loved Japanese-style gardens, and Chris had a whole plan in his mind.”

Even when he started working on the project, there were no drawn plans. Chris just started digging and Chanelle trusted him completely. He has been running his own excavation/landscaping company,
C Wilson Contracting Ltd, for years.

“He went for a teardrop-shape pond, with the shape evolving as he dug.”

The pond ended up with several different depths, the deepest being under the council’s requirement for a pool fence. The base is sand with contoured and smoothed concrete laid over the top.

“We struggled to find a paint for the concrete, as they all came back toxic for fish, so we decided to let it age naturally, and waterblast it yearly.”

The pond materials were a mixture of new and second-hand. The schist slabs were once stepping stones and bought off Trade Me, the river stones were from Daltons, and the large pebbles around the pool rim, were from a newly-dismantled pond.

The pond has a few dozen goldfish, but very few plants as they tend to rot and make the water go green.
Water features

The waterfall feature adds some height to the project, as well as providing a relaxing and calming background sound. Once again, the waterfall shape and construction evolved as Chris worked with the schist and river pebbles.

The water is pumped up, filtered, and then falls back down to the pond. The ‘crow’s nest’ in the centre of the pond was a later idea.

It proved useful during the first winter, when the pond froze down the far end from the waterfall.

“We added a wooden water feature on the crow’s nest which keeps the water circulating, so it can’t freeze.”

A typical feature of a Japanese garden is little bridges spanning over ponds. The Wilsons deliberately left this feature out.

“While we have a family member living in the cottage, future owners might use it for other things, and the physical barrier of the water would have its advantages.”

New Zealand plants
“Our winter frosts are too much for Japanese plants, so we went for New Zealand natives.”

Frost-hardy, evergreen and easy-care plants were used throughout the landscaping. New Zealand pungas, zebra flaxes, ferns, Manuka, rimu, cycads, pseudopanax, golf ball pittisporum, and ice plants, have been thoughtfully planted for maximum effect.

The plants conceal the pond edges giving a less manmade look. The variety of heights, textures and colours further enhance the natural look, as well as giving the garden a secret and private feel.

The landscaping materials are an eclectic mix of colours and textures, which work well together.

“The edging bricks came from an old fireplace that was taken out of the villa, and the railway sleepers were on the property.”

The sharply contrasting dark brown bark, and white lime chip were brought new from Kaimai Garden Centre, along with all the plants.

In Japanese tradition, Chanelle and Chris installed decking that over hangs the pond edge. This gave them the opportunity to extend the deck of the main house, giving them a wonderful, all weather outdoor living space.

“We decided to put a pergola over some of the new deck, and roof it with clear, UV protection sheets, and we spend so much time out there now,” says Chanelle.

The deck planks were flipped to use the smooth side, and stained with an oil based stain Wattyl Redwood, to match up the old verandah, the new unit deck, and the new house deck.

“There’s no green slime growing in the deck grooves, or splinters when we waterblast each spring.”

Lighting the garden
At night the garden is magically lit up, with certain plants lit as features, and recessed lights in the boardwalks, all controlled by a dawn-to-dusk timer.

“While we spent a considerable amount on lighting overall, it all came from Mitre 10, so the individual pieces were reasonably priced.”

The rustic style spa house was a later thought, with its view over the pond framed by glass-less picture windows.

Chanelle has tied together the three buildings on the property by using accents of New Denim Blue on them all, and staining all the decks the same colour. Throughout there are little inexpensive touches, where Chanelle has painted cheap terracotta pots using metallic test pot paint, and an imposing 800-millimetre-high hollow ‘Easter Island’ statue.

Looking back on the project, which evolved between mid-2017 and late-2018, both Chanelle and Chris are very happy with the way it has turned out, and apart from “maybe putting in a bigger waterfall”, they wouldn’t change a thing.