Landscapes of Distinction Awards 2025
A golden glow!
Every great garden begins with a story — a vision, a dream, a conversation over coffee. At Botanic, we’re lucky enough to help turn those dreams into living, breathing landscapes.
This year, that journey has been recognised with Gold awards for two residential gardens at the 2025 Landscapes of Distinction Awards, presented by Registered Master Landscapers. These awards honour the very best in New Zealand’s professional landscaping, but for us, they’re really about the people and places behind them.
Both gardens started with listening — understanding how our clients wanted to live, entertain, and connect with their surroundings. From there, we wove together the exterior garden spaces, materials and plant palettes that not only fit with the architecture but also felt at home in the surrounding environment.
We’re incredibly grateful to our clients for their trust, and to the contractors whose skill and dedication made these gardens possible. These awards may have our name on them, but they truly belong to everyone who brought these spaces to life.
Here is an outline of the two awarded gardens. Do get in touch with Botanic if you would like help with your own landscape project!
Cashmere Garden
Perched high on a sun-drenched hillside in Cashmere, Christchurch, this garden feels like a natural extension of its contemporary family home. Designed for a young family who love outdoor living, the landscape unfolds in a series of inviting spaces — sheltered courtyards, a terraced deck, and a luxurious swimming pool — each positioned to maximise comfort and frame sweeping views of the Port Hills.
Below the home and pool, a lush lawn is embraced by soft, billowing plantings that sway gently in the breeze. A refined yet grounded material palette ties the garden seamlessly to the architecture while echoing the rugged beauty of its hillside setting. A bubbling water feature brings a sense of calm, while raised vegetable planters, tucked neatly into the slope near the kitchen, add practicality and charm.
From the outset, seamless integration between house and garden was key. The decision to place the pool close to the home was made early with the clients and architect, and Paul refined the landscape to make it work beautifully. Terraced decking leads naturally down to the pool, and the fencing — set discreetly below pool level — preserves uninterrupted sightlines to the Port Hills while meeting all safety and building code requirements.
The garden was expertly implemented by the fantastic team at Williams Elvidge.
Cashmere - materials
Every material was chosen to work in harmony with the MADe Architects-designed home, reflecting its contemporary mix of brick, concrete, and timber. The concrete paving — in Allied Concrete’s ‘Haze’ and ‘Sea Breeze’ — was kept intentionally understated, echoing the home’s blue-grey brickwork and allowing the planting to take centre stage.
Sections of the garden walls are clad in natural basalt stone sourced from the nearby Port Hills, adding rich texture and forging a subtle visual link to the surrounding landscape. Corten steel, with its warm, earthy patina, brings a striking contrast to the stone and concrete. It shapes crisp-edged planters, pond surrounds, retaining walls, and garden borders — adding both structure and a modern edge.
For the timber decking, Thermory Ash was selected to match the house’s cladding, creating a seamless visual connection. Greywacke gravel rounds introduce additional texture and form a permeable, natural-looking path surface, while Stonelock binding ensures they remain firm underfoot.
Two captivating kinetic wind sculptures, by artists Matthew Williams and Phil Price, bring movement and a touch of intrigue to this dynamic, family-friendly garden.
Cashmere - planting
The planting design draws inspiration from the wild beauty of the nearby Port Hills, combining a naturalistic look with low-maintenance practicality. An evergreen “meadow” flows between the hardscaped areas, punctuated by sculptural foliage and seasonal bursts of colour.
At its heart, Lomandra ‘Tanika’ forms a lush, resilient base layer. Within this matrix, bold foliage plants — Agave attenuata, Ligularia reniformis, and Beschorneria yuccoides — add architectural form. Seasonal colour comes from flowering species such as Dietes iridioides and Gaura ‘Sparkle White’, while compact shrubs like Westringia ‘Grey Box’ and Euphorbia wulfenii × characias provide year-round structure and texture.
In the shaded areas near the house, the planting shifts to a different palette — Dianella nigra, Hypolepis ambigua, Arthropodium cirratum, Astelia fragrans, and Libertia grandiflora — creating a softer, more layered feel.
To gently define the garden’s boundaries, evergreen hedges of Pittosporum ‘Stephens Island’ were planted for screening, while Muehlenbeckia complexa climbs steel mesh frames fixed to the fences, softening edges and adding a sense of enclosure.
Strowan Garden
The brief for this garden renovation project was simple yet enticing: transform an established but dated garden into a luxurious, resort-style retreat — a space designed for relaxation, entertainment, and year-round enjoyment.
While the previous garden was tired it had “good bones” — established trees and shrubs provided shelter and greenery, and the swimming pool was in place. However, the surrounding spaces felt dated, and the narrow paths restricted movement. The underplanting was sparse and needed fresh energy.
The recent renovation of the character home by AW Architects, also guided the garden’s transformation. Working closely with the clients and architects, we prioritised enhancing the indoor-outdoor connection, linking the kitchen and dining spaces directly to a vibrant, complementary outdoor entertainment area.
From outdated to outstanding
At the heart of the new design is the ultimate entertaining hub: an outdoor kitchen, fireplace, and louvered pergola that seamlessly extend the living space outdoors. Beside the sparkling heated swimming pool, a second pergola forms a quiet nook for unwinding, while a poolside changing room with outdoor shower completes the resort experience. For family fun, a large artificial turf lawn, putting green, and basketball mini-court keep the space active and inviting in all seasons.
The garden was expertly implemented by the talented team at OnLandscapes.
Strowan - materials
A contemporary materials palette of ceramic tile paving and rendered concrete walls provides a sophisticated backdrop to the lush planting. The paving choice — outdoor porcelain tiles — was the most significant design decision, selected for their contemporary look, durability, and low maintenance.
Garden walls, both existing and new, were cleaned, replastered where needed, and repainted in a crisp white, matching the fireplace and pergola metalwork to heighten the bright, airy resort aesthetic. While a light-coloured limestone cladding was considered for an even more luxurious look, budget priorities led to a simpler but equally striking finish.
Strowan - planting
The planting design captures the lush, subtropical character the clients desired, adapted to suit the local climate with cold-hardy species and select Mediterranean plants. Large-grade trees and fast-growing plants were chosen for instant impact.
Around the pool and entertaining areas, cold-hardy palms — Butia capitata (Jelly Palm), Trachycarpus fortuneii (Windmill Palm), and Chamaerops humilis (Mediterranean Fan Palm) — create a holiday atmosphere. Large olive trees along the southern boundary provide privacy and a Mediterranean touch.
Lower-level planting combines bold foliage with fine textures and vibrant bursts of colour. Highlights include Leucadendron varieties, Canna ‘Tropicana Gold’, Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’, Ligularia reniformis (Leopard Plant), Farfugium tussilaginea, and Cyperus papyrus (Papyrus).
In the front garden, established camellias and rhododendrons were retained, complemented by a traditional, shade-tolerant palette including Pachysandra terminalis (Japanese Spurge), Lobelia angulata, Skimmia japonica, and Ligularia reniformis.
The result is a lush, inviting garden that balances contemporary elegance with a relaxed resort vibe — a place where every day feels like a holiday.
Outdoor living and entertainment at the heart of the garden
