On a steep Canterbury hillside property in Mt Pleasant, we have been building a series of steps, pads and raised planters coming down from the outdoor living area adjacent to the kitchen. On to the final touches now - planting out and mulching.
As with many of Christchurch's hillside properties, access to the construction site is an issue. All landscaping material has to be brought onto and off site by hand here. Luckily, with the driveway directly below, landscaping material doesn’t have to be moved too far, something the landscape crew has been thankful for! And, by using the soil excavated for the posts as backfill, there won't be too much post landscaping material coming off site when the project is completed.
These steps and mini-deck pads will provide informal access for the family to their lower backyard garden and to the kid's backyard treehouse. Two planter beds incorporated into the steps and pads will be used for a vegetable garden. Using raised planters for vegetable gardens is a good way of keeping down the amount of weeding necessary and minimising the area of the garden that needs regular watering.
The treads of these steps are concrete. There are lots of big trees on this property, so concrete is a good solution here. Concrete makes it easy to sweep away leaf litter and give a quick wash down when needed.
The bank between the driveway's timber retaining wall and the new garden area and steps was designed to be planted out with hardy native plants that tolerate full sun and infrequent watering. It can be a harsh environment for some types of plants to get established in these seaside hillside suburbs, so often native plants indigenous to Canterbury are well suited for these landscaping applications.
If you’re thinking of landscaping your hillside Christchurch property, call us today for your complete landscape design & construction.