Photography: Babiche Martens
From the lounge in Ben and Kylie Crawford’s home in Auckland’s Castor Bay, majestic kānuka and ponga catch your vision, leading your eye up the ascending section into the bush. Tūī and kererū sing out as they dive from tree to tree.
Accessed from the living area and rear deck, Ben and Kylie’s garden comprises two levels covered in artificial grass. They built the levels around the mature trees, granting easy access to the trampoline and playhouse for children Huxley, five, and Mylo, three-and-a-half, and allowing them free rein to roam this native sanctuary.
The garden overlooks a creek, which the couple regenerated and turned into a feature of their house design. One part of the garden leads to a spa pool and a bridge linking to the bedroom wing of the home. It is the last step in the couple’s vision for the site, which they chanced upon in 2014.
When the couple first saw the land, it was underwhelming, overgrown with noxious weeds but it had beautiful native bush around the boundary and a creek running through the property.
“We were looking for a section to buy and saw this bit of land, which is big at 1397sqm and covered in mature bush close to the beach,” says Ben, who won the inaugural The Block NZ season with his sister Libby, and is now co-founder of brand agency Tomorrow Studio. “While it had its challenges, we saw the opportunity to create something special.”
The Crawfords envisaged an idyllic family home, building then moving into the 165sqm home in 2015. “The backyard had been pretty much untouched since we moved in and it was slightly unusable,” Ben says. “We tried growing grass, but it burned off in summer and became waterlogged in winter, so we didn’t use it much.”
It felt like a large chunk of land to leave unused, particularly with two growing little boys. “As we set out to transform the space, we wanted to continue with our original philosophy when we built the house, which is working with the land rather than fighting it,” says Ben. “We wanted to retain the large trees and bush as a feature to ensure we kept its natural feel.”
They needed the space to be multipurpose, and they desired a backyard for the kids to play in and burn off their energy safely. “But at a later stage, when we get rid of the trampoline and playhouse, it would be a nice space where we can relax with beanbags and friends,” says Ben.
The family asked landscape architect Lance Millward from Verdant Green to help them achieve their garden design dream, and Urban Turf Solutions supplied and installed the artificial grass.
The planting plan was fluid, says Ben. They cleared the weeds completely, keeping the natives and mature trees intact. “It was organic, depending on what was found. If roots were in the way, we redirected our actions. Similarly, with planting, we tried to replant anything of significance.”
Plant life here includes small ferns and oversized palms, as well as kauri, kānuka and nīkau. “We’ve been propagating what naturally seeded since we moved in. We made use of those around the garden and we planted a new hedge around the edges of the walls to stop the birds from flicking bark onto the turf once it matures.”
They build retaining walls to level off the site and create two defined areas in the space, requiring a lot of fill. With limited access through the bush to the site, the tradespeople brought in 80 cubic metres of fill by hand.
“They set up a corrugated shute through the bush and shovelled it by hand. It took three weeks to fill the garden levels. The drainage is amazing with all that gravel there. The plants also look so much healthier, probably because they are no longer in such heavy, soggy clay.”
The couple opted for artificial turf rather than natural grass, creating an area the kids can use year-round.
It wasn’t an easy decision to lay down turf for Ben and Kylie, but it’s one they’re thankful for now. “We were a bit worried about how it would look in such a natural setting, but it looks amazing! It has been a game-changer for the kids. It could be raining, but five minutes later, the kids can be out there playing and it’s dry with no mud.”
One of the more unexpected outcomes is how this garden has visually enhanced the house.
“It’s added to the architecture and transformed how we use our home. It has connected everything together between our living spaces and the bedrooms. It lets us freely move from inside to out at all times of the day and all seasons of the year,” says Ben.
“The renovation we have done to the backyard has completed our home, both functionally and visually.”
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