News

At the end of November 2011, Philip Smith set off to isolated parts of Northland with Guy Bowden and Terry Hatch, to search for rare native plants in the wild. We believe that it is important to view plants in their natural habitats, so that one may garner lessons that may be applied in their cultivation (both practical and aesthetic). Trips like this also enable us to tell some of the stories of native plants (and show images) on the 'Plants' section of the website.

Highlights of the trip included the critically endangered tree, Ackama nubicola (that stands atop the Waima Range), an endemic tree daisy from the Waima Range, Olearia crebra, and the nationally threatened small tree, Pittosporum obcordatum (a species that appears regularly within our work).

'Native By Design', a new book on landscape design with New Zealand plants, was released in September 2011. Philip Smith had the honour of being invited to submit a chapter on the place of threatened plants within our work. Two O2 Landscapes gardens featured within the chapter; the montane garden near Lake Tekapo, and our Westmere garden.

In October 2011, the Te Mata Pimelea was officially described as a new species, entitled Pimelea mimosa. It is critically endangered within the wild, where only a small number of wild plants endure on inaccessible cliffs. This taxonomic change makes little difference to the necessity of protecting this species, which was already the subject of a concerted conservation effort by Friends of Te Mata Peak - who have been propagating and planting new plants of P. mimosa on the Peak.

In the 2011 NZIA awards, Stevens Lawson Architects have received a New Zealand Architecture award for the house that they designed on the foothills of Te Mata Peak. The Te Mata house was one of five houses within the country to be honoured. We extend our congratulations to the architects and the clients, with whom we had the pleasure to work - in designing and installing the garden for the house.

O2 Landscapes' garden on the foothills of Te Mata Peak is one of five gardens, from around New Zealand, to feature in the HOME New Zealand 2011 landscaping special. The article describes the natural and cultural influences that were important in the garden's design, with images showing the eastern flower border (in early summer) and the more pared-back west-facing front of the house, where our 'archaeological' paving pattern is situated.

During May 2011, we have created a new home for our plant profiles, within the website. This section, entitled 'Plants', can be found at the top of the page (in all parts of the website), between 'Essays' and 'News'. The plant profiles were previously included within the 'Essays' section of the website, but now that we have descriptions of more than 80 species, we have deemed it more useful to have an entire section devoted to the native flora.

The NZ Plant Conservation Network hosted its 2010 conference in the second week of October, in Christchurch. The subject of the conference was 'Plants in a human landscape - Conservation outside nature reserves'.

Philip Smith of O2 Landscapes attended the conference, and presented a paper about the process of advocating for threatened species through gardens. This area is a key feature of our work, and was explored with regard to paradigms of landscape design, as well as highlighting a range of threatened species that we have found to be particularly successful.

In May 2009, we have reproduced Philip Smith's 2006 article for 'The Garden' magazine within the publications section of the website, with the very kind permission of the editors of 'The Garden', and the photographers whose work contributed towards the article. The Royal Horticultural Society's journal on gardening and general horticulture, 'The Garden', published a special feature on New Zealand plants and horticulture in their November 2006 issue.

In May 2006, the 100% Pure Tourism New Zealand garden on the Main Avenue at the Chelsea Flower Show received a Silver Gilt medal. Philip Smith, of O2 Landscapes, worked in collaboration with James Fraser, of Avant Gardener, London, as plantsman for the display.