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O2 Landscapes Ltd
0274 999966
info@o2landscapes.com
Whilst working on our book about NZ’s everyday landscape culture, ‘Vernacular’ (published in 2015), David and I documented the process on this website.
In 2022, we embarked upon a new multi-year book project about natural landscapes, and the forces that drive diversity and help form their character. We will once again record some aspects of our research trips within the ‘Vernacular Landscape’ website.
For several years, we have been involved with a large-scale project on Isle of Man, for which we designed a botanical garden about NZ’s flora and wild places, over several acres.
Propagation has begun on the New Zealand Garden, which is one of several large-scale botanical gardens about interesting temperate zones of the world planned for Mallards.
Nelson plantsman, Tim Le Gros, runs one of the most interesting native nurseries in the country, specialising mostly in the propagation of the Nelson province’s distinctive flora (in addition to cultivating many Marlborough plants, and certain species from outside the upper South Island).
We have worked in closely with Tim on projects within the Nelson region, as well as utilising Titoki Nursery’s plants on projects elsewhere in the country.
The NZPCN network was formed more than 20 years ago to bring more attention to New Zealand’s threatened plant species. Quite apart from the work carried out by the Network, a major reason to visit the website is its role as one of the best online resources about native plants.
Individual plant profile sheets provide information on the habitat, threat status and cultivation requirements of a large number of species. One of the best features of the website is the vast range of plant images, many of which show them within their natural habitat. Sometimes, photos like these can provide greater understanding than written accounts.
Rob Champion worked for O2 Landscapes for several years (through to early 2020), before moving to Sydney, where he has established his own practice. As with so many people with whom we have been fortunate to work together over the years, it was no coincidence that Rob ended up working with us – due to his broad range of interests, detailed knowledge of the natural world, and enthusiasm towards the pursuit of meaningful work.
Both of these qualities are demonstrated in the website of TARN, in which Rob has written interesting, well-written articles on plants, landscapes and culture. Rob”s photography on the TARN website is also worth viewing, especially a collection of beautiful images of Mediterranean landscapes (shot on film) that fed into design processes for projects that we designed together (whilst certain other images were taken on trips that we took together to wild places within NZ).
As part of running one of the most interesting nurseries for perennials and bulbs within New Zealand, Kate Aston regularly trials little-known flowers, including rare species of Salvia, Thalictrum and Liatris (amongst many other genera).
We engage in ongoing dialogue with Kate about the possibilities that this opens up for planting design – especially for integration of responsible exotics and natives.