b'top tipRaised gardens help bring perfumed flowers right up to veranda level.camellias, the couple cleared the land and began their garden anew.Iceberg roseDescribing themselves as non-fanatical gardeners, RossandAlisonaskedwell-knownChristchurch gardendesignerBenMcMastertocreaterelativelyReseneeasy-care surrounds.Shady LadyTheresultinggardensuccessfullycombines formality,well-definedlinesandswathesofcolourGet the look with Resene with the more rustic feel of a historic holiday village.Lumbersider CoolColour tinted Beneath the formal elements and leveled areas aroundto Resene Shady Lady.the house, sloping lawns fall away to the street.A wide scallop-shell pathway directly beneath the houseleadstotheoriginalformalentrancefrom WilliamStreet.Thiswhimsicalfeatureisquitean Akaroa thing, with its proximity to the sea, Ross says. Planting includes an abundance of Cecil Brunner, MargaretMerril,Icebergrosesandtheredrose,Resene El Nino Munstead Wood. Rows of buxus, Portuguese laurel and the feathery star-flowered Choisya x dewitteanaReseneAztec Pearl provide formal structure. Other traditional,Scorpionpretty and hardy plants were chosen to suit the setting: catmint,perfumedsasanquacamellia(Cinnamon Cindy) hedging; tiny white and blue hydrangea, and fragrant daphne.Rustic elements like a rusty Annually Ross makes himself equal to the task ofGet the look with Resene Enamacrylgate or shell path bring topiary-shapingandtreepruning.Alisonismoretinted to Resene Scorpion or tryvintage appeal to a more Resene Mortar for the front door. formal garden.frequently obliged to be the shaper and dead-header of roses. ReseneTowards the perimeter of the property, a plethoraOrange Whiteof well-spaced fruit trees includes Alisons favourite, Blackboy peaches. I guess Im enacting my dream of the good life, she says. The most recent garden additions are shiny black chimney pots. Acting like garden sculptures, the pots were too ornate and beautiful to discard after theGet the look with Resene Canterbury earthquakes rendered their positions in theEnamacryl tinted to Resene sky too tenuous. They now sit quirkily to the side of theOrange White, or try Resene Aylmers Valley Road house entrance.Villa White as a morecurrent alternative. picturesJuliet NicholaswordsLeisl Johnstone Turn the page for alternative looks for this garden.ReseneHalf Rice Cake 75'