Tucked behind a 1964 Modernist courtyard house in Lyall Bay, The Haven is a richly layered retreat designed for colour, texture and year-round interest. The house, recognised for its architectural heritage, provides a strong design framework: courtyards and pergolas create sheltered outdoor rooms that connect seamlessly to the architecture.

The garden is best experienced as a sequence of spaces. Visitors enter through the modernist courtyard, paved with patterned tiles and dotted with succulents, pelagoniums, and a reflective pond. From here, a path leads to the Blue Pergola Garden — a long, narrow sanctuary where climbers, roses and passionfruit weave through a rhythm of painted pergolas.

At its heart, a bubbling urn and clusters of salvias create vibrant focal points, with seating placed for quiet contemplation.

This urban nature retreat is a sanctuary for both humans and wildlife alike, humming with life, and shaped through careful design, predator control, and the gentle rhythm of nature Native plantings around the pond draw in an array of visitors: tūī flit among kōwhai blossoms, their song bright and playful, while kererū settle heavily into the treetops, lending a sense of calm authority. The butterfly house provides a safe haven from wasps and other predators, and allowing Monarchs to mature and complete natures cycle as they drift between clusters of wildflowers, their delicate wings brushing against the warm air. Bees work steadily among the blooms, ensuring the garden remains vibrant and well-pollinated. Their constant activity brings a subtle energy, balancing the stillness of the fishpond of the slow with the contemplative movement of the birds. Thoughtful predator control helps safeguard this haven, allowing native wildlife to thrive despite its suburban setting. Traps are discreetly positioned and regularly maintained, protecting vulnerable species from stoats, rats, and possums without disturbing the natural beauty of the landscape. The result is a flourishing sanctuary—a pocket of biodiversity where urban life meets the natural world in harmony. Here, water, wildlife, and quiet human presence coexist, creating a peaceful retreat that restores, inspires, and sustains all who visit.

Nestled within a unique landscape, this enchanting garden is beautifully divided between a serene hillside and a lush, flat expanse, each offering its own distinct charm. The hillside garden winds gently upwards, showcasing over 150 vibrant Rhododendrons that burst into colour through the seasons. Their blooms form a breathtaking backdrop alongside native ferns and mature trees, creating a peaceful retreat for native birds, including the melodic tūī, which flit through the branches adding life and song to the air.

Descending from the hillside, the garden opens out into a tranquil flat area, designed in the relaxed, romantic style of an English cottage garden. Here, winding paths lead through a generous collection of cottage-style plants — foxgloves, delphiniums, hollyhocks, and roses mingle in a profusion of colour and scent. Carefully arranged perennial borders create a timeless feel, with flowers tumbling over pathways and framing quiet nooks perfect for reflection.

At the heart of the flat garden lie several serene fishponds, home to water lilies, reeds, and a variety of ornamental fish. The ponds reflect the sky and surrounding plantings, adding a sense of calm and movement. Nearby seating areas invite visitors to sit and enjoy the harmonious sounds of water and birdsong, completing this sensory-rich experience.

This garden offers a perfect balance between structured beauty and natural abundance — a haven for gardeners, bird lovers, and anyone seeking inspiration from nature’s palette.

Nestled in the peaceful suburb of Flat Bush, Auckland, the garden at Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple of New Zealand offers a tranquil sanctuary where nature and spirituality meet. Designed in the spirit of Humanistic Buddhism, the garden features manicured hedges, symbolic sculptures, and stone-paved paths that invite mindful walking and quiet reflection.

A small city garden planned and planted simultaneously with the building of the house to create an integrated  whole. An immense variety of plants, many very unusual, are set in an ordered framework to provide pleasing views as you go through the garden and to reward close inspection. There is an emphasis on form and foliage combined to create a tapestry of plants with splashes of seasonal colour.

Silkwood Lodge Garden is a small native and sub-tropical Balinese style oasis, showcasing wider vistas and secluded seating areas.

The first view of the garden is from the street, where a deliberate effort has been made to include the road edge beyond the property.

Local moss covered rocks, sculptures, South Island schist pavers, tile steps, hardwood fences, hedges, wooden decks and ornate gates from Nepal, Java and Bali are all important aspects, giving structure to the garden. Mass plantings of clivia under nikau trees, crocuses, bromeliads and vireyas help to compliment the view.

Over a century old, this large garden surrounding historic Larnach Castle on the Otago Peninsula is at an altitude of 300 metres. The scenery is spectacular and though the garden is subjected to wind and low rainfall it contains a unique collection of plants seldom seen elsewhere. Some remnants from the original plantings 120 years ago - Cupressus macrocarpa, planted extensively for shelter and a cedar to one side of the castle - give an air of maturity. The plantings reflect the owner's interest in New Zealand plants and in their southern hemisphere relations.

The Botanic Garden is a garden of great variety with the Leith Stream on the southern boundary and Lindsay Creek running through the middle dividing the garden in two. From the formal, almost level area of the lower garden with its herbaceous borders, rose garden, camellia collection, herb garden and the beautifully planted Lister Garden, to the major collection of plants in the rock garden on the slopes leading to the upper garden, there are features for all to enjoy.

It is just 10 minutes' drive from Wellington's central business district to the five hectare Ōtari – Wilton’s plant collections and 90 hectares of bush where you may find some of the mature podocarp bush that once covered much of the city. This unique plant sanctuary has this country's foremost collection of native plants including many rare and endangered species.

The Giant’s House sculpture mosaic garden is colourful, exuberant, interactive, romantic, fun and full of surprises. It is set on a sheltered, north-facing, sunny hillside in a valley in Akaroa, 1.5 hours drive from Christchurch. The garden surrounds the large historic house owned by the first BNZ Bank Manager and built from totara and kauri. There are flat areas around the house and terraced gardens gently wind up the hillside. Contrasting historic with contemporary art and balancing gardens with sculptures, it is a unique creation.

Development of the garden began in 2006 when Liz Morrow moved to settle permanently in what was the family holiday home, a log cabin nestled into a stand of native bush on the water’s edge.

Approached by a chestnut-lined drive which winds past old orchards and streams, Mincher, a large rural garden just north of Auckland’s CBD, is home to many varities of waterfowl and birdlife including Grey Teal, Aylesburys, Kingfishers, Shining Cuckoos, Tui and Kaka.

Ōhinetahi consists of a number of formal rooms, of differing style and character, arranged about two axes running east-west and north-south in the arts and crafts style. The formal lawn beside the house, has curved macrocarpa hedges at one end, balanced by a pool and pool house.

Flaxmere is a North Canterbury high country garden sitting beneath the main rib of Southern Alps. This large 7 acre garden is boldly designed to make the most of alpine views with strong axes and cross axes focusing on the surrounding mountain and pastoral environment. Heavy old bridge timbers and stone walls reflect a country atmosphere, and a feeling of peace & romance abides here, amidst dramatically changing seasons.

“If you think of gardening as an art form, Ayrlies is the best expression of that art.” This is a quote by Jack Hobbs, manager of Auckland Botanic Gardens. Situated in the gently rolling country of south-east Auckland, this is one of New Zealand’s best-known gardens, characterised by sweeping lawns and informal but detailed plantings by ponds and waterways

Broadfield Garden is about 3.5 hectares established 20 years. It aims for excellence in design, planting and maintenance. Originality is a priority. Many natives are used formally and informally as are NZ raised varieties of Azaleas, Rhododendrons, Camellias, Cherry Cornus, Maples, Peony Perennials, Daffodils, Lily, and Roses.

Over the last 33 years Doreen and Mike have created a 3 acre garden from a blank canvas. This expansive and tranquil garden is set on their small farm in the Amuri Basin.

The garden commenced in 1990 but is maturing rapidly due to the mild, almost frost-free climate. The Higgies have specialized in exotic flora to produce a landscape like no other in New Zealand.

Omaka Lodge is a large country property featuring 3 beautiful acres of landscaped gardens. View a wide range of interesting planting, the 33-metre Rill overlooking Mount Hikurangi, and expansive countryside vistas. Onsite accommodation allows exploration at leisure.

One of the oldest botanic gardens in New Zealand, this central city garden was established in 1868. The major conifer species which are a feature were planted then as part of a programme to import plant species and assess their economic potential to the new colony. The very large specimens of Pinus radiata that dominate the landscape were grown from the first seed of that species to be imported from California.