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Zones provided this Housing New Zealand development with private and communal gardens.
Project management and adhering to strict timelines was paramount in this ten-month landscaping project carried out by Tracey and Glen Barker. The two-stage project was implemented in Mt Albert as part of a larger Housing New Zealand development. It consisted of a huge range of landscaping procedures including planting, hardscaping, fencing, rock walls, artificial turf and driveway installations.
“The entire site was dug out and a new housing development planned”, tells Tracey. “The initial phase was for the build of 12 apartments and completion of a common area.”
“The entire site was dug out and a new housing development planned"
“Essentially, there were two landscaping components”, explains Tracey’s client, Franco. “One was the central community garden and the other was the independent garden and landscaping for the development of one of the lots.”
Hardscaping and softscaping
“We were contracted to complete the common areas which consisted of a timber boardwalk, concrete paths, bench seats, bluestone stairs, keystone retaining, timber fencing, rock walls and gardens”, Tracey adds. “This particular phase of the project only took three weeks to complete, with 16 guys, and accounted for $250K of the entire project. The remaining part of the project was around the newly built apartments and comprised of timber fencing, artificial turf from TeamTurf, concrete paths, storage areas, driveways and planting.”
Such a large project required the expertise of a number of skilled tradespeople; from builders, keystone retaining wall installers, concreters, stone masonries, landscapers and labourers - it was a significant project to manage.
“This was a massive job over a period of time, as the job was broken into stages”, confirms Tracey. “It was nice to see it all come together. We were especially pleased with all the guys pulling together the common area within two weeks, as that was a mammoth task. We had 16 guys on site pulling this together all at once.”
“The feedback I had from the site managers was that it’s always been good dealing with the (Zones) guys on-site - if they’ve got a problem then they sort it out and they get it resolved”, says Franco. “They did a great job in terms of trying to meet the program and were very solution-orientated - if you’ve got a problem they’re keen to help. For safety - they were good and kept their documents up to date. It was a good all-round result.”
The final result
In just a few months, the gardens will be flourishing with an array of plants. Titokis, Flowering Cherries, Camellias and Renga Renga can be enjoyed from the units while Wild Iris, Kohekohe and Star Jasmine liven up the communal gardens.
In terms of the final result, Franco says he appreciated that Zones worked with the land, rather than completely starting from scratch to create something new:
“Zones managed to obtain the original garden and keep a lot of the existing rocks and reutilise the original garden in their own way.”
“ [My favourite feature was] Definitely the common areas, and I love the timber boardwalk... and the blue nose stone steps at the entranceway. We are really pleased with the final result."
When asked about her favourite feature, Tracey is quick to respond:
“Definitely the common areas, and I love the timber boardwalk... and the blue nose stone steps at the entranceway. We are really pleased with the final result.”
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Monique Nielsen is a Landscaping Consultant of Hammock Bay Landscaping Limited, a franchisee of Zones Landscaping New Zealand, doing business in Auckland Central.
Actual costs vary by project. Plan ahead to reduce the impact of industry changes or disruptions. For more information see here.
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