19 December 2006 Landscape students provide practical designs for Botanic Gardens

Lincoln University landscape students this year helped open the eyes of the public to possibilities for the future development of parts of Christchurch's Botanic Gardens.

Members of Dr Maria Ignatieva's LASC 211 Planting Design and Management class had a display of their design work in the Botanic Gardens Information Centre for close to a month during the start of the submission process for the Gardens' Draft Management Plan.

Ten student designs went up on display in the Information Centre with the focus being on ideas for two of the entrances to the Gardens, Riccarton Avenue and Armagh Street.

Among the designs was one that included elements inspired by the idea of Gondwana, the ancient southern super continent.

Working on the West Bridge entrance, Marissa Gidall incorporated the Gondwana concept into a “Dinosaur Walk” for children featuring plants that have their evolutionary origin traceable back to Gondwana. 

Marissa’s design also included a Canterbury Plains plant collection, a Canterbury wetlands collection and a Port Hills collection.

Dr Ignatieva said the Gardens project provided an opportunity for students to prepare their own vision for the Gardens entrance based on their knowledge of plants, design qualities and the principles and history of planting design. The project tested the students’ ability to bring together spatial design and plant characteristics. 

Some of the ideas from the designs would be taken into consideration in the review of the management plans for the Gardens, she said.

Botanic Gardens Visitor Services Co-ordinator Kerry Everingham said she welcomed the opportunity to display the work of the Lincoln University students.

“Providing opportunities for community groups to mount displays is one way we feel different audiences can be attracted to the Gardens and the information centre,” she said. “Community displays also allow for different topics to be covered which adds value to the experience of the visitor.”

During the period that the Lincoln students’ designs were on display, 8329 people visited the Botanic Gardens Information Centre.

The students’ display is not Lincoln University’s only involvement with the Christchurch Botanic Gardens. There is a connection with a major research project with which Dr Ignatieva is involved. Dr Ignatieva is a partner in the FoRST funded Low Impact Urban Design and Development research project being carried out collaboratively by Lincoln University and Landcare Research. Overall it is concerned with urban ecology and ecological design in New Zealand.

As part of this research project a group comprising Dr Ignatieva, Dr Colin Meurk of Landcare, Professor Glenn Stewart of Lincoln University, landscape architecture student James Rea, horticulturist and tutor in the Landscape Architecture Group Sue McGaw, and masters landscape architecture students Luke McKinlay and Meg Gaddum, are designing and having installed three “demonstration gardens” at the Christchurch Botanic Gardens. These are a tussock/rock garden, a bush garden and a formal native garden.

“The main goal of the demonstration gardens is to educate the public about opportunities for using native New Zealand plants in private gardens,” says Dr Ignatieva. “Through this we can increase native urban biodiversity and demonstrate how some of the principles of Low Impact Urban Design and Development can be incorporated into individual private residential gardens.”

The demonstration gardens should be in place by the end of winter 2007.

• In combined terms of size and variety of botanical collections, the Christchurch Botanic Gardens is probably the largest in New Zealand. It is certainly one of the earlier public gardens established in the Southern Hemisphere.