Crafting calm at the Mount

Perched just back from Mount Maunganui’s iconic shoreline, this home stands with a quiet confidence. Its architecture is striking yet understated, a study in limestone tones and clean lines. The garden, therefore, needed to do something deceptively difficult: enhance the home’s presence without competing with it. The landscape had to settle the building into its coastal setting, softening edges and stitching the structure into the dunes and sea breezes beyond.

“This design brief and project was undoubtedly one of the most enjoyable and rewarding projects that I have been involved with,” reflects Michelle, and it’s easy to see why.

Mount Maunganui may be known for its laid-back beach culture, but summer transforms it into a hive of activity. For the owners of this relatively public site, the challenge was clear: create a sanctuary. A place to retreat from the esplanade’s energy, where the soundtrack shifts from beach bustle to rustling foliage and the hush of the ocean.

Working alongside architect Architecture Bureau, Magnolia Creative Landscape Design developed a landscape strategy that responds directly to the site’s elevated dune topography. Terraced planting levels guide movement up from Marine Parade while softening the scale of the home from the public beachfront. Layered coastal planting filters views from the busy walkway, creating a gradual transition between the exposed shoreline and the home’s private outdoor spaces.

The planting palette also reinforces the surrounding dune ecology, using hardy coastal species to create sheltered micro-environments within the wind-exposed site. At the centre of the home, an internal courtyard acts as a protected outdoor room, balancing openness with enclosure while maintaining framed views toward the ocean and offshore islands.

Their brief called for something deeply personal: a garden that felt unique, restorative, and seamlessly connected to the home. With sweeping views and a site unlike any other, the landscape needed to act as an extension of their living space, a place where guests could drift effortlessly from interior to exterior, glass of wine in hand, without ever feeling they’d left the heart of the home.

This new chapter also marked a departure from the clients’ previous garden, which leaned heavily on traditional natives and deep green tones. Here, the palette needed to shift; lighter, coastal, reflective. Plants that echoed the limestone façade, with foliage that picked up the greys and blues of the ocean stretching out before them.

“Spending time listening and understanding how clients live and what they get joy from is such an important part of the landscape design process,” Michelle explains. “Planting trees and framing spaces is easy. Enhancing the way people live and developing an emotional connection for them with their home and environment is the challenge.”

Of course, designing on the coast brings its own set of rules. Salt spray, wind exposure, and sandy, free draining soils demand a planting palette that is as tough as it is beautiful. Every species must earn its place, appealing to the owners, complementing the architecture, and thriving in unforgiving conditions.

“It can be a real challenge selecting and matching plants that will thrive in these sorts of locations,” Michelle says. “When people get it wrong, it can waste a lot of money and time. With this project, not only do the plants look great but they are hardy specimens that flourish year-round.”

“They are also relatively maintenance free, which was important for my clients. They want to spend their time on the beach and then relaxing in the garden with a glass of wine, not pruning hedges every weekend. A well-considered garden needs to work with the owners, not create work for them.”

The result is a landscape that feels effortless, a coastal retreat where architecture and environment speak the same language. A garden that doesn’t shout, but whispers. And in that quiet, it delivers exactly what the owners hoped for: a place to breathe, unwind, and simply be.

Contact Details
Magnolia Design
027 211 5979
michelle@magnoliadesign.nz