‘Rewilding’ our urban landscape benefits flora and fauna. Canopy Landscape Architects’ Julie Greenslade and Paul Roper-Gee explore options for a tidy mess.

Contemporary landscapes in Christchurch are often minimalist in design, with clean crisp lines, large lawns and a reduced palette of plant species set out in massed blocks. This design approach is very effective visually and practically, but it can be lacking in biodiversity and is of limited benefit to our urban wildlife.

In recent years there has been growing awareness of the importance of encouraging nature within our urban landscape, and a move towards “rewilding” public landscapes and private gardens, with a looser, less manicured aesthetic. However, this wild approach can be perceived as messy and undesirable, especially in publicly visible areas.

A key feature of natural systems is complexity. Massed plantings and lawns are the antithesis of complexity, and are in fact biological deserts. Much more beneficial ecologically is maintaining a variety of plant species, including flowers that provide nectar and pollen for pollinators, and leaving leaf litter in place to enrich soil and provide habitat for insects.

At Canopy we enjoy designing contemporary and clean-lined landscape schemes but are also keen to see more “wildness” and nature incorporated into Christchurch’s gardens and landscapes. Can the contemporary and nature-inspired design approaches be successfully combined? American landscape architect Joan Nassauer has proposed one possible solution, which she calls “Cues to care”. Her research suggests that if a biodiverse or “messy” landscape is set within a frame of more manicured or obviously maintained landscape, it is then understood overall as a landscape that is well cared for.

Ways we can frame our nature-inspired landscapes include:

• Mown edges or mown paths through wild lawns.
• Using bold patterns through the natural landscapes.
• Surrounding wild spaces with contrasting clipped shrubs or hedges.
• Strategic placement of garden structures or architectural elements in the wild landscape.

This approach can also be applied to the broader city. The proposed Green Spine within the Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor in the Red Zone is a fantastic opportunity for rewilding our city within a “tidy frame”.

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