Gorgeous Whanganui Gardens: Garden of urban delight

Sue Foskett has transformed a neglected patch of grass into a colourful and tranquil urban garden. Photo / Bevan Conley

In an occasional summer series, we take you into some of Whanganui’s residential gardens. Today we meet Sue Foskett - an enthusiastic gardener who started with a blank canvas. Liz Wylie reports.

Sue Foskett’s urban Whanganui garden is a living testimony that you don’t need to have a lot of space or spend a lot of money to create a beautiful environment.

When she moved into her new rental accommodation there was nothing but a patch of weedy lawn to greet her.

Three years later, there is a thriving garden filled with flowering plants, succulents, a lemon tree, and vegetables with a sprinkling of garden art.

“I saw it as a blank canvas,” she said.

“A lot of plants I’ve grown from cuttings and bits I’ve been given. I’ve collected river stones and interesting bits of driftwood from the beach to fill in spaces and support the plants.”

Sue Foskett has transformed a weedy patch of lawn into a thriving garden over three years. Photo / Bevan Conley

A seldom-used communal space at the rear of her townhouse has also been transformed and an old picnic table has been repaired and painted to create a space to sit with neighbours and visitors.

Foskett said rather than planning the garden in advance, she had become inspired along the way as she dug new beds around the border.

“The beauty of a small garden is that you can see it all at once and be inspired about what to do in one area while working in another.”

Garden art made from recycled materials nestled among the plants in Sue Foskett's garden. Photo / Bevan Conley

A row of fast-growing pittosporums along the fence line screens out the neighbour’s parking area, adding the illusion of ample green space in Foskett’s garden.

“I have really enjoyed the stages of adding to the beds and trying things in different places,” she said.

Foskett said she had always been an enthusiastic gardener, but this was the first time she had established one from scratch.

Collected river stones and driftwood provide structures for plants in the small garden. Photo / Bevan Conley

“The landlord was happy for me to paint the fences and trellising and dig new beds.

“Some people living in rental accommodation might not have landlords who would be happy with that but you can always grow things in pots and planter boxes.”

There are large tomato plants flourishing in pots and planter boxes in Foskett’s garden.

“Now I just need a good bit of steady sunshine for them to ripen,” she said.