Gorgeous Whanganui Gardens: Garden of urban delight

An occasional summer series takes you to some of Whanganui’s residential gardens. Today we meet Sue Foskett – an avid gardener who started with a blank canvas. Liz Wiley reports.

Sue Foskett’s Urban Wanganui Garden proves that you don’t have to take up a lot of space or spend a lot of money to create a beautiful setting.

When she moved into her new rental home, only a weedy lawn greeted her.

Three years later, we have a thriving garden full of flowering plants, succulents, lemon trees and vegetables, sprinkled with garden art.

“It looked like a blank canvas,” she said.

“Many plants I have grown from the cuttings and pieces I was given. I collected river stones and interesting driftwood from the beach to fill in the spaces and support the plants.”

A little-used communal space in the back of her townhouse was also remodeled, with old picnic tables refurbished and painted to create space to sit with neighbors and visitors.

Foskett said he found inspiration along the way because he was digging new beds around the border instead of planning the garden ahead of time.

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

Rapidly growing rows of pitosporum along the fence line block the neighbor’s parking lot, giving the illusion of ample green space in Fosket’s garden.

“I’m really enjoying the phase of adding it to my bed and trying it out in different places,” she said.

Foskett said he’s always been an avid gardener, but this was the first time he’d built a garden from scratch.

“My landlord was happy to help me paint the fences and grates and dig new beds.

“Some people living in rented homes may not have a landlord who would be happy with that, but they can always grow something in a pot or planter box.”

Foskett’s garden is filled with large tomato plants in pots and planter boxes.

“Now they just need a little bit of steady sunshine to mature,” she said.