Creating a haven for Auckland's wildlife

A bush and butterfly garden in one

November 2024

New garden, showing boardwalk, lawn and bush areas

I have a dream. A myriad of wildlife will decide that my new garden is something special and decide to move here, just like I did.

The garden is in Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland in beautiful Aotearoa New Zealand. This is the country's most populous city, built on an isthmus, surrounded by the sea. My new house is about half a kilometre from the beach, on the city's North Shore. The garden is just under half an acre and is currently a mix of lawn, trees, recreation spaces and planters on a steeply sloping section with a small stream at its lowest point. A lot of work has gone into this property already and I am privileged to be its next guardian.

Auckland cityscape and the Harbour Bridge at dusk, seen from the North Shore

About half of the garden is recovering bush — that’s woodland, if you are not from around here. It could do with a helping hand through removal of invasive species and planting for erosion control and biodiversity. In New Zealand this is called 'restoration' - literally restoring a natural habitat. I used to run a restoration group in a local reserve and now I can do similar work without leaving my property. Perfect for a nature-loving introvert.

This is not a re-wilding project. My husband needs to mow grass or his masculinity is in danger. My young kids want to stay indoors with their tablets, but they get a share of the garden too for play. I want to create gorgeous English country garden style borders that hum with bees and provide food for butterflies year round. This garden needs to provide for us all, as well as the local wildlife.

Stream

It cannot be solely native plants. Monarch butterflies rely completely on gardeners to grow the South African swan plants and the American milkweeds to sustain their caterpillars, as well as the nectar-rich flowers to fuel them through adulthood. Also, let’s be honest, I really want some colour in the garden and New Zealand does not have a lot of showy flowers. White and inconspicuous is how our plants usually like it. This is probably why we only have two dozen butterfly species, but thousands of moths.

Looking towards the house from the lawn

So this is really at least two projects in one. There will be flower borders to attract butterflies, using exotic species, and native areas that will provide habitat for moths and other wildlife that can cope with the suburbs. If I can change physics and figure out how I can dig a pond on a slope, that will also be in the mix.

I’ve read stories of other New Zealanders transforming 10 acres in six months. However, I’ve been in the house seven weeks and I still don’t know in which box my washing up gloves lurk, so I’m thinking it’ll be more like three years. However long it takes, I want to record the journey. I want to create a bush and butterfly garden and I want to share it. You get to come along for the ride without the soil under your nails or the weight of compost bags on your shoulder. Hopefully we will get to see some beautiful things along the way.