Urban rainforest: Lynda Hallinan visits an acclaimed inner-city tropical haven

摘要

If you live in an inner-city townhouse development, it pays to stay on good terms with your neighbours. After all, you never know when you might need to lug a few mature palms and several tonnes of sandstone through their gardens to get to yours. That's what Helen and Rory Hassett faced when they decided to update their courtyard garden in Parnell, Auckland. They own the middle townhouse in a row of three built in the 1980s, when trellis pergolas were the epitome of urban elegance. "The garden was lovely for its era but obviously after twenty years it had become dated," Helen recalls.