More pictures

These are from our collection...

Pac man BBQ floating on Gazania flower bed

Lighting table with sand pattern on top which can be changed

Herb Garden on wall with ladder and climbing beans

Second area of garden

Front view of site with dominoes in foreground, and tetris on the rare wall

The seating area... light and sand table, chess and connect 4

The long awaited photos

Well here is the photos of the complete garden and our silver award, (Photos thanks to David Hollander.)

It has been a hard couple of days trying to get our Uni assignment done, we have had little sleep and we are looking forward to chilling out at the show and meeting people over the weekend.

Note: The Connect four board has been put on Trade Me at a starting price of $250, the proceeds are going towards paying back the money we have spent to put the garden together.

We had our TV debut on CTV's Good living programme this was a different experience for us all, we all managed to stay awake alright, and you can view this video at http://www.ctv.co.nz/.

SILVER Award

We were yesterday awarded a silver award for our exhibition garden. We were shocked and very excited. We were all shaking for a good length of time, this is the best reward ever. Finishing was an amazing achievement but this definately tops the lot. We now off to get into our uni assignment, life still goes on outside Ellerslie. Have got a TV interview tomorrow for CTV, which will be a new experience for us all.

FINISHED!!!!

Well can you believe it, our site looked completely bare three days ago and now it is all done. All of the accessories are in place, plants positioned. All that needs done tomorrow is to clean a few things up, the pavers need scrubbed, a few paint touch ups and vertical walls wiped. It is so rewarding to actually see it finished, we think we've done pretty well considering our minimal expertise and small budget.

Only 1 and a half days until judging!! Now we cannot upload a finished photo until the show has commenced, we don't want to give it away. If you are wondering where we are at the show it is site EG12 and you cannot miss it, it is the one with all the colour.

Belated photo update

The grass getting put down and pebble mat being carefully arranged

A last overview of the site with the connect four board in place. From now on the photos of the site are to be snippets as we can not give away absolutely everything until the show opens officially on Wednesday. But it is coming together now quite well....Now for the plants and greenery

Very productive day

Well after a week of feeling like we were getting nowhere we have had a breakthrough. Today was an awesome day and the site is finally starting to look like a courtyard. We got most of the built elements into place toaday and WE HAVE GRASS, care of Readylawn. We got the Connect 4 board up on its stilts and it is safe to say that I will not be losing sleep over it falling over in a gale force wind as it is extremely solid. The Pacman BBQ has taken residence in its corner, the bean stalks are now growing up the ladder and the light table is in place. We also established a checkers pattern with pebbles which act as a mat underneath the coffee table.
We feel like we are right on target to getting finished in time, Trees hopefully arrive tomorrow and we will bring in our last of the wall planters and beginnings of the plants.
A big thank you to Uncle Russell for helping us alter our coffee table to work as a lightbox, looks great. I will upload the photos tomorrow to show the progress.

The weekend progress

So it definately has been a busy week on the site of Ellerslie. A lot of the exhibition gardens are taking shape nicely and look superb. Ours on the other hand is still looking rather empty as it has been a week of finishing off of the half finished bits and bobs at the flat. Here is our Jenga planter box which managed to eat up a bit of time but is now complete along with... the dominoes, the donkey kong garden, the paving and the lighting. We have locked the pavers into place with pavesand.
Our find of the weekend is the coffee table that we found at a 2nd hand store that is perfect for our light and sand table.
We look forward to bringing everything onto site over next two days, the weather appears to be looking very good for the week which will help in the build up. Starting to feel the pressure with only 8 sleeps until judging.

Connect 4 pics

The Connect Four in construction.

The almost completed board.

Well above you will see our main structure for the site is ready to go which is great, and the cushions even fit perfectly into the holes! Today we managed to begin the assembly of the planter box which is coming along, Almost finished. Have set out a timeline for completion of all the bits and pieces so that we stay on track. With the inclusion of Uni work into the equation time management is becoming more crucial.

Plants are needing water 2-3 times a day in this heat in particular the sunflowers, summer has finally decided to arrive of course. The heat is making the lettuces grow far too fast, at this rate they're all going to be eaten before the show even begins.

Well there is only 14 sleeps until judging now, it just gets a little more daunting every day!! (Where has the last month gone?)

Finally the last team member introduction

Name: Megan Inder

Age: 33

Hometown: Balclutha

Background: I grew up on a dairy farm before heading off to Lincoln to study horticulture, afterwards working in Japan, Christchurch, and South Otago in varying jobs. Went to England for a couple of years to work, and in my spare time travelled around Europe, returning to study Landscape Architecture back at Lincoln.

Why Landscape Architecture: I have always been interested in horticulture and design, having had the opportunity to design some friend’s gardens, and enjoying the process, I decided to go back to school to study.

What Ellerslie means for me: This is a great opportunity for students to get a name out there, there are sure to be potential employers at Ellerslie. For me this is an opportunity to meet these people.

After Lincoln: I would love to work with rural or ecological landscapes, hopefully being able to work (and travel) overseas.

Inspiration drive for Ellerslie: Many people have lost the art of face to face communication, this garden will hopefully inspire people to converse with others the memories they hold within themselves.

Crippled team member

Bad news on the Ellerslie front today, Josh managed to tear 3 ligaments and is on crutches!!! Rolled ankle while playing twilight league hockey for the club team. Not a very exciting injury but the swelling is very impressive. Slightly inconvenient, he is very frustrated and has been demoted to painting duty for the week. Fingers crossed he heels fast.

Also on the jobs front, we have haunched the pavers so they are set in place, the connect four board is COMPLETE!! Our next big endeavour is the planter boxes which has caused many headaches over the weekend, a few minor domestics within the group but we have come to a meutral agreement to create jenga raised beds.
Over the weekend we also picked up lighting, more paint and a ladder (poor elderly guy was quite attached to it, didn't have the heart to cut in half in front of him so took it a bit down the street before halving it...eeek)
Plant update: Sunflowers starting to look like flowering so they might be a little early, heres hoping at least a couple out of the 26 will last long enough.
Looking forward to big day tomorrow. Will upload more photos soon.

Long day at the office (Day 5)

Well just got back to flat from site at 9.30pm (the first of many late nights on site), have taken a shot its a bit dark so its a bit hard to see the progress. We managed to get most of the paving down today which looks pretty good from an amateurs point of view, here is a few shots anyway...

Painting the walls was quite a mission, who picked textured paint ?? It has got a nice affect however very time consuming as a roller does not work at all. Half way though, will get that done tomorrow.

The other highlight of the day was collecting plants from Trents Nurseries to start to look after ourselves. They are all very bright and look good at the moment, hopefully we've got the right touch to maintain that look for 3 more weeks. Amongst the perennials were 60 herbs so the back courtyard has a very nice fragrance at the moment. Well best be off to sleep, the task list for the weekend is written and growing slowly.

3rd day on site

Today was one of those slow days really which was topped off by rain, spent lots of time running around and little time building. We have however applied finishing touches to the walls to make them look slightly more classy. The site is now defined by boxing around the exterior all ready for the AP20 and basecourse tomorrow. Heres hoping the weather holds out for the next few days to dry the walls to paint.
We have picked up the ply cut outs for the main feature connect four board which looks great so very excited to see it come together.
Will upload photo when we have got more progress visible on site.

Day 2 on site (22days to go)

Today started at 7am when we arrived at Placemakers with our list of materials needed for 'The Wall'!!! Within 24hrs we have designed, built and put up 2 6m walls, not bad for us who have no idea about building at all. Our limited budget is becoming a bit of a challenge after building a fence. Here goes an image of Myles and the wall...much happier look than yesterday.

That was all we had time for today but we are excited to pick up our connect four board tomorrow and also paint to cover the ugly ply walls.

Intentions for tomorrow are huge so will be another early start. Myles quote for today:" no one should have to get up before the street lights turn off.." Hmm will have to sort that theory out for the next couple of weeks.

1st day on site

Today was a full day of work, managed to finish the written part of the project...got both the design and technical briefs done. Putting thoughts into words proved to be very difficult but we got there, hopefully they live up to the judges expectations. Other good points of the day include picking our feature trees (courtesy Allwood Trees), pots (courtesy House and Garden) and getting uniform t'shirts (courtesy Lincoln University).

We stepped on site for the first time today, we have met our first major unexpected challenge....the walls. We have just discovered we have to build our own walls, so we'll be at Placemakers at 7am to get some timber to build them by lunchtime. (hmmm yes that will be wishful thinking maybe).

Here is the before shot of the site........(and a very worried looking Josh) As you can see our neighbours are all very on to it already with walls and beginnings of structures.

Look forward to tomorrow nights blog with a picture of our new walls and border.(fingers crossed) It is all a little daunting at the moment but will get better when we have some form of structure on site I'm sure.

A wee few things to update

Well we've had a wee gap in the blog updates but we have achieved quite a bit in the last few weeks, unfortunately it is all the things that are difficult to display, all the background work. Except for our cushions that are to be the counters for the game board which is our main feature. One of our hard working mums has sewn us 30 cushion covers which are looking rather sharp... From foam to fabulous...

The plants are still growing, most of the sunflowers are past the 1m mark so fingers crossed they flower at exactly the right time!!!hmmmm.

A few of the beans have reached the pergola so going to have to kepp them under control. Tomatos are just starting to fruit and flower at a fast rate.

We've been and selected the perrennial plants that we want to use in throughout the site, full of colour and contrast, Echinacea, Dahlia, Gazania and a yellow groundcover. We have also secured some trees to loan for the week of Ellerslie for FREE...thanks to Allwood Tree Nurseries. Now just to come to a consensus about which tree we all want.

I am uploading a 3D model for you to see where we are at.. unfortunately its quite small but you can see how it is shaping up..

Well we have lots of written work to do over the weekend like fix up our design brief and finalise things for our brochures etc... We are allowed on site for the first time on Monday so watch this space.........

3rd team member intro

Name: Josh Hunt

Age: 21

Hometown: Hastings, Hawkes Bay

Background:
I am a city slicker through and through, my family live only a few blocks away from the Hastings CBD. My Father is a very accomplished and creative Hairdresser and I owe my design flare to him.

Interests:
Love playing sports, Hockey is the favorite (I am on a Lincoln Uni Sports Scholarship). Enjoy Playing the Guitar and having a sing along around a fire.

Why Landscape Architecture?
I always enjoyed Graphics and Art at school. To be honest I kind of just jumped in the deep end hoping it was what I wanted… three years in and still loving it.

What Ellerslie means for me?
It is a chance to finally get some ideas off the drawing board and into practice. Entering the small model competition last year at Ellerslie also made me want to step to the next level. I ran a large-scale concert in Hawkes Bay as part of the Young Enterprise Scheme in my final year at High School and I’m eager to take on another big project.

After Lincoln?
Nothing is set in concrete but the general goal is to work for a landscape architect and contractor for a few years to learn the industry. Then I hope to wind up running my own small scale landscape design firm.

2nd team member intro

Name: Myles Rabbidge

Age: 21

Hometown: Wyndham, Eastern Southland

Background: I grew up on a sheep and beef property at Glenham. I attended Menzies College before studying at Lincoln University.

Interests: Tennis, cycling, tramping and anything involving classic cars.

Why Landscape Architecture: I always enjoyed graphics and design while I was at school and with my interest in the outdoors it made sense to study Landscape Architecture. I have never regretted this decision.

What Ellerslie means for me?: I see Ellerslie as a way to show future employees that I am willing to go the extra mile and take on new challenges. It has become an interesting learning curve and a way to develop new skills. I am enjoying finally seeing a design being implemented.

After Lincoln: After working for Georgie P Landscape Architecture in Wanaka I realised residential and small commercial design is what I want to do before heading overseas at some stage. Ideally I would like to end up working in central Otago as I have a love for the landscape in that part of the country.

Inspirational Drive: “Tough times don’t last, but tough people do” Gregory Peak

Some extra pics

Myles and Emily with the 3m height of foam for the Connect four pieces

The flourishing beans...?

First team member intro...

Profile

Name: Emily Kelly

Age: 21

Hometown: Geraldine, South Canterbury

Background: I come from a farming background in the high country of Haka Valley. I love being active and being in the great outdoors of New Zealand.

Interests: Netball, Touch, Tennis, Waterskiing (any sport) and Hard work.

Why Landscape Architecture?: Landscape Architecture is a good combination of both of my main passions: design and graphics as well as recreation and the outdoors.

What Ellerslie means for me?: I see Ellerslie as an opportunity for a great challenge, some fun and games and most of all as a learning experience. I believe the experience will be invaluable for my final year of studies as well as for future.

After Lincoln: I intend on cracking into the profession and gaining a few years experience before exploring the international scene. However, I am sure that fate will take me where ever I am supposed to go so I am still keeping an open mind

Inspiration drive for Ellerslie: "Ride on! Rough shod if that will do, but ride on! Ride on over all obstacles and win the race." Charles Dickens

37 days to go

What a day!! We went and picked up our foam for the Connect four counters so they're all ready to be dressed in red and yellow fabric. All 32 of them, Thanks heaps to Nexus Foam on Magdala Place in Christchurch for the great job they did in cutting PERFECT round circles, and for doing us a brilliant deal. Check there website: http://www.nexusfoams.com/ .

The other major activity of the day was planting up another 50 vegetable plants into pots, THE LAST LOT... sounds a little scary really, it is creeping up very quickly. All safety precautions were taken while handling potting mix.

We have started looking at Lighting today, does anyone have any ideas on where we could source/hire some good affordable lighting fixtures.

Over the next few weeks we will be introducing you to each of the team members involved so WATCH THIS SPACE!!!

Quote today: There is only one thing more painful than learning from experience - and that is not learning from experience.

An unproductive weekend

I have been in Wellington for the weekend... have just returned to find the boxes finished and not much more. But on a positive note the 2 sulking sunflowers have perked up again, and the beans have taken a liking to the strings and are booming. The week ahead will be constructive as I am back ready to crack the whip on the boys. Paint and plywood cutting will help advance the process slightly.

Thought of the day: (quite appropriate I think)

I love hard work I could sit and watch it for hours.

The building progress

Now to show you our building skills. Some good looking planter boxes and a Connect Four frame:

Not bad for a couple of beginners...

Plant progress in photos

Here is the nursery in the back courtyard.

Top left: Sunflowers and Peas

Above: Lettuces, silverbeet, herbs, marigolds, pak choi etc etc

Left: The tomatos and capsicums

Below: Beans on strings connected to the pergola...

Now had better go do some real work!!

43days to go

Today has been a productive day on the 'Four Play' front. Have potted up another 50 veges, staked the sunflowers that have reached a height of about half a metre. Our beans are stringed up to the pergola of the flat so heres hoping they grow extra fast to reach the 6foot mark....only 5foot to go!! Some sunshine would help, few plants looking a little sad including some sulking sunflowers.
Have confirmed getting foam for our Connect Four pieces for great price including cutting...(no idea how we were ever going to cut foam into circles.) The tops of our boxes are sanded and ready for top boards to be attached.

Big shout out to the Antigua Street Placemakers for just being awesome...

Thought of the day: "I'm not a vegetarian because I like animals, I am a vegetarian because I hate plants."

Introduction to Ellerslie

Our endeavour with this blog is to show our journey to Ellerslie and show our daily activities that we complete. We are currently in the early stages of construction, having planted up 170 vegetables and herbs into pots and built 5 planter boxes/crates. So still miles to go and so little time.... Anyway here is a description of our intentions for the garden.

'Four Play' is a garden design dedicated to some of favourite video and board games of our childhood. Childhood memories bring us back to a simpler, naive way of viewing the world; this display will appeal to the child within us all. The overall objective is to evoke memories of childhood throughout the garden. The design conveys a virtual realm into a 3-dimensional reality and brings the quest of the game to life.

Keep watching for our daily updates, phots and developing plans.