Wanting a beautiful backyard and to do her bit for the environment too, Papamoa gardener and artist Jenny Coker has spent the past two years creating a garden that flourishes without much water.

'The last decade or two has been quietly contributing to us thinking more about our water,” she says.

'We all know that our seasons and climates are not going to get any more favourable and that we really will continue to have water restrictions, that's just a fact of life, pretty much everywhere around the world. So instead of wasting water in the garden, I wanted to create a garden that uses as little water as possible while still vibrant and full of colour.”

Removing the top 10cm of turf from her beachside backyard, she replaced it with a layer of composted soil before planting two central weeping cherry trees to shade the rest of the garden.

'Trying to future proof the garden, I thought right, I'll have a canopy to shelter the plants underneath. I knew the more shade I could create at the base of the plants, the better it would be to hold the ground water,” she says.

A layer of medium sized plants formed a second sun umbrella, followed by a carpet of ground cover.

'There are a lot of really beautiful ground covers and many of them don't need much water once they're established, including common herbs like thyme which thrives on being neglected,” she says.

'The trick is just to cover your ground so it keeps the moisture in and create these canopy layers so you don't have to be watering the whole thing all the time.”

Adding mulch and improving the soil by adding good quality compost was the next big weapon in her water-free arsenal. Using mulch helps regulate the temperature of the soil and prevent water evaporation, while also controlling weeds.

'I'm no expert in all of this but this is what I've done. As I understand it, it breaks down and gives you this beautiful rich soil, but you have to keep feeding. So rather than feeding with water, feed with good quality compost and medium sized mulch, that's what I've been doing and it's working really really well,” explains Jenny.

Another rule of Jenny's green thumb is to use plants native to your region, or those that are advertised as drought-tolerant, meaning they can withstand long periods of time without being watered. Although she admits she's made a few exceptions for her favourite foliage.

'If you are watering just a little bit, make sure that you do it strategically, when water evaporation is at its lowest such as in the evening,” she says.

Two years down the garden path from when she first started planning her low water garden, Jenny's backyard canvas is bursting with colour and she's able to moderate the amount of water she's using, which means she's saving money on water bills too. But it's about more than that.

'Of course I don't want to pay for water, but it's a wider view than that. I'm conscious that we're not even going to have it to buy if we don't look after it,” she says.

'My grandparent's family were all great gardeners. I didn't come into it until late, I'm a bit of a late developer, and now I'm very proud to have the opportunity to create this garden with all the sensibilities and information available to us now.”