Ted Smyth is regarded as one of the finest garden designers in the world. He lives and builds his gardens in Auckland, and has created many outstanding gardens in his long career. Don visited the home of architect, Ron Sang, to meet Ted and see a fine example of his work.

Ron Sang’s garden

This incredible garden was designed by Ted Smyth in collaboration with architect, Ron Sang. Ron and Ted collaborated on their first job in 1963 and have been working together ever since. Ron said that Ted always manages to come up with something unexpected, like the design for his pool, which he never would have imagined in a million years. In fact, the garden is a series of small courtyards with a surprise around every corner.

The garden takes a strong cue from the architecture of the house. It showcases Ron’s extensive collection of sculptures and other artworks, in particular fish sculptures by Paul Laird around the pool. The design features plants chosen for form and foliage rather than just flowers, and a rich, vibrant colour scheme to complement the foliage colours.

Recent work

Ted spoke enthusiastically about his recent work, including a job on Waiheke Island at a site with wonderful views of the bay and a spectacularly beautiful house. The planting scheme was almost totally native, in fact the client is planting about 10 acres of native restoration forest per year. Ted has also enjoyed designing a park in the CBD on Maori land that was reclaimed from the sea.

Further information

Our segment was filmed with:

Ron Sang
Sang Architects & Co Ltd
11 Glenfell Place
Epsom, Auckland
Phone: 0011-64-9-638 6898

Ted Smyth
Landscape Architect & Artist
Phone: 0011-64-9-810 9697

Copyright CTC Productions 2003